How to Show the Dock in Full Screen Mode on Mac

Full screen mode hides the Dock by design — that's the whole point of the mode. But you can summon it any time with a pointer gesture, and if you want the Dock visible constantly, there's a better way to get a big window than full screen.

Reveal the Dock with the pointer

1. While the app is in full screen, move your pointer to the edge of the screen where the Dock lives — the bottom by default, or the left/right edge if you've moved it.
2. Pause there for a moment. Don't just tap the edge; keep pressing the pointer against it.
3. The Dock slides into view. Click whatever you need, and it hides again when you move away.

If you use Dock auto-hide, you may need a second push: in full screen, the first push past the edge tells macOS you're serious, and continuing to push (or repeating the gesture) brings the Dock out. On a trackpad this feels like two small downward swipes at the bottom edge. It's deliberate — Apple doesn't want the Dock popping out every time your cursor grazes the edge of a video.

No, you can't pin it there — here's why

There is no checkbox in System Settings, and no defaults key, that keeps the Dock permanently visible in full screen. Full screen apps run in their own Space, and macOS defines that Space as "the app and nothing else" — Dock and menu bar both hide. Any guide promising a hidden switch for this is wrong for macOS 13 Ventura through 15 Sequoia. The workarounds below are the honest answers.

Use a maximized window instead of full screen

If you want an app to fill the screen and keep the Dock in sight, don't use full screen at all — use a zoomed (maximized) window:

• Option-click the green button in the window's top-left corner. The window zooms to fill the desktop, but it's still a normal window — Dock and menu bar stay visible.
• Double-click the window's title bar to zoom it, if double-click-to-zoom is enabled in System Settings → Desktop & Dock.
• On macOS 15 Sequoia, drag a window to the top edge of the screen and release when the outline appears — it fills the desktop as a tiled window, again without entering full screen.

You get 95% of the immersion with none of the disappearing UI, and Cmd+Tab switching feels snappier because you never leave your Space.

Or keep the menu bar and lose the Dock

Sometimes what you actually miss in full screen is the clock or a menu bar icon, not the Dock. macOS 13 and later can keep the menu bar visible in full screen: System Settings → Control Center → Automatically hide and show the menu bar → Never. The Dock still hides, but the top of the screen stays useful. Details in our menu bar in full screen guide.

Make the hidden Dock feel instant

If you live in full screen or auto-hide the Dock, kill the slide-out delay so the Dock appears the instant you hit the edge — see how to make the Dock auto-hide instantly.