Mac’s Dock is one of its distinguishing features if compared with Window’s Task bar. Despite the popularity and usefulness, we experienced several cases where the Dock was getting stuck either periodically or indefinitely. In this article, we will go through all the reasons as to why this might occur on your computer and what the possible workarounds are to fix it.
What causes the Dock to get Stuck on a Macbook?
After doing our research, we saw that Apple hasn’t given any official response on the issue. We combined the user reports of the issue and after conducting our own research, we came to the conclusion that the issue occurs due to several different reasons: Before we start with the solutions, make sure that you have an active internet connection on your computer and are logged in as an administrator. Also, save all your work beforehand as we will be restarting your computer again and again.
Solution 1: Restarting Dock
We will be restarting the Dock as our first step in the troubleshooting process. There are several instances where the Dock goes into error states either because of bad configurations or just because of system errors. Here, we will kill the process of Dock. When Mac notices that the process has turned off, it will start it automatically. Note: Another workaround to achieve the same task is to restart your computer entirely. This takes more time as compared to the method just written.
Solution 2: Resetting Dock to Default Settings
If this doesn’t work and the Dock is still somehow stuck and not usable, we can try resetting the Dock settings completely. This will remove any preferences which you ever set and the default settings will be applied. In some cases, the preferences set for Dock somehow clash with the system display settings which in turn causes it to misbehave by not responding or getting stuck. This solution will address all these issues instantly.
Solution 3: Checking for Outdated Third-party Applications
Another instance where the Dock seems to get stuck is where it is loading third-party applications. Normally, macOS supports all type of third-party applications but if these applications are not updated to the latest macOS version compatibility, you might experience several issues with it including the Dock getting stuck when it is visible on it. Even though macOS provides backward compatibility, there are numerous instances where this might not work as expected. Hence, it is recommended that you check whether there are any third-party applications running in the background. If there are, uninstall them and check the Dock again.
Solution 4: Disabling Dock Magnification
Dock magnification is a feature on macOS where the items on your Dock get magnified whenever you hover your mouse over them. This is known to be a very nifty feature in macBooks but is also known to cause several issues including the Dock getting stuck. Here, what we will do is navigate to the Dock settings and disable the option. If it was causing the trouble, the issue will be fixed.
Solution 5: Changing the Position of Dock
Another thing to try before we move on to more technical solutions is changing the position of the Dock on your computer. We came across several instances where the to get out of a stuck issue or the Dock freezing and displaying even on full-screen, all you need to do is change the position from the bottom to the side. You can then the location back and see if the issue is resolved.
Solution 6: Power cycling your Computer
Another thing which you should initially try is power cycling your computer completely. Power cycling is the act of shutting down your computer and all modules and disconnecting all devices. This act will ensure that all temporary configurations are removed forcefully from the computer and fix any issues if the ‘not responding’ problem was due to the corruption or incomplete. Make sure that you have completely saved your work before proceeding.
Solution 7: Resetting PRAM or NVRAM
NVRAM (also known as Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory) is a small block of memory which is used by your Mac computer to store specific settings so it can access them later on. PRAM (Parameter RAM) is basically the same thing and both memories can be reset using the same method. All your configurations are stored here and if there is any issue in them (they are corrupt or incomplete), we can try resetting so all everything is set to default. Note: In some cases, some temporary or customizable configurations will be lost so make sure you know how to revert them. Save all your work before proceeding. In some Mac computers, you will hear a startup sound the second time (the first time will come when you just opened your Mac before pressing the keys). When you hear the second startup sound, release the keys. In other Mac computers where there is Apple T2 Security Chip, you can release the keys after the Apple Logo appears and disappears the second time.
Solution 8: Resetting Mac to Factory Settings
If all the above methods don’t work out, it probably means there are some issues with the internal files/folders which we cannot access and restore the Mac to factory settings is the only way to get the Finder back up and running again. Here, it is recommended that you save all your files and folders beforehand as they will get erased when we clear your storage. Only you are done with the backup and saving of configuration files of applications on the cloud, should you only proceed.
How to Fix Mac Stuck on Setting Up Your MacHow to Fix Nintendo Switch Dock not WorkingMake Windows 11 Taskbar Look Like macOS Dock?Replace iPhone 5/5s/5c Charging Port or Dock Connector
