How to adjust items in dock?

[Iphone4sinwhite]

I have a late 2011 cMBP running 10.8.1.
There are a few items in the dock which I have used once and now are permanently there wether the computer sleeps or is restarted, such as the bluetooth icon. How do I remove these items from the dock?

Does having a lot of items in the dock cause start-up to take longer? How do I keep items from appearing in the dock during start-up?

 

[GGJstudios]

How do I remove these items from the dock?

Drag them off the Dock and they will turn into a puff of smoke.

Does having a lot of items in the dock cause start-up to take longer?

No. The Dock contains shortcuts only. Because an app appears on the Dock doesn't mean the app launches at startup.

How do I keep items from appearing in the dock during start-up?

The only items that appear on the Dock are ones that you add to the Dock or apps that you have set to automatically launch on startup.

Check for items automatically launching at startup in the following locations:

• System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items
  (Lion and ML users: System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items)
  
  
• /Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
  
  
• /Library/StartupItems/
  (Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)

 

[iBookG4user]

Drag them off the Dock and they will turn into a puff of smoke.

You'll see in the OP that they are running Mountain Lion. This has changed, now dock icons much be dragged to the trash in order to be removed from the dock.

 

[GGJstudios]

You'll see in the OP that they are running Mountain Lion. This has changed, now dock icons much be dragged to the trash in order to be removed from the dock.

Remove icons from the Dock in Mountain Lion - Mac OS X Hints

It might appear that this is now the only way of removing icons from Mountain Lion's dock, too. But I discovered that if you drag an icon out of the dock, then hold it anywhere for a second, the first frame of the "poof" animation appears next to the cursor. When you release the mouse button, the icon will disappear.

Here’s How To Delete Icons From the Dock In Mountain Lion [OS X Tips] | Cult of Mac

Click on the icon you want to remove, and drag it away from the dock a bit. Hold the icon there with the mouse button held down, and a little “poof” icon will appear in the lower right of the icon itself. Release the mouse or trackpad button and it’s bye, bye icon. It’ll even “poof” for you with the familiar animation. Sweet!

 

[Iphone4sinwhite]

Thank you for the very quick replies. Unfortunately dragging the icon (such as bluetooth, skype, etc.) off the dock onto the desktop or from the dock to the trash didn't remove it in 10.8. I had to double click and say quit and than force quit.

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After the poof it bounces right back down onto the dock. Maybe I have to adjust something in settings.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thank you for the very quick replies. Unfortunately dragging the icon (such as bluetooth, skype, etc.) off the dock onto the desktop or from the dock to the trash didn't remove it in 10.8. I had to double click and say quit and than force quit.

You can't remove an item from the Dock while it's running, no matter what version of Mac OS X you're running. The app has to be quit, then the dragging will work. You have to hold it for a second longer with ML, but dragging off the Dock still works, as long as the app isn't running. If you hold the Option key while right-clicking on the icon, "Quit" will become "Force Quit".

 

[iBookG4user]

Thank you for the very quick replies. Unfortunately dragging the icon (such as bluetooth, skype, etc.) off the dock onto the desktop or from the dock to the trash didn't remove it in 10.8. I had to double click and say quit and than force quit.

----------

After the poof it bounces right back down onto the dock. Maybe I have to adjust something in settings.

If you have the application open it will stay in the dock. You can tell if an app is open by if there is a light bar below the icon.