Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I'm on MAC OS 10.6.7 on my Macbook 7.1. My applications folder disappeared from the dock. I can drag a new copy from the Mac Hard Disk folder to the dock (to the right of the dashed line (my dock is at the bottom) and it appears with an Address book icon. After 10 to 15 seconds, the icon disappears.
Anyone know what is going on and how to fix this?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1), DSL connection via Frontier DHCP
Not sure why this is happening, but try this. This is the way I've done it. First, make an alias of the folder (File>make alias) and put it somwhere, like Documents. Then, copy drag it (Option-click) to the part of the dock below or to the side of the separator near the Trash icon. This will place an alias of the folder in the Dock. You must keep the first alias you made.
You can also make one just for Utilities, the same way. The app folder will appear with an A and the Utilties folder will appear with an X.
EDIT: It's been a while now, but I think I got rid of the default app folder because I didn't like the way it looked and functioned.
You can also see I put an alias of my home folder there, as well.
Might as well mention another customisation. Get Tinkertool (free) Go to Dock>Disable Dock Expose to get rid of the very annoying -- at least to me -- entire screen turning black when opening one of the Dock icon's options.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/0TinkerTool/download.php5
Message was edited by: WZZZ
Not sure why this is happening, but try this. This is the way I've done it. First, make an alias of the folder (File>make alias) and put it somwhere, like Documents. Then, copy drag it (Option-click) to the part of the dock below or to the side of the separator near the Trash icon. This will place an alias of the folder in the Dock. You must keep the first alias you made.
You can also make one just for Utilities, the same way. The app folder will appear with an A and the Utilties folder will appear with an X.
EDIT: It's been a while now, but I think I got rid of the default app folder because I didn't like the way it looked and functioned.
You can also see I put an alias of my home folder there, as well.
Might as well mention another customisation. Get Tinkertool (free) Go to Dock>Disable Dock Expose to get rid of the very annoying -- at least to me -- entire screen turning black when opening one of the Dock icon's options.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/0TinkerTool/download.php5
Message was edited by: WZZZ
That's weird.
One thing to try: trash (or move to a different folder, e.g., your desktop) the preference files for the dock. They are in your home folder/Library/Preferences and have the names
com.apple.dock.db
com.apple.dock.plist
Then you need to quit the dock either by logging out/in or via the quit process button in Activity Monitor.
Note: when you move the preference files, the dock program will create new ones upon restart. You will get your dock back in its default state. You will have to add icons to get it the way you want.
charlie
Thanks,
I can get a folder in the dock the way you suggest, but it will not behave like the original applications folder and show me a list of apps when I click it. I can open it and get a standard Finder type display.
I think we have a major bug in OS X since the last fix pack... Both my downloads and applications folders are affected on two machines. My Macbook 7.1 and my MacBook Pro.
This is a pain.
I can get a folder in the dock the way you suggest, but it will not behave like the original applications folder and show me a list of apps when I click it. I can open it and get a standard Finder type display.
So, I guess you want the default one that I got rid of.
Can't edit above.
What about having it open in column view, like this? Shows partial list.
EDIT: For the original question, were you placing that icon below or to the side of the separator near the Trash? It won't stay in the applications part of the Dock.
Message was edited by: WZZZ
I was able to delete the files:
com.apple.dock.db and com.apple.dock.plist then log out and login. It most definitely reset my doc to the defaults, but ... within 20 seconds the Application folder ICON just disappeared in a puff of "dust". Note. that my documents folder which hasn't been in the doc for quite some time now appears there.
This is driving me insane.
There is some kind of background task running on this computer that is deleting the Applications ICON! This makes absolutely no sense since this is a brand new computer and I haven't put any junk on it yet.
Yes, putting the Alias in the dock does exactly what you are showing me. I really want the cool icon display back. I do thank you for your idea as at least I will be able to access the applicaitons form the doc. What a royal pain this thing has become.
Thanks.
Both my downloads and applications folders are affected on two machines. My Macbook 7.1 and my MacBook Pro.
Are you using MobileMe to automatically sync some items between your computers? Syncing "Dock items" is one of the MobileMe options, and some malfunction there could conceivably keep "updating" both Docks incorrectly.
I thought that was going to nail it! I checked my MobileMe settings on both machines and yes, the dock was set to replicate. I turned off replication for the dock. That really sounded good. So I turned unchecked dock replicaiton on both machines. Rebooted them and darned if the thing doesn't continue to delete itself. I wonder if the replication settings out on the server are overriding the Mac's.
I have had nothing but trouble with MobileMe replication. My address book has like 20 copies of an address in it. I had to stop sync'ing Safari as it had hundreds of duplicates. It seens that Mobile me duplicates instead of merging data...
I just double checked MobileMe on the web and it appears that all Sync settings are on the MAC. Boy I was hopeful that was the culprit. Darn applicaitons folder still disappears...
Does anything show up in Console when this happens?
Does the same thing happen if you create a new admin user account and log into it?
Yes, creating a new account shows me the Applications folder icon and it remains in the dock.
A little google work reveals one possible fix.
Find the iSync application (in your, uh, Applications folder) and open it. Go to Preferences (in the iSync menu). Reset the sync history.
Of course, you should do this while logged into the account where the problem occurs.
charlie
EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all who helped on this. The iSync reset did the job! AWESOME!
Excellent.
AH my Home Folder Is Sticking in the Dock now since I reset the sync...
Sheesh Thanx ALL...That was a good one!!!
Excellent Indeed!!
How to stop application folder form disappearing from the dock
