Sometimes, the Dock seems like the most static item on your Desktop. But, you can input a few Terminal commands to give it a little more function, rather than just leaving it to stare at you from the bottom of the screen. Read on to find out how.

How to Use the Hacks

Once you type in the following commands in Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities, or easily found by typing it into Spotlight), press Enter to execute them. Afterward, you'll need to restart the Dock so that the changes take place by typing the following command into Terminal:

killall Dock

To disable the hack, simply run the "Reversal Command" listed for that hack.

1. Enable iTunes Track Notifications

The Dock has a nifty hidden feature that allows you to see song information whenever iTunes is playing. By enabling the script below, a small popup will appear above the iTunes icon in the Dock containing the title of the song and artist name. To enable this command, type in:

defaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool TRUE

If you get annoyed by it, reenter that code into Terminal and replace that last word with FALSE.

2. Make List View Stacks act like Grid View Stacks

The command below will jazz up your List View Stacks to look like the screenshot above. To enable the command, type in:

defaults write com.apple.dock use-new-list-stack -bool YES

To reverse it, simply type in NO at the end.

3. Enable the "Suck" Minimize Effect

By default, you can choose between the Genie and Scale minimize effect in System Preferences > Dock, but there's also a hidden effect called "Suck." And no, it doesn't suck...Ha! You're hilarious.

You can enable it by typing in the following command: 

defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect suck

To reverse it, just simply change the animation for the Dock.

4. Pin the Dock

Having the dock smack dab in the center of the screen might make it too symmetrical for you. Try out one of the following commands below to pin the Dock to either side of the Desktop.

Pin Dock to the Right:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string "start"

Pin Dock to the Left:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string "end"

Pin Dock to the Center (back to the way it was):

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string "middle"

5. Always Show Trash Empty or Full

This is silly, but there's a command to make your Trash icon always look full.

defaults write com.apple.dock trash-full -bool YES

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