The Ubuntu Desktop environment features a prominent Dock (often referred to as the launcher or sidebar) that sits on the left-hand side of your screen. By default, this dock is persistent, meaning it always remains visible. However, many users enable the “Auto-hide” feature to reclaim screen real estate, causing the dock to slide off-screen when a window overlaps it.
If you have enabled Auto-hide but find that the dock is too sensitive, accidentally disappearing when you try to click an app icon, or if you simply want it to remain permanently visible on your screen again, you can easily disable the auto-hiding behaviour and lock the dock in place.
How to Stop the Dock from Auto-Hiding
You can lock the dock back to its default, persistent state directly from the main Ubuntu Settings menu.
- Click the system menu in the top-right corner of your screen (where the battery and network icons are).
- Click on Settings from the drop-down menu.
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on Appearance. (In some newer Ubuntu versions, this may be located under a dedicated Ubuntu Desktop or Dock tab).
- Look for the section specifically dedicated to the “Dock.”
- Locate the toggle switch labelled Auto-hide the Dock.
- Click the toggle switch to turn it Off.
The change is instantaneous. The Ubuntu Dock will immediately slide back onto your screen and remain permanently fixed to the left edge, regardless of how many application windows you open or maximize.