Everything multi.dock does, and where to find it.

Download and install

1. Download the DMG from this site. Apple has checked it, so macOS opens it without warning you about an unknown developer. On the first start macOS may still ask once whether you want to open an app from the internet.
2. Open it and drag multi.dock into Applications.
3. Open multi.dock from Applications. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 Sequoia or later.

multi.dock starts with the apps of your macOS Dock, plus a few widgets. It lives in the menu bar, not in the Dock: the dock.rectangle icon there holds your Docks, Settings…, multi.dock Help and Quit multi.dock.

The welcome window

On the first start, Welcome to multi.dock asks three things:

Mode:

replace Apple’s Dock or keep both. See Replace or alongside.

Open at login:

so multi.dock is always there, and alarms ring.

Permissions:

Accessibility and Screen Recording, both optional.

You’ll find the window again under Settings → Help → Welcome….

Permissions

multi.dock works without any of them. Each one switches on a few features; macOS asks once.

Accessibility:

badges, window previews, minimising and keeping windows clear of the Dock. Settings → General → Allow Access…

Screen Recording:

thumbnails in the window previews. Without it, previews list the windows. Settings → General → Allow Screen Recording…

Calendar, Reminders, Location:

asked for only when you add the widget that needs it, or pick Current Location for the weather.

Two modes

Replace the macOS Dock:

Apple’s Dock hides while multi.dock runs and comes back when it quits.

Alongside the macOS Dock:

both Docks stay, for example on different edges.

Switch any time in Settings → General.

Badges come from Apple’s Dock in both modes, so they need Accessibility access.

Take over Apple’s apps again

Settings → Backup → Replace Apps… swaps the current Dock’s apps, files and folders for the ones in Apple’s Dock. Widgets stay where they are.

Add and arrange

1. Drag an app, file or folder from Finder onto the Dock, or a link from your browser.
2. Or right-click the Dock and choose Add Folder… or Add File or App….
3. A running app that isn’t in the Dock: right-click it and choose Keep in Dock.
4. Drag items to reorder them. Drop one on the Trash, or choose Remove from Dock, to take it out.

Folders

A folder opens as a stack above the Dock, subfolders included. Right-click it for its options:

Display As:

Stack or straight in Finder.

Sort By:

Name, Date Added or Date Modified.

Color:

tints the folder; Show Letter puts its first letter on it.

Rename…:

changes the name in the Dock only, never on disk.

Show Name Below Icon:

the name in small type under the folder.

Links

Links show the website’s icon. Edit Link… changes name and icon: the website’s icon, a symbol or your own image.

Spacers, icons and the Trash

Spacers:

Add Spacer or Add Small Spacer from the Dock’s menu, to keep groups apart.

Icons:

Change Icon… on any app, Reset Icon to go back.

Trash:

Empty Trash… goes through Finder, like Apple’s Dock. Show Trash in Settings → Appearance hides it.

The gallery

1. Right-click the Dock and choose Widget Gallery….
2. Pick a widget and a style, then click + or drag the card onto the Dock.

22 widgets in eight groups: clocks, calendar, reminders, sticky notes, media, system, weather and stocks. On a bottom Dock all widgets are 1.25 icons tall and the style decides how wide; on a side Dock each is a column 1.6 icons wide, as tall as its content.

Details and actions

Click:

does the obvious thing: timers start and pause, Hydration adds a glass. Widgets that only show data open their details in a panel above the Dock.

Right-click:

the widget’s options and its style. Show Details opens the panel for widgets with an action of their own.

Close:

a click outside, Esc or ⌘W.

Duplicate:

for a second clock or watchlist. Remove Widget takes it out.

Where the data comes from

Weather:

Open-Meteo, without an account. Current Location asks for location access only when you choose it.

Stocks:

public market data.

Calendar and Reminders:

your Mac’s calendars and lists, after macOS asks.

Now Playing:

Music and Spotify, only while they run.

AI Usage:

reads Claude Code’s local transcripts. Turn on Exact plan limits on the widget’s Customize page and Claude Code hands its session and weekly limits to multi.dock through its status line, on your Mac. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Hydration:

glasses of 150 to 500 ml, litres or US fluid ounces, and the widget shows glasses (3 / 8) or the amount (0.75 / 2 L), all on its Customize page.

Several Docks

Choose New Empty Dock or New Dock from Current in the menu bar to make a second Dock. Each Dock keeps its own apps and widgets; settings are shared.

Give each Dock a colour in Settings → Docks. It shows in the menu bar and on the Dock’s grip. Show Dock name in menu bar puts the name next to the icon.

Switching

Keyboard:

⌃⌥1 to ⌃⌥9.

Over the Dock:

⌘ + scroll, or a two-finger swipe.

Menu bar:

pick a Dock from the multi.dock menu.

Focus filter

1. Open System Settings → Focus and pick a Focus.
2. Under Focus filters, add multi.dock’s Switch Dock and choose a Dock.

When the Focus ends, the previous Dock comes back.

URL scheme

For Shortcuts, scripts and launchers. A Dock by name or number, or the next and previous one:

multidock://profile/Work
multidock://profile/2
multidock://next
multidock://previous

In Shortcuts, a personal automation with the action Open URLs does the same as the Focus filter.

See and pick a window

1. Rest the pointer on a running app. Its windows line up above the Dock.
2. Click one to bring it to the front, even if it’s minimised.
3. For thumbnails, allow Screen Recording in Settings → General.

Show windows when hovering an app in Settings → General turns previews off and on.

What a click on an app does

Clicking an app brings all its windows forward:

instead of the one window the Mac picks.

Click an app to minimize it when it’s in front:

its window, or all of them with the option above. Needs Accessibility access.

Keep windows clear of the Dock

macOS leaves room for its own Dock only. Turn on Keep windows clear of the Dock in Settings → General: windows snapped or zoomed to the screen edge, by the green button or a window tool, then stop above multi.dock.

Windows you place by hand stay where you put them. The option needs Accessibility access.

Size and magnification

Drag the grip at the end of the Dock: away from the screen edge makes the icons bigger, towards it smaller. Or set Icon size in Settings → Appearance.

Smallest icon size:

when the Dock doesn’t fit, icons shrink down to this size; beyond that it scrolls.

Magnification:

on or off, with its own Magnified size.

Position and display

Bottom, left or right edge, on the display you choose under Display. In fullscreen apps the Dock hides; rest the pointer on the screen edge for a moment and it comes back.

Look

Material:

Liquid Glass or Blur, on macOS 26.

Automatically hide and show the Dock:

like Apple’s auto-hide.

Use as desktop widget:

the Dock sits behind your windows, on the desktop.

Show running apps that aren’t in the Dock:

after your last app or widget, like Apple’s Dock.

Export and import

Settings → Backup → Export Setup… writes every Dock and all settings to one file. Import Setup… on another Mac brings them back.

The layout itself lives in ~/Library/Application Support/multi.dock/layout.json.

Questions