What does the thin blue line over the Finder icon mean?

Question

What does the thin blue line over the Finder icon mean?

Hello everyone!

I have a question about something that I have noticed recently: a thin blue line over the Finder icon in the Dock. I don't know for how long it has been there.

What is weird is that it has nothing to do with my screen malfunctioning as it disapears when I hide the Dock or use an application in Full-Screen mode.

Here is a picture of what it looks like...

Could anyone tell me what the purpose of this line is, please? I know it is probably not a major issue, but as any Mac user, I am fussy about details...

Thanks in advance!

Best regards!

Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Sep 12, 2011 11:53 AM

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Answer 1

Kwopau

Level 4

1,742 points

Sep 12, 2011 2:38 PM in response to Valedictorian

It will always be there.

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Answer 2

Sep 13, 2011 1:29 PM in response to Kwopau

Ok, thank you, but what is it useful for?

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Answer 3

Kwopau

Level 4

1,742 points

Sep 13, 2011 2:10 PM in response to Valedictorian

It usually tells you that you have an app or program open. For instance, if you have Safari open, then that blue dot will be there underneath the Safari icon. Same goes for other apps/programs that is in your Dock.

For me, I think of Finder in Mac OS X as "My Computer" for Windows

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Answer 4

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Sep 13, 2011 3:16 PM in response to Valedictorian

That's not normal at all. Try deleting they Dock's preferences in your account:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist.

You'll also need to open Terminal and enter:

killall Dock

That will relaunch the Dock from the new system-generated plist.

Then re-boot your computer.

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Answer 5

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Sep 13, 2011 3:32 PM in response to Kwopau

Kwopau: I think it's the line above the Finder icon in the screen shot that Val is asking about, not the dot below it.

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Answer 6

Sep 14, 2011 8:28 AM in response to eww

Yes Eww, that is exactly what I am refering to!

Thanks for your advice Wjosten. I actually tried to do what you said, but I could not find exactly the same file in the Preference file. All I found was a Plist file called 'com.apple.dockfixup'. As I am still not familiar with my Mac, I dared not to delete it, I prefered waiting for approval 😝. Is it this file you were refering to?

Thank you for all your quick replies!

Cheers!

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Answer 7

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Sep 14, 2011 9:06 AM in response to Valedictorian

You're running Lion...yes you can delete that .plist file. All it stores are your preferences & will be recreated the next time the dock appears.

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Answer 8

Sep 14, 2011 9:17 AM in response to Valedictorian

Well, I deleted that file, but nothing happened. I then ran Terminal and entered the command "killall Dock" and the dock re-lauched with the thin blue line over the Finder. I did reboot but nothing has changed.

What should I do now? Any idea?

P.S.: I've just checked and the file DID not appear again, is it normal?

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Answer 9

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Sep 14, 2011 9:37 AM in response to Valedictorian

Sorry, but I'm out of ideas. Obviously, something else is generating that line...do you have a separate Admin. account? If so, login using that account...is the line there or gone? If gone, that means something in your user account is generating it...what? I've got no idea at this point.

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Answer 10

Sep 14, 2011 9:43 AM in response to Valedictorian

Did you restart your computer?

I am not sure, but I think you have to delete the other dock preference file too.

The dockfixup.plist is in the root Library-folder.

The dock.plist is in the User-Library folder.

If you want you enter following commands into your Terminal (copy & paste), to remove both:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.dockfixup.plist

enter your password, although you will not see the characters and hit <enter>

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.db

restart your computer.

If this does not help, you could create a new user, log in with the new account, to see whether the little thin line is still there ...

marek

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Answer 11

Sep 14, 2011 9:48 AM in response to Marek Stepanek

One idea again:

click on the desktop, to switch to the Finder, go in the Menu "About Finder". There is a info window popping up. Do you have upon the Finder icon the same thin line? If yes you have to ... delete it? Don't know, how to replace it with the right one ...

marek

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Answer 12

Sep 15, 2011 2:10 PM in response to Valedictorian

Hey everyone!

Thank you very much Marek Stepanek and Wjosten! You suggestions have been quite useful!

I did everything you said Marek Stepanek, but simultanously my Mac checked for updates and intalled them after (before rebooting). My problem is now solved, but I do not know for sure what was the real solution...

Nevertheless your explanations were clear and precise! I wish any support community would be as great as Apple's, with people like you 🙂.

Thanks again!

Best regards,

— Valedictorian

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Answer 13

Jan 2, 2012 9:59 AM in response to Valedictorian

Hey,

I had exactly the same problem. The blue line suddely appeared. The directions of Marek Stepanek solved the issue. Thanks for the tip!

Enrico

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Answer 14

BarengOB

Level 1

0 points

Jan 9, 2012 5:09 AM in response to Valedictorian

Hey,

I had a similar problem except that the line was red. The directions of Marek Stepanek solved the issue. Thanks for the tip!

B.OB

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Answer 15

Jul 3, 2012 9:48 PM in response to Marek Stepanek

Hey!

I had the exact problem as described above and Marek Stepanek's solution worked perfectly! Thankyou!

Marek Stepanek wrote:

Did you restart your computer?

I am not sure, but I think you have to delete the other dock preference file too.

The dockfixup.plist is in the root Library-folder.

The dock.plist is in the User-Library folder.

If you want you enter following commands into your Terminal (copy & paste), to remove both:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.dockfixup.plist

enter your password, although you will not see the characters and hit <enter>

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.db

restart your computer.

If this does not help, you could create a new user, log in with the new account, to see whether the little thin line is still there ...

marek

Reply