How to Automatically Remove from Dock in macOS

Posted by Arch on September 3, 2019

How to automatically remove from dock in macos
There are many third-party apps which can emulate a dock on your screen. On Mac,
you don�t have to download such software because it has its own Dock. It is very
useful and you can do many useful and cool things with it.

If you use a lot of programs or apps, over time you will notice your Dock getting
more and more cluttered. Not only will it be harder to hit the right icon, but they
will also appear drastically smaller.

This article will show you how to remove icons from the Dock in macOS, both
manually and automatically.

HOW REMOVING ICONS FROM DOCK IN MACOS WORKS

First of all, there are some macOS Dock Icons that can�t be removed. These include
the Trash Can, furthest to the right, and the Finder icon, furthest to the left.
Other than that, you can remove every other Dock icon.

Before you begin removing icons, customize your Dock to your taste. Use the Dock
preference pane to change icon size, hide the Dock, magnify icons, etc.

The icons located on the macOS Dock are in fact shortcuts, like the ones you have
on a Windows desktop. They are not folders because the actual location of the
programs is somewhere else. These icons serve as aliases, and once you remove
them, you won�t delete the actual program, but only its shortcut.

How Removing Icons from Dock in macOS Works

HOW TO MAKE ICONS AUTOMATICALLY DISAPPEAR FROM DOCK IN MACOS

Many macOS apps will stay in the Dock long after you used them. You don�t need
icons that you don�t use regularly in your Dock, so how do you make them go away?
It is fairly simple, just follow these steps:

Go to System Preferences on your Mac.

Select the Dock and find the option Show recent applications in Dock. Make sure it
is unchecked.
Now all of the recent apps will be automatically removed from the Dock.
REMOVING ICONS FROM DOCK ON OS X LION AND OLDER VERSIONS
Before you remove an app or document from the Dock, it is best to close it first.
Click on the icon you want to remove and drag it across your desktop. As soon as it
is not anywhere near the Dock, you can drop it.
The process is the same on OS X Mountain Lion, except there is a small delay to
avoid removing Dock icons by mistake.

REMOVING ICONS FROM DOCK ON MACOS MOJAVE

Close the app or document you want to remove from the Dock.
Click on the desired icon and drag it away from the Dock, anywhere on the desktop.
You will be prompted whether you want to remove the icon.
Release the mouse and the icon will vanish from the Dock.
ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR REMOVING ICONS FROM DOCK IN MACOS
You can actually remove icons from the Dock in macOS without clicking and dragging
them. Here is how you can use the Dock menu to do it:

Move your mouse cursor to the icon on the Dock you want to delete, and right-click
on it.
You will see a dropdown menu, and you should choose Options.
Select Remove from Dock and the icon will be gone.
You can use either of these options to remove icons from the Dock and make it nice
and tidy once more. Remember to regularly remove unused icons from the Dock.

Alternative Method for Removing Icons from Dock in macOS

DECLUTTERING COMPLETE
Once you get rid of all the unwanted icons from your Dock, it will feel much more
useful. You will only have the shortcuts to apps and docs you use often. This will
save you a lot of time you would otherwise spend looking for the right icon.

Also, you will stop clicking on the wrong icon which can be irritating, to say the
least. Now you can even magnify your icons and it won�t matter, because you have
more than enough space.

What is your favorite method of removing macOS icons from the Dock? Is your Dock as
clean as you�d want it to be? Please, do let us know.