Make the Dock hide itself so you get more screen space

Why it happens

Out of the box, the Dock stays on screen all the time and windows stop just above it. On a smaller MacBook screen that's a lot of room. With auto-hide on, the Dock tucks away and slides back when you move the pointer to the edge of the screen.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings, then click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar.

2. In the Dock section, turn on Automatically hide and show the Dock. It disappears straight away.

   Desktop & Dock›Dock›Automatically hide and show the Dock

3. Move the pointer to the very bottom of the screen and hold it there for a moment. The Dock slides up, and hides again when you move away.

4. For a quick switch, press Option-Command-D. It's handy when you're presenting or want the Dock back for a while.

Still not fixed?

1. If Option-Command-D does nothing, click the desktop first so no app has grabbed the keys, then try again. You can also check the Dock shortcut hasn't been turned off in Keyboard Shortcuts.

   Keyboard›Keyboard Shortcuts…

2. Want more room still? Make the Dock smaller with the Size slider, or move it to the left or right side with Dock position on screen.

   Desktop & Dock›Dock›Size

3. The menu bar can hide too. Open Menu Bar in System Settings and choose when to use Automatically hide and show the menu bar.

   Menu Bar›Automatically hide and show the menu bar

4. There's a short pause before the Dock appears. System Settings has no switch for that delay, so a slight wait is normal.

5. If the switch turns itself back off, or the Dock won't hide after a restart and a macOS update, contact Apple Support.

   General›Software Update