ClutterDock
Scan → miss → scan again
A flat Dock has no context
Work tools sit next to games. Client apps sit next to personal chat. Your brain has to re-sort the same row every time you switch modes.
macOS · Windows · local-first
Your Dock was never built for how you work now.
Twenty tools. Six projects. Endless tabs. The Dock becomes a crowded shelf you re-scan a hundred times a day. ClutterDock turns what you open into calm, named stacks — apps, files, folders, and links — launched with one hotkey. Your system Dock stays. The chaos doesn’t.
Real product footage · watch the full demo
No Dock replacement
No account required
Open source
Free forever core
One-time Pro · no subscription
The quiet tax
Clutter doesn’t feel expensive — until you add it up.
Every extra icon is a tiny decision. Over a year, tiny decisions become hours of hunting, mis-clicks, and “where did I put that?”
Apps + files + links
Real work isn’t “apps only”
You open a project folder, a brief, a dashboard URL, and three tools together. The Dock only wants icons — so the rest of the job scatters across Finder, browser, and sticky notes.
Pin everything or nothing
The two bad options
Pin twenty things and the Dock becomes noise. Pin almost nothing and you live in Spotlight and Start. Neither matches how focused people actually work: a few contexts, used hard, every day.
Built-in stacks only go so far
macOS can put a Finder folder on the Dock. That’s useful — and limited. You don’t get mixed apps + files + URLs as a first-class stack, cross-stack search, workspaces for home vs work, or the same idea on Windows tray without duct tape. Full Dock replacements exist too — but they ask you to abandon the Dock you already know.
ClutterDock is for people who want order, not a new operating system skin.
The ClutterDock idea
One hotkey. Clean stacks. Same Dock.
Group by how you work — not by how the OS forces you to pin.
Without
Crowded Dock
Everything competes. Nothing is grouped by job.
With ClutterDock
Named stacks
Work · Creative · Client · Recents — on demand.
Conceptual illustration — not a product screenshot.
Stack the whole job
Drop apps, project folders, documents, and URLs into the same stack. Open the context — not a scavenger hunt across five surfaces.
Launch without leaving flow
Global hotkey (⌘⇧D on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows). Grid or list. Keyboard through items. Back to work in seconds.
Keep the Dock short
One ClutterDock presence instead of twenty “maybe later” pins. Favorites can stay on the Dock; everything else lives in stacks.
Stay local and private
No account wall. Stacks live on your machine. Organize your day without shipping your app list to the cloud.
Why people need this
If any of these sound familiar, ClutterDock is for you.
You switch roles all day
Client work, then admin, then personal. Flat icon rows don’t match mode-switching. Stacks do.
Your “workspace” is mixed media
Not just apps — folders, PDFs, dashboards, tickets. ClutterDock treats them as one launch surface.
You hate relearning your computer
Dock replacements change muscle memory. ClutterDock adds power without ripping out the Dock.
You want speed without a subscription
Free forever for daily stacks. Pro is a one-time unlock — not rent on your own organization.
Positioning
Built for a gap the market leaves open.
Plenty of tools redecorate the Dock or fence the desktop. ClutterDock does neither.
| Typical Dock replacement | Desktop icon organizers | ClutterDock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeps system Dock | Usually no | N/A (desktop) | Yes — by design |
| Apps + files + folders + URLs | Varies | Mostly desktop icons | First-class stacks |
| Mac + Windows | Often one OS | Often one OS | Both |
| Account required | Sometimes | Sometimes | Never |
| Pricing model | Often paid / suite | Often paid / sub | Free core · one-time Pro |
Comparison is categorical, not a review of any single product. ClutterDock’s job is launch context — not window previews, not desktop wallpaper organization.
In practice
Three steps to a calmer machine.
1
Name your contexts
Work, Creative, Client, Admin — whatever matches your day. A few stacks beat twenty pins.
2
Fill each stack
Apps, folders, files, and URLs that belong together. The full job in one place.
3
Hotkey and go
Open ClutterDock, pick the stack, launch. The Dock stays clean; your speed stays high.
Capabilities
Premium where it matters. Simple where it should be.
Search everything you own
Type any installed app’s name — even before it’s in a stack — and add or launch it in one keystroke.
Import your setup in one click
Pull taskbar pins, desktop shortcuts, and Start Menu apps straight into stacks. No rebuilding by hand.
Password-protected stacks (Pro)
Lock a stack behind a password — its contents are encrypted on disk and invisible until you unlock.
Keyboard-first
Hotkey → type → Enter. Copy and paste real files, drag items out to any app, reorder without a mouse.
Smart momentum
Recents and Most Used build themselves from what you launch. Running dots show what’s live.
Cross-platform craft
Native Swift on macOS 14+. Native-feel launcher on Windows 10/11. Same idea, same license, both platforms.
Principles
How we build ClutterDock
Respect the OS
No private Dock hacks. No replacement required. Stability over spectacle.
Respect your data
Local-first. No account to start. Your stacks are yours.
Respect your wallet
Free forever for daily use. Pro is optional and one-time — not a leash.
Pricing philosophy
Free where it counts.
Power without a subscription.
Enough free stacks for real daily work. Pro unlocks unlimited folders, workspaces, themes, and pack export — planned as a single purchase on Mac and Windows.
Public beta
Download ClutterDock
Free forever core. Builds are unsigned beta — first launch needs an extra click on Mac (Gatekeeper) and Windows (SmartScreen). See the install guide.
macOS 14+
Native Swift · universal (Apple Silicon + Intel) · v1.4.10
Download Mac zipUnzip → Applications → right-click → Open the first time.
Windows 10 / 11
Taskbar + tray · installer · v1.3.1
Download Windows installerRun the installer, then right-click the ClutterDock taskbar icon → Pin to taskbar. If SmartScreen / Bitdefender warns, allow this unsigned beta — see the install guide.
All assets and checksums: GitHub Releases · Help: Install FAQ · Bugs: Issues