MAC
How to hide the Dock automatically on a Mac
Real screenshot · MacBook Neo, macOS 27.0.1In short
Press Option-Command-D to hide or show the Dock. To hide it all the time, open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock, and switch on Automatically hide and show the Dock. To bring the hidden Dock back, move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock sits.
Hidden, the Dock stays out of the way until you move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock is located.
3 of 3 steps show a real screenshot from our MacBook Neo.
Steps
- 1
Open System Settings
Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.
- 2
Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar
Desktop & Dock is in the sidebar, just below Appearance. On our MacBook Neo it was visible without scrolling.
- 3
Switch on Automatically hide and show the Dock
On the Desktop & Dock page, Automatically hide and show the Dock starts the group below Minimize windows into application icon. On our MacBook Neo it was off, so click the switch to turn it on.
If you do not see this option
- Desktop & Dock is not in the sidebar Scroll down the System Settings sidebar: Apple notes that you may need to scroll down to find Desktop & Dock.
- You cannot find the switch On our MacBook Neo, Automatically hide and show the Dock is in the Dock section at the top of the page, not under Desktop & Stage Manager further down.
If this does not work
- The Dock does not come back Don't worry, it has not gone anywhere. Apple says to move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock is located. Check Dock position on screen on the same page to see which edge that is.
- The Dock still shows all the time Check that the Automatically hide and show the Dock switch is on; on our MacBook Neo it was off by default.
- The Dock pops up while you work? It appears whenever the pointer reaches the edge of the screen where the Dock is located. Apple lists Fn-A to show or hide the Dock, which is handy for putting it away again quickly.
- The Dock vanished although the switch is off? Apple lists Option-Command-D to show or hide the Dock, so press it to bring the Dock back.
- You use the keyboard more than the pointer? Apple lists Fn-Control-F3 to move to the Dock, then the arrow keys to move between icons.
Good to know
If you would rather keep the Dock in sight, you can make it smaller instead: drag the Size slider at the top of the same page.
The Dock can also sit at the side: how to move the Dock to the side of the screen on a Mac.
On our MacBook Neo, Dock position on screen was set to Bottom, so the hidden Dock appears when the pointer reaches the bottom edge.
With the Dock hidden, windows can use the full height of the screen, which helps most on a small laptop display. Apps, folders and the Trash stay in the Dock as before. To keep the Dock in view again, switch the setting off.
The menu bar at the top is a separate setting, so it stays where it is. To tidy it as well, see how to customise the menu bar on a Mac.
macOS 27 compared with macOS 26: We rewrote steps 2 and 3 to match the macOS 27 screens. The macOS 26 page keeps the steps and screenshots as they were.
Version history: the macOS 26 version of this guide, with its own screenshots.
About this guide
- Device
- Mac
- Shown on
- macOS 27.0.1 (MacBook Neo)
- App
- System Settings
- Real screenshots
- 3 of 3 steps
- Checked
- October 2026
- Sources
- 3 official, linked below
Sources
Links checked October 2026. Menus and features can change with updates.Did this guide work for you?
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