How to use the Dock with Folders
Mac Tip #427, 10 March 2010
On its right side (or bottom), the Dock holds icons for folders. Add or Remove folders, and set them up to give you the best access to what you need. Here’s how.
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View and empty the Trash
The Trash is a special folder that always appears in the last position on the Dock and cannot be moved. Click once on the Trash icon to see the contents of the Trash.
To empty the Trash either choose Empty Trash… from the Finder menu or do one of the following:
- Click and hold on the Trash icon. A menu appears, including the option to
Empty Trash. - Control (⌃) click on the Trash icon. A menu appears, including the option to
Empty Trash. - Command (⌘) click and hold on the Trash icon. A menu appears, including the option to
Secure Empty Trash.
Documents Stack set to Grid view.
Document and Download Stacks
On a new Mac the Documents and Downloads folders appear by default on the right-hand side of the Dock. If you set your Dock to be vertical, they appear in the bottom portion.
In Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) these folders are set up as Stacks. When you click on a Stack its contents are displayed as a List, Fan or Grid ‘attached’ to the folder in the Dock. Whatever application is at the front stays at the front. Click on an item to open it.
That’s different from how the Finder icon at the other end of the Dock behaves. If you click the Finder icon in the Dock then the Finder comes to the front, and a folder opens.
The Stack or Folder Options menu.
List, Fan and Grid views
To change how a Stack or Folder displays Control (⌃) click on a Stack or Folder icon. A menu appears.
By default Stacks display with the most recent item first. Other Options include Date Added, Date Modified, Date Created and Kind.
Choose whether to display a Stack in a Fan, Grid or List view. If you choose an Automatic view, the Mac will display a small number of contents as a Fan or a larger number as a Grid.
Folder or Stack display
A folder and a Stack are both folders. A Stack though uses the icon of the most recently added item as the icon for the Stack. A folder simply displays a blank folder icon.
Add a folder to the Dock
To add a folder to the Dock drag the folder’s icon from an open Finder window into a position on the right-hand side of the Dock. To move it to a new position drag it sideways. The adjacent items will move to make room for it.
Remove a folder from the Dock
To remove a folder from the Dock drag it away. It disappears in a puff of ‘smoke’. The actual folder is not removed from your computer.
Do you find the Dock the best way to access your folders? Tell us in the Comments how you use folders in the Dock.
See more from: Finder,Snow Leopard
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* 1 comment… read it below and tell us what you think.
This comment was emailed in, and I asked permission to add it here. Ross Mxt wrote:
How do I access applications / utilities / my personal home folder? I use three different methods from time to time for the sake of variety and because they look “pretty”.
1 I most commonly use two “spaces” – one which has my Application folder open and the other which has my Utility folder open.
2 I sometimes use the dock icons in grid view. I have tried to separate my applications proper from utilities. It is a little tricky to get a recognisable icon for each of the three grids – the grid uses the icon of the first file but this can be changed via the info panel or using a little trick to bring a chosen icon into first place: rename the file with a leading space.
3 And thirdly, I sometimes use a menu bar item called “Himmel Bar” which displays applications and utilities as lists with mini icons.
In the Dock itself (which I keep on the right hand side) I keep icons of those applications that normally reside in my Spaces – very useful when they disappear by accident.
In addition I keep the icons of one or two extra favourites like “XaoS” and “LimeWire” and my Printer’s icon. I occasionally use [Command - Tab] to access those already open but probably not often enough considering its efficiency.
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