MultiDock 2 Documentation

Updated September 2026

MultiDock 2 adds extra panels to macOS for the apps, files, and folders you use together. The panels live alongside the Dock, not instead of it: pin one to a screen edge, or let it float where the work is.

Getting started

MultiDock lives in the menu bar at the top of the screen, near Control Center. It has no icon in the Dock unless you turn one on in Settings… → General → Show icon in Dock.

Click the MultiDock menu bar icon → New Panel. A panel appears on the screen where your pointer is.
Add apps, files, or folders: drag them onto the panel, or right-click empty space → Add Item….
Click an item to open it, just like in the Dock.

Panels

A panel is a window of icons. You can have several, including on different displays. The panel name is not drawn on the panel itself. It appears in the menu bar under Panels, so you can tell them apart.

Right-click empty space on a panel for:

New Panel
Show All Panels: brings every panel in front of other windows for a moment
Add Item…
New Group
New Tab
Panel Settings…
Remove Panel: deletes the panel and everything in it. If the panel is not empty, MultiDock asks first.

Show All Panels is also in the menu bar. Show Panel (under Panels → the panel’s name) brings that one panel to the front.

Remove Panel removes a panel and its icons (MultiDock asks first if it isn’t empty). To clear every panel from the screen at once, Quit MultiDock: they come back the next time you open the app.

Tabs

A tab is a full set of icons. Switching tabs changes the whole panel, like a browser.

The tab bar appears after you create a second tab and then stays, even if you go back to one tab. Removing the last tab empties the panel; the panel itself remains.

Right-click a tab:

New Tab
Rename: edit the name in place
Color: No Color, or Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Mint, Teal, Cyan, Blue, Indigo, Purple, Pink, Brown, Gray (system colors)
Show Running Applications: on or off for this tab only
Remove Tab

If the tab bar is hidden (a panel that has never had a second tab), the tab name is in Panel Settings… as Tab Name.

Default names: first tab Main, then Tab 2, Tab 3, …

Groups

A group is one icon that opens a small window of shortcuts. The rest of the panel stays put. That is the difference from a tab: a tab replaces the set, a group opens on top of it.

Right-click empty space → New Group. Click the group to open it, or right-click the group → Open. Press Esc to close it.

A group holds shortcuts. Dropping a folder on the panel adds a shortcut to that folder.

Right-click a group to open it, rename it, give it a custom icon (Choose Icon…), or remove it.

Inside an open group: drag items in, or Add Item…. Right-click a shortcut in the group to give it a custom icon or take it out of the group.

Adding and removing items

Drag apps, files, or folders onto the panel or into a group.
Add Item… opens the system file dialog.
An empty panel shows a plus button and, on a horizontal panel, the hint or drop apps here.
Right-click a shortcut → Choose Icon… to use your own image (any image file; MultiDock says so if it isn’t one). After you set a custom icon, Use Default Icon appears to bring back the original.
Right-click a shortcut → Remove to take it off the panel. If that app is running and showing in the running-apps tail, the command is Unpin: the shortcut leaves the pinned set and can reappear among running apps.

Once the panel has items, add more by dragging them in or with Add Item… from the context menu.

Running apps

Each tab can show applications that are open right now, after the pinned icons. Turn it on with Show Running Applications on that tab.

Running apps are not saved in your layout. Duplicates of pinned apps are filtered out; a pinned app that is running shows a running indicator instead of a second icon.

To pin a running app: drag it into place, or right-click it → Keep in Panel.

Placement

Panel Settings… → Position:

Free: the panel sits where you drag it. Edge, Alignment, and Edge Inset are grey. That is expected: a floating panel has no screen edge.
Snapped to Edge: the panel sticks to a screen edge.

Edge: Left, Right, Top, Bottom. Left or Right makes a vertical column of icons; Top or Bottom makes a row.

Want a column and a row at the same time? Use two panels: snap one to Left or Right, the other to Top or Bottom.

Alignment along that edge: Start, Center, End, or Stretch (fill the edge).

Edge Inset: gap from the snapped edge only (0 to 48). It does not inset the other sides.

