To launch or switch to an app, simply click its Dock icon. To learn how, read Create Managed Accounts for Kids and Novices and look for the bullet item “The Finder, Simplified” in Create Managed Accounts for Kids and Novices. Note: You can set up a Dock with a much simpler set of Dock icons. (If you’re curious, Command-click a Dock icon to see its original in the Finder.) Because Dock icons are aliases, you can add and remove them as you like-the originals remain unaffected. Apps, for instance, actually live in your Applications folder. The icons displayed in the Dock represent aliases, or shortcuts. If you don’t recognize an icon, hover your pointer over it to see its name. The right side-across the hairline divider-holds folders (including, by default, Downloads), files, minimized windows, and the Trash. Its left side holds icons for apps Apple installs there, that you’ve placed there yourself, and for currently running apps. Learn the Lay of the Landīy default, the Dock stretches across the bottom of your screen and is divided into two territories. For example, you can return recent calls in FaceTime, as you see here. Click and hold a program’s Dock icon to access shortcuts for it.

① Delve into the Dock’s Preferences to change where it appears onscreen (at the bottom, left, or right), as well as how it acts. Invest a little time thinking about what you want to keep available in your Dock, and you’ll find the Dock offers one-click access as well as convenient shortcuts ①. You can also modify it to fit the way you work-moving it to one side or making it disappear when you don’t need it. It lets you launch applications and access options for currently running ones, as well as keep frequently used files and folders close at hand.

The Dock, that ever-present bar that runs along the edge of your screen, can do more than you might think.

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