What the Dock is
The Command Palette Dock is a toolbar on the edge of your screen. It lets you open your most-used commands and extensions without opening the full Command Palette window. It is part of Command Palette, so Command Palette must be enabled and running in the background for the Dock to work.
The feature isn't brand new. A GitHub post by the PowerToys team says the Dock shipped in PowerToys 0.98 / CmdPal 0.9. Early coverage from Pureinfotech noted that it was included in version 0.98.0 and was available as a preview at the time. A daily.dev summary of later coverage describes it as a stable-release feature, previously in beta. I couldn't confirm that stable status in Microsoft's own documentation. In the Dock docs, the page title still reads "preview" in some third-party screenshots, so labels may differ by version.
Taskbar replacement or companion?
Pocket-lint says the Dock effectively doubles up the taskbar. Other outlets are more cautious. Pureinfotech wrote that it isn't a fix for Windows 11's Taskbar limitations, and it's not trying to be. A summary of coverage on daily.dev lists the gaps:
- It can't replicate the system tray.
- It has no thumbnail previews on hover, and it can't close windows or end tasks.
My read is that it works as a launcher-and-widget bar that sits beside the taskbar. It doesn't replace the taskbar. That matches the author's own setup, which keeps the native taskbar running.
How to turn it on
These steps are based on Microsoft's documentation and the Pocket-lint walkthrough. Menu labels may vary slightly between PowerToys versions.
- Install PowerToys. It requires Windows 11, or Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer, on an x64 or ARM64 processor. Microsoft lists GitHub, the Microsoft Store and WinGet as install routes. The WinGet command is
winget install --id Microsoft.PowerToys --source winget. - Open PowerToys and go to the Command Palette page. Windows Latest describes the route as System Tools, then Command Palette, then the Command Palette Settings button.
- Make sure Command Palette itself is switched on. Then open Command Palette settings and toggle the Enable Dock option.
- If you don't see the toggle, update PowerToys first. Early builds put it on a separate "Dock (preview)" page.
Success looks like a toolbar anchored to a screen edge. Top is the default position.
Customizing the Dock
The Dock has three regions: Start, Center and End. By default, Start holds the Home command and a WinGet launcher. Center starts empty. End holds utility widgets, which include Performance Monitor, Network Speed and Date/Time.
Microsoft documents these settings:
- Position: left, top (the default), right or bottom. Top and bottom layouts are horizontal, and left and right layouts are vertical.
- Size: Default or Compact for top and bottom positions. Compact hides subtitles.
- Appearance: system, light or dark theme. The material can be transparent or Acrylic. Background colorization offers none, accent color, custom color or an image. Images have brightness from –100 to 100, blur from 0 to 50, and a Fill or Stretch fit.
- Behavior: Always stay on top keeps the Dock above other windows, except when an app is full screen. Auto-hide collapses it until you hover over its edge.
Performance Monitor can show CPU, memory, network usage and speed, disk, GPU and battery. The battery band appears only on devices with a battery.
Adding and arranging items
- Right-click the Dock background and choose Edit Dock.
- Select the + button in a region and pick a command from the flyout.
- Drag items to reorder them, then choose Save or Discard.
- Or open Command Palette, right-click a command and select Pin to Dock.
- Drag a file or URL onto the Dock to create a bookmark. Folder bookmarks open Command Palette's browse view scoped to that folder.
For keyboard users, Win+Alt+J focuses the Dock and reveals it if it is auto-hidden. Pressing it again moves to the next item. Adding Shift moves to the previous item. Enter or Space activates an item, Ctrl+Enter runs its secondary command, Ctrl+K opens its context menu, and Esc leaves the Dock.
Caveats that matter next to the real taskbar
- Auto-hide conflicts. If the taskbar or another app already uses auto-hide on that edge, the Dock falls back to pinned mode. If you auto-hide your taskbar at the bottom, put the Dock on another edge.
- Reserved space. When pinned, the Dock uses the Windows AppBar API to reserve screen space. Other windows won't overlap it, so it costs you some screen height or width.
- No manual resizing. Microsoft says the Dock can't be resized or dragged. Its position comes from the Position setting. That conflicts with the Pocket-lint author's remark about beating the native taskbar on resizing and relocating, unless you count the size and position options. Those do exist.
- Explorer restarts. The Dock restores its position automatically if Windows Explorer restarts.
Multi-monitor setups
Each display gets its own Dock and its own set of pinned bands. You can keep Performance Monitor on one screen and work bookmarks on another. You can also drag bands between monitors' Docks. For anyone running a multi-monitor desk, this may be the strongest reason to try it, because the setup is more flexible than a single-PC test would show.
The author's workflow, and what is opinion
Kanellakos turned off the native taskbar clock by right-clicking it, choosing Adjust date and time, and unticking Show time and date in the System tray. He did this to avoid duplicating the Dock's clock. He also likes the CPU and memory tickers because they spare him a trip to Task Manager. He says Command Palette's search beats native Windows Search. That is his opinion, not a measured comparison, and Microsoft hasn't made that claim. He also says Microsoft toyed with a second taskbar in January. The Microsoft documentation doesn't address that, so treat it as the author's framing.
Who should try it
The Dock suits users who:
- want live CPU, memory or network readings on screen all the time
- keep a short list of favorite apps, folders and URLs close at hand
- run several monitors and want a different toolbar on each
It suits people less if you rely on taskbar thumbnails, tray icons or window management from the bar. Since it's optional, it can simply be disabled and Command Palette carries on as before. That makes it cheap to test.
Bottom line
Pocket-lint's enthusiasm is backed by the feature's documented behavior. The "second taskbar" label oversells it, though. The Dock is a customizable launcher and widget bar. It adds useful glanceable tools alongside the taskbar, and it leaves the taskbar's core jobs to the taskbar.