A panel remembers its display and placement. Absolute coordinates are not stored, so a resolution change does not throw the panel off-screen. If that display is gone, the panel moves to one that is still there.

Show on All Desktops. On (default): the panel is on every Space and over full-screen apps. Off: it stays on the Space where it is. After you quit and reopen it, a single-Space panel comes back on the Space that is active when MultiDock starts. That is a macOS limitation.

Window Level: Below Windows, Normal, or Above All. The same choices are under Panels → the panel’s name → Window Level.

Panel settings

Right-click the panel → Panel Settings…. Changes apply immediately; there is no Apply button.

Setting	What it does
`Name`	Name in the `Panels` menu, not drawn on the panel
`Tab Name`	Only when the tab bar is hidden
`Position`	`Free` or `Snapped to Edge`
`Edge`	`Left`, `Right`, `Top`, `Bottom` (grey when `Free`)
`Alignment`	`Start`, `Center`, `End`, `Stretch` (grey when `Free`)
`Edge Inset`	Gap from the snapped edge (grey when `Free`)
`Window Level`	`Below Windows`, `Normal`, `Above All`
`Show on All Desktops`	Every Space, or only the current one
`Show Labels`	Names under icons
`Icon Size`	`Small`, `Medium`, `Large`
`Icon Spacing`	`Extra Compact`, `Compact`, `Normal`, `Spacious`
`Highlight on Hover`	Highlight when the pointer is over an icon
`Show Tooltips`	Name on hover (works even when the panel is not the key window)
`Tab Style`	`Buttons` or `Tabs` (slanted chips)

Tab color is on the tab’s context menu, not in this window. Show Running Applications is on the tab, not here.

Settings

Menu bar icon → Settings… (or ⌘,). This window is not Panel Settings. Panel settings still live on each panel (right-click → Panel Settings…).

General

Show icon in Dock: off by default. The menu bar icon is always there.

Startup

Start at Login: opens MultiDock when you log in to the Mac.

The MultiDock icon is in the menu bar.

New Panel
Import from MultiDock 1…
Show All Panels: appears once you have at least one panel
Panels: appears once you have a panel; lists each one by name (Show Panel, Window Level)
Settings…
Check for Updates…
Send Feedback…
More Apps by MacPlus…
License: Trial / Active / Not Activated, then Enter License Key… or, once active, Manage License…
Quit MultiDock

License

MultiDock is a free trial that becomes a paid license with a key. The license lives in the menu bar, under the License: status line.

Status line: one of:

License: Trial: the trial is running.
License: Active: activated. A Licensed to: line shows the email the key belongs to.
License: Not Activated: the trial is over and no key is entered.

Enter a key. Menu bar icon → Enter License Key…. This opens the activation dialog. Paste the key and confirm. When it succeeds, the status line turns to License: Active.

Check or copy your key. Once active, menu bar icon → Manage License… opens the License Manager window: status, the email the license is registered to, and the full License Code with a Copy button.

Deactivate. In the License Manager window → Deactivate…. This frees the license on this Mac. You can activate the same key again later, on this or another Mac.

Move to another Mac. There is no separate transfer. Deactivate on the old Mac (Manage License… → Deactivate…), then on the new Mac choose Enter License Key… and enter the same key.

A MultiDock 1 key does not work in MultiDock 2.

Import from MultiDock 1

MultiDock 1 and MultiDock 2 are separate apps. Panels do not appear automatically.

Update first (Check for Updates…), then menu bar icon → Import from MultiDock 1….

A MultiDock 1 license does not activate MultiDock 2.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘,	Open `Settings…`
⌘Q	`Quit MultiDock`
Esc	Close an open group

Troubleshooting

I don’t see MultiDock. It lives in the menu bar, not the Dock. To also show a Dock icon, turn on Settings… → General → Show icon in Dock.

My MultiDock 1 panels aren’t here. MultiDock 1 and MultiDock 2 are separate apps and do not share data. Update MultiDock 2 (Check for Updates…), then use Import from MultiDock 1….

I have a license key but can’t find where to enter it. Menu bar icon → Enter License Key…. The status line above it shows License: Trial until you activate.

System requirements

macOS 15 Sequoia or later, Intel or Apple Silicon.