In Ubuntu (GNOME desktop), the primary application launcher—known as the Ubuntu Dock or “Dash to Dock”—sits permanently on the left side of your screen. By default, Ubuntu attempts to maximize your screen real estate by enabling an “Auto-hide” feature. When you maximize a web browser or a text editor, the dock detects that the window is touching it and smoothly slides off the screen, requiring you to shove your mouse against the left edge of the monitor to bring it back.
For users with large, high-resolution monitors, this auto-hiding behavior is completely unnecessary. Having the dock constantly sliding in and out of view every time you move a window is visually distracting, and it adds an annoying delay whenever you want to launch a new application. You can force the dock to remain permanently visible at all times.
How to Keep the Ubuntu Dock Always Visible
You can disable the intelligent auto-hide feature directly from the Ubuntu Appearance settings.
- Click the network/battery icon cluster in the top-right corner of the Ubuntu top bar and select Settings (the gear icon).
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on Appearance (or Ubuntu Desktop on newer versions).
- Look for the section titled Dock.
- Locate the toggle switch labelled Auto-hide the Dock.
- Click the toggle switch to turn it Off.
The Ubuntu dock will immediately lock itself into position on the edge of your screen. Even if you maximize an application window, the window will simply size itself around the dock, ensuring that your application shortcuts and open window indicators are always instantly visible without any mouse acrobatics.