How to Add a Windows-Style Start Menu to your Dock for FREE!

Many of us work on Windows computers elsewhere. I use one at work. 

We grow used to the convenience of the Start Menu in the lower left-hand corner. It lists all the apps we need in one place. 

What if you could put a Start Menu in your Dock? What if you could do it for free? Follow me then...

 

Step 1: Open up the Finder to the root (bottom) of your boot drive.

 

 

 

At the bottom or root level of my own hard drive, called High_Sierra, I have 5 folders.

 

• Applications
• Library
• Opt
• System
• Users

 

Step #2: Click on the Applications folder and drag it down to the right side of the Dock.

 

 

 

You ‘ll notice several folders on the right-hand side. In the middle of those folders, you’ll see an icon looking like a lock. That’s the icon of the first app in my Applications folder, 1Password.

Note the settings revealed when you right-click on the icon:

 

• Sort by Name
• Display as Stack
• View Content as Automatic

 

Now to change it to a list of apps with the branded Applications folder in the Dock, do the following:

 

• Sort by Name
• Display as Folder
• View content as List

 

 

 

Here’s how my Start Menu looks when I click on it:

 

 

 

Summary:

 

With this procedure, you get a Start Menu in your Dock. Other apps, some free and some paid, offer more options for the Start Menu. 

For a free option, look into Devon Technologies’ XMenu, available here. You will need to scroll down the list of great freeware they provide to see X-Menu.

For a paid option, look into Brawer Software’s uBar 4. It’s about $30, but gives you a full-blown Start Menu on the left-hand side. It seemingly replaces the Dock.

Well, it shoves the Dock over to the right-side of the desktop and puts it on auto-hide. 

Don’t steal it! The developer has a neat way of combatting piracy. The app’s text morphs into Klingon if you use a bad password.

 

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog