The Ubuntu Dock is the central hub for launching your favorite applications and managing open windows. By default, it’s highly functional, but to truly make your desktop your own, you should learn how to customize the Ubuntu Dock. With a few simple tweaks in the system settings, you can change its position, behavior, and appearance to perfectly match your personal workflow and improve your productivity.
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⚙️ How to Access the Dock’s Settings
All the basic customization options for the Dock are conveniently located in the main ‘Settings’ application. You can open it by clicking the gear icon in the top-right system menu or by searching for ‘Settings’ in the Activities overview. Once you’re in the Settings app, look for the ‘Appearance’ or ‘Ubuntu Desktop’ tab in the left-hand sidebar. This section contains all the built-in options for controlling the Dock’s behavior and look.
↔️ How to Change the Dock’s Position and Size
One of the first things many users want to change is the Dock’s position on the screen. By default, it’s on the left, but you can easily move it to the bottom or the right side of your screen from the Appearance settings. This is a matter of personal preference, with many users who are accustomed to Windows or macOS preferring a bottom-aligned dock. In this same section, you can also adjust the size of the icons in the Dock, making them larger for better visibility or smaller to fit more applications on the screen.
Hide the Dock for More Screen Space
If you’re working on a smaller screen, like a laptop, you might want the Dock to hide automatically to give you more vertical space for your applications. In the Dock settings, you can enable the ‘Auto-hide the Dock’ feature. When this is turned on, the Dock will slide out of view when you’re not using it. To bring it back, you simply move your mouse cursor to the edge of the screen where the Dock is located, and it will slide back into view. This is a great way to maintain a clean, distraction-free workspace while keeping your application launchers just a quick mouse movement away.
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