Change Desktop & Dock settings on Mac

Size

Drag the slider to change the Dock size.

Magnification

Magnify icons when you move the pointer over them. Drag the slider to choose the magnification size.

Position on screen

Locate the Dock along the left, bottom, or right edge of the screen.

Minimize windows using

Choose the visual effect used when you minimize a window.

Double-click a window’s title bar to

Choose what happens when you double-click the title bar of an app window:

Minimize: Minimize an app window to the Dock.

Zoom: Expand a window to fill the space between the Dock and the menu bar. If the Dock is along the side of the screen, the window fills the space below the menu bar and to the side of the Dock.

Do Nothing: Don’t do anything when the title bar is clicked.

Minimize windows into application icon

Minimize an app window to the app icon in the Dock. If the option isn’t turned on, the window is minimized to an area in the Dock.

Automatically hide and show the Dock

Hide the Dock when you’re not using it. To show the hidden Dock, move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock is located.

Animate opening applications

Make icons bounce when you open apps.

Show indicators for open applications

Show a small dot below an app’s icon in the Dock when the app is open.

Show suggested and recent apps in Dock

Show suggested and recently opened apps (if they aren’t already included in the Dock) toward one end of the Dock.

Show Items

Choose whether to show desktop items.

• On Desktop: Show items on the desktop.

• In Stage Manager: Show items on the desktop when Stage Manager is turned on.

  If this option is turned off, items on the desktop are hidden—click the desktop to show the items when you want to access them.

Click wallpaper to reveal desktop

Choose when clicking the wallpaper moves windows out of the way.

• Always: Clicking the wallpaper moves all windows out of the way to show your desktop items and widgets.

• Only in Stage Manager: When Stage Manager is turned on, clicking the wallpaper moves all windows out of the way to show your desktop items and widgets.

Stage Manager

Turn on Stage Manager.

Show recent apps in Stage Manager

Show recent apps in Stage Manager.

If this option is turned off, recently used apps are hidden—move the pointer to the left edge of the screen to briefly show them.

Show windows from an application

Choose which windows to show when using an app.

• All at Once: Show all available windows for an app when you switch to it.

• One at a Time: Show only the most recently used window for an app when you switch to it.

  To switch to a different window when this option is turned off, click the app on the left again to open the next available window.

Show Widgets

Choose whether to show widgets.

• On Desktop: Show widgets on the desktop.

• In Stage Manager: Show widgets on the desktop when Stage Manager is turned on.

  If this option is turned off, items on the desktop are hidden—click the desktop to show the items when you want to access them.

Widget style

Choose a style for widgets.

• Automatic: Automatically switch between monochrome and full-color.

• Monochrome: Always show widgets in monochrome.

• Full-color: Always show widgets in full-color.

Use iPhone widgets

Show iPhone widgets in the widgets browser.

Default web browser

Safari is the web browser in macOS and is used by default when you click a link in an email or text message. To learn about the Safari app, see the Safari User Guide.

You can choose another web browser you have installed on your Mac as the default.

Prefer tabs when opening documents

Choose when you want documents to open in a tab (instead of in a new window): Never, Always, or In Full Screen.

Ask to keep changes when closing documents

By default, unsaved changes are automatically saved when you close documents. If you prefer to be asked whether to save changes, turn on this option.

Close windows when quitting an application

Close app windows when you quit an app. The windows don’t reopen automatically the next time you open the app.

Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use

Get quicker access to the desktops you used most recently (if you created additional desktops using Spaces). See Work in multiple spaces.

When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application

If you use Spaces, have your desktop scroll to a space with open windows for an app when you switch to that app.

Group windows by application

If you have several windows from multiple apps open simultaneously, have the windows organized by app in Mission Control.

Displays have separate Spaces

Set up separate spaces for each display (if you use Spaces and have multiple displays).

This option must be selected if you want to use apps in Split View on your other displays.

Shortcuts

Choose shortcuts for showing and hiding Mission Control, open windows for the current app, and the desktop. Depending on your mouse or trackpad, two columns of pop-up menus may be shown in this section.

To display additional available keyboard shortcuts, press and hold the Control, Option, Shift, or Command key, or a combination of these keys, while viewing the pop-up menus.

Hot Corners

Choose actions to perform when you move the pointer to screen corners. See Use hot corners.

To set up a hot corner, click the pop-up menu for a corner, then choose an action.

To use a modifier key with the hot corner, press and hold the Command, Shift, Option, or Control key, or a combination of these keys, while viewing the pop-up menus.