Adding space in the Dock ...

You definitely have too many items on that Dock to make it work properly and adding spaces between items/sections will just increase the size of the Dock. I performed a search for "macos create empty space on dock" and came up with this link as the first hit:

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2023/06/01/how-to-add-space-to-dock-mac/

Considering these instructions even mention that the given command does not always work the first time, I'm not sure how much faith I would put into this option.

Have you tried utilizing LaunchPad instead and only keeping your most commonly used apps on the Dock?

Use Launchpad to view and open apps on Mac - Apple Support

Edit: Make sure to have a good backup before trying to use the instructions in that linked article to use the command line to modify the Dock. There is no safety net when using the command line and usually no simple way of reverting modifications.

This solution is not in line with others in that it doesn't require using the terminal. But I highly recommend a freeware app called TinkerTool by Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme. It will not only allow you to create spaces anywhere along your Dock, but you have 2 different spacer widths to choose from. You will choose the Spacing you want, the Tile (icon) that you want it to appear after, then click Insert, To remove the spacer, right click and delete.

But wait! There's more:

"TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to [dozens of] additional user settings Apple has built into macOS. This allows you to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.

The tool makes sure that preference changes can only affect the current user. It will never change any component of the operating system, so the integrity of your system is not put at risk, and there will be no negative effect on system updates."

• Do not confuse TinkerTool with their other similar app, TinkerTool System 7. That app is geared toward system admins and costs $17 US. TinkerTool is free.

• TinkerTool has been around for many years, gets outstanding reviews, is safe as milk, and is available for a range of MacOS versions (in case you aren't running the latest OS.)

• TinkerTool is not available in the App Store. You will need to download it from the author's website, or from a number of other sites. Just Google it and check it out. I hope this helps! 👍

Turn OFF dock magnification. You have to have the dexterity to move the icon between other icons already present. The dock will crowd with more icons. On a small screen it may become necessary to drag folders to the bottom of the vertical dock or right hand side of a dock on the bottom of the screen to manage multiple programs in the dock.

A space like you describe is best created by making a shortcut for an icon in a disk image, and then ejecting the disk image, then the next time it tries to launch the program in that disk image, it won't find it, and will revert to a ? icon which is usually translucent.

The dock as you show it is split into two areas.

The far right side which includes minimized windows, and folders and documents, and the left side of the divider which is applications. If you drag a folder into the right area, it becomes a launcher itself for the icons in that folder. You can make Finder shortcuts and put them in a folder, and then drag that to the dock to free up space on the dock for less frequently used programs.

Whichever reply gets the most upvotes gets the best reply moniker & position.

So I added my upvote to his reply.

You can adjust the dock in System Preferences/Dock (or Dock & Menu Bar). Options vary with your OS, but you should at least be able to adjust the size and magnification, or turn magnification off. I've never had to turn magnification off in order to add items or adjust the dock.

The dock has three sections: apps, recent items, and folders. To add an app to the app section, open the Application folder, then click on the icon and drag and drop it on the menu bar. To some extent, the menu bar will adjust spacing on its own. The same goes for adding folders to the folder section. You can also remove most items from the menu bar by right- (or two-finger-) clicking the item and choosing "remove from dock".

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but when the Dock is as crowded as yours, one has to think whether that is the best idea. The very point of the Dock is to provide quick access to most used applications. If you put everything there, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Or consider not relying on the Dock so much.I don't even use it... want to launch an application, say... Photos?

Rather than taking your hand off of the keyboard, and have to look for its tiny icon in the crowded Dock: press Command-space and type Pho, press enter. Done. Likewise for Safari, etc... My Dock is completely hidden and I can go a full day without seeing it. More space, less eyesore.

I tried the method in HWTech's link on two MBPs: a 2013 13" running Big Sur, and a 14" M1 Pro running Sonoma 14.4.1, and my old 2008 MacBook (not pro, the white plastic one) with 10.7.5 Lion. It worked on all of them at the first try. And I was able to move the blank space around as the article says.

Add space between the app icons in your Dock

1) Launch the Terminal app on your Mac

2) Type in the following command and press the return/enter key:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'

3) Finally, you need to refresh the Dock for new changes to show up. To do that, type in the following command and press the return key:

killall Dock

it'll disappear and will show when you navigate to it again!

I agree with others, you have way too many icons on the dock. Group them as Finder shortcuts in folders on the Finder, and then make a shortcut to the folders by dragging it to the right of the dock's divider. You choose the categories of shortcuts to create.

Apple menu -> System Preferences or Settings -> Dock. There you will find a checkbox for magnification and a hiding.

You can also as suggested use the Launcher, but that can be more difficult as I found the Launcher doesn't do as good a job of keeping track of all applications.

Minor correction. On the 2008 MacBook, the space did show up, at the end of the apps section, but I am not able to reposition it.