DockDuck Documentation
First launch
The onboarding tour, signing in to start your free trial, granting Full Disk Access, and the Start Page that greets you.
What it is. What happens the first few times you open DockDuck — a short tour, signing in, an optional permission, and the dashboard you land on. When to use it. Read this once when you set DockDuck up; you won’t see most of it again.
The onboarding tour
The first time you open DockDuck, a centered welcome card walks you through a short feature tour. Each step introduces a part of the app — browsing, connecting to servers, and the organizing tools.
- Press Continue to step through the pages, or Skip to jump straight to the setup steps.
- The tour is one-time. Once you’ve stepped past it, a relaunch resumes at the sign-in step instead of replaying the whole thing.
Sign in to start your trial
DockDuck includes a 14-day free trial of every feature. The trial is tied to your account — so the onboarding ends on a sign-in step, and signing in is what starts the clock.
On the final onboarding step, click Sign In. DockDuck opens your browser to complete sign-in, then hands you back to the app.
The moment sign-in succeeds, onboarding finishes and the welcome card drops away — you’re in the app with full access.
There’s no credit card required to start the trial, and you get the whole app unlocked for the full 14 days.
DockDuck is one device per account. Signing in on another Mac signs this one out. If you sign out and your trial has ended without an active subscription, the app shows the paywall until you sign back in or subscribe.
Full Disk Access (optional)
macOS asks before any app reads certain folders. DockDuck can work without extra permission, but granting Full Disk Access once stops those prompts — it’s the same access Finder already has, and you can turn it off anytime.
- During onboarding, an optional step offers to take you straight to the right pane in System Settings. You can also do it later.
- If you skip it, a quiet one-time banner appears in the window offering the same shortcut. It disappears on its own the moment you grant access.
macOS doesn’t let any app grant Full Disk Access to itself — you flip the switch in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access. DockDuck can only take you there. Your files never leave your Mac regardless; this permission is only about reading folders locally.
The Start Page
After onboarding, every new window opens on the Start Page — a dashboard rather than a folder listing. It gathers, top to bottom:
- This Mac — your disks and volumes, with storage bars.
- Servers — your saved remote servers, if you have any.
- Quick Access — your common system folders as cards.
- Pinned — folders and files you’ve pinned for quick reach.
- Recent — a compact list of your recent activity.
Click a folder card to open it in the current tab; click a file to open it in its default app. You can return to the Start Page anytime with the Home button in the toolbar.
Where to go next
- The interface — a tour of the sidebar, toolbar, and panes.
- Remote servers — connect to SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, and FTP.
- Keyboard shortcuts — drive DockDuck from the keyboard.