If your Mac Dock has turned into a long row of app icons, this is a simple way to clean it up without losing quick access to the apps you use most.
I came across this tip from Peter Cohen at iMore, and it helped me cut down the number of apps sitting in my Dock by adding a recent items folder instead.
Quick Answer
The quick answer is that macOS can show a Recent Items stack in the Dock. Once added, it appears near the Trash, and clicking it shows your recently used applications.
You add it with a Terminal command, then you can right-click the new Dock item to change what it displays, including recent applications, recent documents, recent servers, favorite volumes, or favorite items.
Why This Helps
The Dock is useful when it stays focused. Once it fills up with every app you might need, it starts becoming less helpful because you spend more time scanning than clicking.
A Recent Items stack gives you a different way to work. Instead of permanently pinning every app, you can keep the Dock cleaner and still get back to the apps or files you have been using lately.
How To Add It
Open the Terminal app on your Mac. In the video, I enlarged the Terminal window with Command Plus a few times just to make the command easier to see.
Paste the Dock command into Terminal and press Enter. The command was available from the original iMore article and the LifeWithTech article linked in the video description.
After running it, macOS adds a new icon near the Trash on the right side of the Dock. That new icon is the Recent Items stack.
What It Shows
By default, the new Dock item can show recently used applications. In my example, Terminal appeared because it was the last app I had just used.
Clicking the stack opens the recent list, so you can quickly launch something you were just working with without keeping that app permanently pinned in the Dock.
Change The Stack Type
The useful part is that this Dock item is not limited to applications. If you right-click the new stack, macOS gives you several display options.
You can switch it depending on what would actually save you time day to day.
- Recent Applications
- Recent Documents
- Recent Servers
- Favorite Volumes
- Favorite Items
When I Would Use This
This is best if you tend to open the same handful of apps or documents during a work session, but you do not want all of them permanently cluttering the Dock.
It is also useful on smaller screens, where Dock space gets tight quickly. Instead of treating the Dock like a storage shelf for every app, you can let macOS surface what you recently touched.
Key Takeaways
- You can add a Recent Items stack to the Mac Dock using Terminal.
- The new stack appears near the Trash on the right side of the Dock.
- It can show recently used applications, documents, servers, favorite volumes, or favorite items.
- This can help reduce Dock clutter while keeping recent work easy to reach.
- Right-click the stack to change what kind of recent or favorite items it displays.
Watch the Video
The video above above if you want to see the Terminal step and the new Dock stack in action before trying it on your own Mac.
