Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Mavericks - Dock not showing on all screens?

One of the marquee features of OS X 10.9 is that the dock is now present on all screens ( http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/#multiple-displays ).


That doesn't seem to be the case for me. I have a mid-2011 27" iMac with two external monitors; the dock only shows on what was designated as the main monitor under OS X 10.8, the center one. The other two displays don't ever show the dock, even if that's the active monitor.


Doing a "killall Dock" in Terminal doesn't fix the issue and neither does restarting the computer.


Anyone experiencing something similar or have a solution?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 2:30 AM

Reply
117 replies

Jul 13, 2017 4:25 AM in response to friedmikey

Is this a solution? Would someone please decode the meaning of this answer for me?

In order to have the Dock on multiple displays, you must set Mission Control System Preferences to enable "Displays have separate spaces." Also, the Dock must be set to appear at the bottom of the screen. Left and right will not work.

See davermn's last post if you have multiple stacked displays. The Dock will only appear on the bottom-most display if they are stacked.

Oct 23, 2013 5:13 AM in response to mrbofus

I have a similar issue. I've got a mid 2012 macbook pro 13". I can easily summon the dock on any external display (after making sure that the focus is on any window on the external display). Then my main problem arrises. The dock is sometimes stuck on this display.


Even the application switcher is stuck on this display. So my guess is that for all intents and purposes OS X treats the external display as my main display.


My problem however seems to be solvable with a killall Dock terminal command, but still it is undesirable. Especially since this was the sole reason why I was so anxious for the release of mavericks.

Oct 23, 2013 8:05 AM in response to mrbofus

The dock will not display on my MB Pro screen now at all. I have my dock set configured to the bottom of the screen and to hide when not in use. At first it would display on either the external display or the Retina display based on whatever screen was "active" (Menu bar not grayed out), but even then it took like 5 or 10 seconds of hovering at the bottom of the screen to get it to appear. Now it will not display at all on my home screen.


Also, I like the idea of a whole separate menu bar/dock on the external display, with a separate Mission Control, but there should be some option to "link" the 2 displays in 1 mission control as well, as was the case with Mountain Lion. I used several desktops utilizing both displays at work, and kind of have them in categories. It was nice to swipe and move both displays' desktops in one swipe. That functionality is gone in Mavericks as far as I can tell. The user should have an option to use the old "linked" system, or the new one introduced in Mavericks.

Oct 23, 2013 7:13 PM in response to mrbofus

same issue here. when i first installed mavericks, it worked but only intermittently. it has now ceased to work and the dock refuses to move to my thunderbolt display (hooked to macbook air).


i have the exact same setup at work and it is working fine (for the most part).

i did notice that on the working setup you can control+click a dock app icon and chose to display the app on specific desktops. on the setup that is not working, this is not an option.


something is definitely buggy!

Oct 23, 2013 7:44 PM in response to mklaman

mklaman wrote:


apple should hire me, as i just *solved* the problem.


if your dock is not showing on a specific screen, goto your display settings and then go to the 'arrangement' tab.


if your screens are only touching tips, like so (http://d.pr/i/brPg), you will have dock issues.


move your screens so they share more of a side and it will fix your problem.


enjoy!

While that may have solved your issue, it doesn't solve it for me. My screens have never been arranged to just have the corners touching; they have always been set up with complete sides touching.

Mavericks - Dock not showing on all screens?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.