Move the Dock to the left or right on Mac

Updated 2026 · 3 min read

Widescreen monitors have more horizontal room to spare than vertical. Moving the Dock to the left or right edge gives your app windows more height — a real upgrade on a MacBook or a 16:9 external display.

Move it in System Settings

This is the most straightforward approach:

Open System Settings (Apple menu → System Settings).
Click Desktop & Dock.
Find "Position on screen" and choose Left, Bottom, or Right.

The Dock moves instantly — no restart needed.

Move it via Terminal

The setting is stored in com.apple.dock orientation:

# move Dock to the left edge
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string left
killall Dock

# move Dock to the right edge
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string right
killall Dock

# return to the bottom (default)
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string bottom
killall Dock

The Dock restarts immediately after killall Dock — your apps and settings stay the same, only the position changes.

Do it in one click

Mainspring's Dock panel has a Dock position control — switch between left, bottom, and right without opening System Settings or touching Terminal. Combine it with the auto-hide, delay, and size controls in the same panel.

Try Mainspring free →

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Left or right — which side?

This comes down to personal preference, but here are a few things that help decide:

Left feels natural for most people — reading flows left to right, so glancing left for your app launcher is intuitive. It also mirrors where the Finder sidebar sits.
Right keeps the Dock away from Finder window sidebars and toolbars, which are typically on the left. If you use a trackpad, your right hand is already on that side of the screen.
If you use an external monitor to the left of your MacBook, putting the Dock on the right prevents it from appearing on the wrong screen edge.

Try each side for a day or two — muscle memory adapts quickly.

Does anything change other than position?

Very little. Your icon order, size, magnification, and auto-hide settings all carry over. A few things to know:

When the Dock is on the left or right, it becomes vertical. Labels (app names) appear to the right of each icon instead of below.
The Dock separator line runs horizontally when vertical — apps are above, files/folders/Trash below.
Some older apps draw their splash screens or progress windows assuming a bottom Dock, so those might be positioned oddly on launch — but this is rare with modern apps.
If you have Dock magnification enabled, it still works the same way.

Combine with auto-hide for maximum screen space

Moving the Dock to the side plus enabling auto-hide (⌘⌥D to toggle) is one of the best ways to reclaim screen real estate on a laptop. With zero auto-hide delay set, the Dock slides in instantly when your cursor hits the edge and disappears the moment it leaves. See Auto-hide the Dock with zero delay for the exact commands.