Dock Keep

Keep your Dock exactly the way you arranged it.

Dock Keep is a small, free macOS utility that locks your Dock's layout so an accidental drag can't remove an app — and that can always undo it: the real lock state is shown at all times, your arrangement is backed up before anything changes, it restores in one click, and the manual unlock command is documented right inside the app.

It is not parental control and it is not security. Locking requires no administrator password. This protects against accidents, not against intent.

Status

Under construction (v1). Target: macOS 14 and later, developed and tested on macOS 26 (Tahoe).

Repository layout

app/      macOS application (Swift/SwiftUI, project generated by XcodeGen)
site/     Marketing site and Sparkle appcast (Vercel → dockkeep.lndev.me)
shared/   Assets shared by the app and the site (icon, screenshots)
scripts/  Build, signing, notarization and release scripts
docs/     Research notes, test log, uninstall instructions

Developing the app

brew install xcodegen        # once
cd app && xcodegen           # regenerates DockKeep.xcodeproj (not versioned)
open DockKeep.xcodeproj

Re-run xcodegen whenever a source file is added or removed: app/project.yml is the source of truth, the .xcodeproj is a build artefact.

Developing the site

cd site && pnpm install && pnpm dev

If your Dock is stuck locked

This works whether Dock Keep set the lock or not, and whether the app is installed or not:

defaults delete com.apple.dock contents-immutable && killall Dock

That command is also shown inside the app, on purpose. An app that can lock your Dock should never be the only way out of it.

Uninstalling

Unlock from within the app, then move it to the Trash. If you delete it while still locked, the command above unlocks your Dock.

Licence

MIT — see LICENSE.