How to Group Apps in the Mac Dock (2026): 3 Ways That Work

macOS does not let you drop one app icon onto another to make a group. The free workaround is a Finder folder full of aliases dragged to the right side of the Dock. Spacers only add visual gaps. If you want apps, files, folders and links in one group that opens from the Dock, a keyboard shortcut or a widget, that is what a Dock organizer such as Otterdock adds.

The Mac Dock is a flat row of icons. Unlike the iPhone Home Screen, you cannot drag one app onto another to create a folder, and System Settings has no option for app groups. When the Dock reaches twenty or thirty icons, finding the right one takes a visual scan every time.

There are three realistic ways to group apps in the Dock. Two use only macOS, one uses a third-party organizer. This guide walks through each, including the limits Apple's own design imposes, so you can pick the lightest option that solves your problem.

Why the Dock has no app groups

The Dock has two halves separated by a thin divider. The left (or top, on a side Dock) holds applications: pinned apps plus any running app that is not pinned. The right holds folders, documents and minimized windows, plus the Trash. Only the right half can display a folder, and a folder on the Dock is always a shortcut to a real Finder folder. macOS never stores a "group" object of its own.

That design explains every limitation below: you can show a folder of app shortcuts, but macOS will still treat each app as an individual item when it launches.

Method 1: A Finder folder of aliases (free, built in)

This is the only native way to get a collapsible set of apps in the Dock.

1. In Finder, create a folder somewhere you will not move later, for example ~/Dock Groups/Design.
2. Open the Applications folder, select the apps you want in the group, then press Command-Control-A (File > Make Alias) to create aliases. Drag the new aliases into your folder.
3. Drag the folder to the right side of the Dock divider, next to the Trash. If the Dock refuses the drop, you are aiming at the application side.
4. Control-click the folder in the Dock. Under Display as, choose Folder (shows the folder icon) or Stack (shows the first item's icon). Under View content as, choose Fan, Grid, List or Automatic.
5. Click the icon. Click an alias inside the stack to open that app.

The detailed version of these steps, with every display option, is in how to add folders to the macOS Dock.

What works well: one folder per project, zero extra software, and you can mix app aliases with documents and other folders. Sorting is handled by Finder.

What does not work:

• Every app you open from the stack still appears as a running-app icon on the left side of the Dock. The group collapses nothing while the app runs.
• The stack icon is generic unless you pick Stack display and accept the first item's icon. Several project folders look identical.
• There is no keyboard shortcut to open a specific stack, no search inside a large stack, and no way to open everything at once.
• If you move or rename the real folder, the Dock entry turns into a question mark. See what the question mark icon means.

Method 2: Dock spacers (visual sections only)

A spacer is an empty tile that pushes icons apart. It does not group anything, but it makes a long Dock readable because your eye jumps between sections instead of scanning icon by icon.

Open Terminal and paste one of these, then press Return:

• Full-width spacer: defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}' && killall Dock
• Half-width spacer: defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="small-spacer-tile";}' && killall Dock

The Dock restarts and a blank tile appears at the end of the application section. Drag it between the icons you want to separate. Repeat the command for more spacers. To remove one, drag it off the Dock like any other icon.

killall Dock only restarts the Dock process; it does not sign you out or close apps. Spacers survive restarts because they are stored in the Dock's own preferences.

Use spacers when you have fewer than about fifteen apps and just want them in visible clusters. Skip them when the real problem is that too many apps are pinned; a gap does not shorten the row.

Method 3: A Dock organizer (apps, files, folders and links in one group)

A Dock organizer adds the group object macOS lacks. Instead of a Finder folder of aliases, you build a named group in the organizer, and the organizer puts something in the Dock that opens that group. The practical differences from Method 1 are: mixed content in one group, a way to open the group from the keyboard or a widget, and a consistent look for every group.

Otterdock, the organizer we make, works like this:

1. Create a group and give it a name such as "Client Review".
2. Add items from Applications, from the Dock, from Finder, or by dragging files, folders and web links into the group. Free groups hold up to eight items; two groups are free.
3. Put the group in the Dock. In the Direct edition, click Sync Now and Otterdock writes the entry itself; later edits sync after a short countdown. In the Mac App Store edition, drag the group's card from Otterdock to the right side of the Dock; what lands there is the folder Otterdock generated, exactly like Method 1. The sandbox does not let an App Store app edit the Dock for you.
4. Open the group. The Mac App Store edition opens a native stack. The Direct edition can open its own popup on click or on hover, with search, arrow-key navigation, Command-1 to Command-9 for the first nine items and Command-A to launch every item in the group. Direct also assigns a global shortcut to each group, Control-1 to Control-6 by default, so you can open a group without touching the Dock.
5. Optionally add the same group to a desktop or Notification Center widget. Widgets show 4, 8 or 12 items by size and open one item per click.

The Direct edition's custom popup and hover need macOS Accessibility permission because they watch the pointer over the Dock; if you prefer not to grant it, Otterdock falls back to native stack behavior. The comparison of both editions, including Intel support and update channels, is in Otterdock Direct vs Mac App Store.

What does not change: an app opened from an Otterdock group still shows its running icon on the left side of the Dock, because that is macOS behavior, not something an organizer can suppress.

Which method should you use?

A reasonable order: remove apps you rarely open, add one or two spacers, and build a Finder folder for a project you return to often. If you find yourself wanting a document, a folder and a web page in the same group, or you keep hunting for the right stack, that is the point where an organizer earns its place. The full trade-offs are in Otterdock vs native Dock folders.

Keep the layout maintainable

• Name groups after a recurring activity ("Invoices", "Thesis", "Streaming"), not after a job title. Groups you do not revisit weekly tend to rot.
• Review the Dock after a real week of work. Remove shortcuts you did not touch, rename labels you misread, and split a group only if you often search inside it.
• If icons start to look alike, give each group a distinct icon. macOS allows custom folder icons; Otterdock has built-in group styles. See how to customize Dock icons.
• Keep the real folders behind Dock stacks in a stable location, and avoid renaming them.

For a complete example with a development and a writing group, continue with building workflow groups on the Mac Dock.