A docking station, also known as a dock, is an apparatus that joins a laptop to numerous devices. It offers a solitary point of link that enables a laptop to make use of an attached display, printer, keypad, and mouse. This makes it possible for a notebook to perform like a desktop computer.

Custom docking systems are frequently created by laptop makers for their products. Typically, these ports have a unique input connection that couples with a corresponding port on a particular laptop model. The first docks, like those created in the 1990s, had serial ports for linking input devices, parallel ports for printers and scanners, and VGA ports for display connections. The majority of devices can now be connected to most laptop docking stations via USB connections, and screens can be connected via DVI interfaces.

Although contemporary docks offer common I/O interfaces, many docking stations continue to use an unique dock adapter, so you might need to purchase a new dock if you purchase a new laptop. Thankfully, there is no longer a need for a connection station thanks to the Thunderbolt port, which was first introduced in Apple's MacBook computers. USB, FireWire, Ethernet, and HDMI interfaces can all be supported by a single Thunderbolt connection. A Thunderbolt hub can therefore be used with any computer that has a normal Thunderbolt link and fulfills the same function as a laptop port.

Hardware used to link iPads, cellphones, and other movable devices to one or more tools is also referred to as a docking station. These gadgets, which are more commonly referred to as "docks," have fewer I/O ports than a laptop dock.