April 19, 2025

How to add space separators between icons in macOS DOCK?

add spaces between icons in macOS dock

add spaces between icons in macOS dock

You can customize your macOS Dock by adding invisible spacer icons to organize apps. Here’s how to do it using Terminal commands:


Method 1: Adding a Small Spacer

This adds a flexible, small gap between Dock icons.

  1. Open Terminal (⌘ + Space → Type Terminal → Enter).
  2. Paste & run this command:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="small-spacer-tile";}'
  1. Restart the Dock to apply changes:
killall Dock

Here is a video that describes the steps to add spaces between icons on macOS Dock:


Method 2: Adding a Large Spacer

This adds a bigger, fixed-width gap (like a divider).

  1. Run this in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}'
  1. Restart Dock:
killall Dock

How to Remove Spacers from your Dock ?

  • Drag the spacer out of the Dock (it will disappear with a puff animation).
  • OR reset the Dock to default (removes all spacers):
defaults delete com.apple.dock persistent-apps
killall Dock