How To Prepare Dock Not Working, Unresponsive, Freezing On Mac

Posted in Bug Fixes by Tyrone on July 12, 2021

how to fix Dock not working

How to fix Dock not working.

Is the Dock not working on your Mac? Does it keep freezing and acts fully unresponsive when you click the app icons? This is a minor glitch that can be ordinarily stock-still by restarting the dock from the Final app. If the problem persist yous tin can besides reset the Dock to its mill settings.

How To Fix Dock Not Working On Mac

If the macOS Dock is frozen, unresponsive or doesn't work as expected perform the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Restart Dock

Your get-go option is to re-spring the Dock app. This tin can be washed in two ways:

A. From Terminal App

how to restart Dock in Terminal

  • Press cmd + Infinite to bring up Spotlight and search for Terminal. Open up it.
  • Blazon killall Dock
  • Printing the Return cardinal. The dock restarts. Does it work now?

B. From Activity Monitor

  • Open up Spotlight and search for Activity Monitor.
  • Use the search field and blazon 'Dock'.
  • Click Dock from the listing to select it.
  • Use the 'x' bachelor in the top-left area of the Activity Monitor window.
    Confirm that you want to kill the procedure past clicking Quit or Strength Quit. This will cause the Dock to restart. Has the freezing problem been fixed?

      • 2. Restart Mac

      If the Dock remains frozen afterward restarting it y'all can go ahead and perform a total organisation restart in an attempt to clear other pocket-sized glitches that could forbid the Dock from working as expected.
      How to: Click Apple tree logo in the top-left corner. Select Restart… and confirm that you desire to reboot your Mac.

      iii. Hide / Show Dock

      dock hidden on Mac
      Another option to fix the freezing Dock is to hide and unhide in settings. Yous can do this in System Preferences -> Dock -> Automatically hide and bear witness the Dock (Enable -> Disable).

      Trick: You can also use the cmd + selection + D keyboard shortcut to easily hibernate and unhide the Dock in macOS!

      iv. Delete Dock plist File

      Next up you delete your Dock configuration, in a reversible way. This implies backing upwards the Dock's plist file and deleting it from the Library. In case, the outcome is not as expected y'all tin can revert and proceed to the next step:

        how to delete Dock plist file
      • Open Finder and click on Go, bachelor in the top card bar.
      • Click Become to Folder…
      • Copy/paste this string: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist and click Go.
      • Duplicate the com.apple.dock.plist file and salvage it on your Desktop.
      • Delete the original com.apple.dock.plist file, in Finder.
      • Restart Mac. Is the Dock still frozen?

        • Tip: This prepare as well works to fix a glitch that's non allowing you to add or remove apps from Dock.

      5. Reset Dock

      The adjacent troubleshooting option implies a full Dock reset. This will cause the menu bar to return to its manufactory settings.

      Tip: If y'all're using a heavily customized Dock version I advise you to perform a screenshot (shift + cmd + 3). It will assistance you to set it dorsum faster to your personalized version.

      How to: Open the Last app an execute: defaults delete com.apple.dock; killall Dock

      6. Delete App Icon With Question Mark

      If you recently removed an app, that's listed in the Dock, a question mark volition be displayed adjacent to its icon. Sometimes this can be the trigger for a freezing dock.

      Fix: If possible, click and elevate the icon to the trashcan. Or, right-click the icon and use the Remove from Dock option.

      7. Delete Dock Cache

      You can also try to set up an unresponsive Dock by deleting the cache:

        how to delete Dock cache
      • Open Finder.
      • Click Go, in the top bill of fare bar and select Become To Folder…
      • Copy/paste this cord: ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder/Cache.db
      • Click Go.
      • Delete the Cache.db file and restart your Mac.

      8. Apply Spotlight

      If none of the to a higher place helps, your current macOS version could be plagued by a issues that keeps making the Dock unusable. Until Apple releases a software update with a prepare, you tin bypass the Dock with the help of Spotlight search.

      How to: Use the cmd + Infinite shortcut to bring upward Spotlight and search for the desired app. It'south not platonic but it gets the work done.

      Have you managed to fix the frozen Dock on your Mac? Which of the higher up suggested solutions worked? Utilize the comments department to share your feedback.

      Related: How to ready macOS touch bar bug!