How to add entire folders to your Mac’s Dock

Of course, you prefer to have apps that you use regularly in your Dock. That way you can always reach it easily. However, if it gets too many, you’ll quickly lose track and your Dock will get smaller and smaller. Folders in your Mac’s Dock can help fix this.

App folder in your Mac’s Dock

On the far right side of your Dock, next to your Trash, you can place folders from your Mac for quick access. By default, this only shows your Downloads folder, but you can also place your Apps folder here, for example. Or a subfolder with specific apps. This way you still have quick access to the apps you often need, without taking up a lot of space on your Dock. Below you can read how to do this.

• Open Finder.
• Click on ‘Go>Computer’ in the menu bar at the top. Then double click on ‘Macintosh HD’.
• Drag the Apps folder to the right side of your Dock, next to your Trash (not in it!).

Now you have your Apps folder in your Dock. When you click on it, you’ll see a grid of all the apps on your Mac. Useful!

You can still adjust how the map is displayed. Control+click the folder in your Dock. Under ‘Show as’ you can set the folder to actually look like a folder, instead of a stack of apps. Under ‘Show content as’ you can adjust the view: in the Apps folder ‘grid’ and ‘list’ are the most practical options.

Other app folders in your Dock

Would you rather put a folder with some of your apps in your Dock? This is of course also possible:

• Follow the steps above to locate the Apps folder and double click on it.
• Click on ‘Archive>New folder’ in the menu bar at the top.
• Enter a name for your folder and press Enter.
• Now drag the desired apps to the folder. Usually you have to enter your password to do this.
• When you’re done, drag the folder to the right side of your Dock.