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My Dock Won't Reappear

My dock won't reappear. I've gone to Terminal and typed killall Dock, and it says there is no process called that. So after literally two days of troubleshooting, I found the Dock.app file, and when I click it, the dock opens, my wallpaper (which was permanently blue) comes back, everything is fine. Until I quit. Then the Dock is missing again. So the Dock obviously isn't launching upon startup or login. How can I fix this?

MacBook2,1, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 16, 2012 11:09 PM

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Posted on Apr 17, 2012 5:46 AM

Run the OnyX cache cleaning/repair disk routine outlined here


 Cheat sheet to help diagnose and fix your Mac

20 replies

Apr 18, 2012 2:29 PM in response to kibbles1053

kibbles1053 wrote:


I've tried this before, but just to be clear, these files are in /Users/username/Library/Preferences, correct?


Correct. If you are using Lion your home Library is hidden so use the finder Go menu/Go to Folderr... and enter ~/Library/Preferences to open the preferenes diretory.


After removing them kill the finder, i.e., use the Force quit... to kill it. That way it won't get a chance to rewrite the finder plist from possible cached information on a normal exit. Want the plists to be recreated as fresh copies.

Apr 18, 2012 3:57 PM in response to kibbles1053

kibbles1053 wrote:


Answer is yes. If I reinstall the OS, what exactly happens to my data, settings, etc?


Nothing, OS X and bundled Apple programs are replaced only. (but you need to always backup regardless)


If a third party software has a kext file in OS X , then that will get bumped, you'll have to reinstall those third party programs from fresh sources and update.


You need to Software Update immediatly after a Reinstall Just OS X

Apr 18, 2012 5:22 PM in response to kibbles1053

I'm sorry I'm being so needy, but I tend to overlook simple details, and bad things happen. The more specific everyone is, the better I'll feel about the suggested fixes.


When you force quite the finder it will restart on its own. You do not have to log off, reboot, or anything else. Hopefully, with those plists gone, when the finder restarts you dock will reappear. If not, then removing those plists was not the answer so continue on trying to follow what ds store is telling you.

Apr 19, 2012 1:15 PM in response to X423424X

The problems started quite a while after I installed CandyBar. My computer functioned fine for a day or two after using CandyBar. The problems started right after I tried to change the iCal icon without CandyBar; I deleted/moved a few files, such as the com.apple.dock preferences. After I restarted my computer, the Dock wasn't functioning. I did restore the dock and all the icons, as well as completely uninstalling CandyBar, and the Dock still wasn't fixed. Therefore, I do not think CandyBar was the culprit.

My Dock Won't Reappear

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