How to Customize the iPad Dock

Difficulty
Beginner
Tested on
iPadOS 18.0 - iPad Pro M4
You will need
iPad running iPadOS 15 or later

Step by step

  1. 30 sec

    Add apps to the Dock

    Locate the app icon you wish to add on your Home Screen. Press and hold the icon until the context menu appears, then select Edit Home Screen or simply drag the icon down toward the Dock. Release the icon when the other Dock items shift to create space.

    Note: The Dock can hold up to 13 total app icons depending on the screen size.
  2. 30 sec

    Remove apps from the Dock

    Press and hold an app icon already located in your Dock. Drag the icon out of the Dock area and onto your Home Screen page. Release the icon to lock it into its new position.

  3. 1 min

    Disable suggested apps

    Open the Settings app and navigate to Home Screen & Multitasking. Locate the Show Suggested and Recent Apps in Dock toggle. Switch the toggle to the off position to prevent the iPad from dynamically adding apps to the right side of your Dock.

    Note: Disabling this creates a static, predictable layout for your Dock.
  4. 30 sec

    Create Dock folders

    Drag one app icon on top of another app icon already inside the Dock. Release the icon to automatically create a folder containing both apps. You can add more apps to this folder by dragging them into it directly from the Dock or Home Screen.

    Note: Folders inside the Dock provide an efficient way to group related utilities.