Stack as a list Click to see a larger image

In Stacks, Part 1, I talked about what Stacks are, how they work, and how they don't work all that well. Here, in Part 2, I'm going to talk about how to set Stacks so that they work like Dock folders in Tiger and earlier.

First off, to do this, you must be running Mac OS X 10.5.2. (Go to About This Mac in the Apple menu if you aren't sure.) By now, if you haven't upgraded to 10.5.2, then you have probably been ignoring Software Update.

Here's how to set up Stacks so they work like Dock folders:

1. Click and hold on a Stack.
2. On the pop up list you get, choose View content as List.
3. Now Click (once) on the Stack. You will see the contents of the Stack as a List.

Now you can scroll up and down through your Stack list (if it is very long) and navigate the folders in the Stack. There you go. One giant step backwards to Tiger.

There is on last thing we can do to tidy up the Stacks. Let's get those nice blue folders back instead of the icon of the last file you put in the Stack.

1. Make sure you followed the steps above and are looking at your Stack as a list.
2. Click once on the Stack to open the list.
3. Second from the bottom of the list is an Options submenu. (You may need to scroll down your list to find it.) In that Options submenu, choose Display as Folder.

Note that you need to perform the steps above on each Stack that you want to change the settings on.

On last comment: If you don't like the Downloads or Document Stacks on your Dock, you can drag them off the Dock (poof!) You can also create a new Stack by dragging any folder from the Finder down to the Dock between the divider line and the Trash.

Related Items: Stacks | Dock