If you use more than one screen with your Mac, you’ll know that getting them set up in a way that works for you is very important. It can have a significant effect on how productive you are and how much you enjoy using your Mac. One of the things that many of us like to get set up just right is the Dock. Whether you prefer it at the bottom of the screen or the side, like it to be hidden or always in view, we all have a preference. And when you have more than one screen, one thing that many Mac users would like to do is have the Dock on both screens. But is it possible, or Mac Dock moves to second screen all the time?
Is it possible to show the Dock on all screens on Mac simultaneously?
The first place we need to look for the option to show the Dock on all screens on Mac is the Desktop & Dock section of System Settings.
However, looking there reveals that there is no option to show the Dock on all screens. You can choose where to put the Dock, activate Hide and Show, and choose if and how it should be animated when apps are opened or windows minimized. But there’s nothing here that allows us to display the Dock on all screens.
Next in our search for a setting that will allow us to show the Dock on all screens is the Displays section of System Settings. It has to be here, right? Sadly, not. There’s no option in Display settings to allow you to show the Dock on all screens.
How to show the Dock on all screens on Mac
So, we’ve now established that there is no way to show the Dock on all screens on your Mac simultaneously. However, even though you can’t have multiple Docks on multiple screens, you can choose which screen to show the Dock on. And you can show the Dock on all screens connected to your Mac, just not simultaneously. Here’s how:
- Click on the Apple menu and select System Settings.
- Choose Displays and then click Arrange.
- Click on the white bar at the top of one of the screens in the window and drag it across to the other. That moves the menu bar from one screen to the other and makes that one the primary display. And making it the primary display means it shows the Dock.
- To make the other screen show the Dock, just drag the menu bar back again.
If you want to show the Dock on another screen connected to your Mac without going to System Settings, move the cursor to the bottom of the screen on the display you want the Dock to appear and then keep moving the cursor down. The Dock should move to that display. However, this method only works if you have the Dock on the bottom of the screen, not the side.
How to easily clean and optimize your Mac
No matter how many screens you use with your Mac, it’s important to keep it free from junk and running as fast and as smoothly as possible. You could do that manually by hunting down and removing junk files, clearing caches, running macOS maintenance scripts, and repairing disk permissions. However, that would take a great deal of time, and there’s a good chance you would miss something. It’s much better to use a tool designed for that purpose. Even better if that tool also scans your Mac for malware. CleanMyMac X has a module called Smart Scan that does all of those things. All you have to do is click the Scan button, and it will scan your Mac looking for opportunities to improve its performance, free up space, and check for malware. When it’s done, you can implement its recommendations or take a closer look at what it has found before deciding what to do. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here.
What do to if the Dock has accidentally moved to another screen
Some people have reported an issue where the Mac Dock moves to second screen spontaneously from the screen on which they put it. If that happens, changing the menu bar and primary display in System Settings doesn’t make any difference because the menu bar is still on the original display. However, you can use the trick we described above, where you drag the cursor past the bottom of the screen you want the Dock to appear on, and it should move to that screen. Remember, this only works if the Dock is at the bottom of the screen, so if you have it set to appear at the side, you might have to change it at least temporarily. Here’s how to do that:
- Click the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
- Choose Desktop & Dock.
- Set ‘Position on screen’ to bottom.
If that trick doesn’t appear to work, try switching off ‘Automatically hide and show the Dock’ if you have it switched on.
One reason why the Dock might move to another screen is if your Mac stops sensing the display that is set as the primary display. If that happens, the screen will probably go off, and the Dock will move. Check the cable connections and try switching the monitor off and then on again if this happens to you.
Lots of us use more than one display with our Mac. It’s very useful if you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air as your main computer. Even if you have a desktop Mac, having two or more displays allows you to be more productive. When you use multiple displays, it’s important to set them up exactly how you want them. Follow the steps above to display the Dock on whichever display you choose and fix any problems that appear.
