Loading documentation
Your first 5 minutes with MetaDock — from launch to a fully organized workspace.
When you open MetaDock for the first time, it starts with an empty workspace — no panels, nothing open yet. Press Ctrl+T to open the New Tabpage. Think of this as your home screen — it's where everything starts.
The New Tab page is your command center. Here's what each section does:
Type any URL (like tradingview.com) or a search query (like bitcoin price) and press Enter. MetaDock opens it as a browser panel right in your layout.
Choose which browser profile to use before opening a site. Each profile has its own cookies, cache, and extensions — so you can be logged into Gmail with two different accounts at the same time. Hover over a profile to see action buttons.
App Support is off by default. Turn it on under Settings → Applications, and running Windows applications appear here. Click one to embed it directly into your MetaDock layout — Discord, VS Code, MetaTrader, most apps with a normal window.
Quick-access tiles for Settings, Bookmarks, Downloads, and more. One click to open any of these as a panel.
Before you open a URL or app, pick an opening mode. This controls where the new content appears:
| Mode | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Current Window | Replaces the New Tab page | Quick single-site browsing |
| New Tab | Opens as a tab alongside New Tab | Tabbed browsing within one panel |
| New Window | Opens as a new panel in the grid | Building a multi-site dashboard |
| Floating | Opens as an overlay window | Temporary reference, quick lookups |
The URL bar is MetaDock's universal launcher. You can open it from anywhere — even when you're deep in a multi-panel layout.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open main search bar (recommended) | Ctrl+K |
| Open floating URL bar | Ctrl+O |
| Focus URL bar in current browser | Ctrl+L |
The URL bar is smart — it detects what you're typing and responds accordingly:
tradingview.comOpens the URL directly in a browser panelbitcoin price chartSearches with your configured search engine (Google by default)You can launch MetaDock with a URL argument to go straight to a specific page on startup:
metadock.exe https://tradingview.com/chartThis opens the specified URL in the first layout after your workspace loads.
Create a Windows shortcut with metadock.exe https://app.slack.com as the target. One double-click opens MetaDock directly to Slack.
Call MetaDock from batch scripts or task schedulers to open specific dashboards at market open, at the start of your workday, or on a schedule.