Can't remove item from dock.

Question

Level 1

7 points

Can't remove item from dock.

Hello,

I'm unable to remove some items on my dock, but not all of them. For example, I can remove the default iBooks icon by either dragging it off the dock or by right-clicking on it and, under options, selecting "Remove from Dock".

Altought this is working great, I don't seem to be able to remove some other icons as for example "Adobe Reader". If I drag it off the screen, the little cloud will never appear and the icon will slide back to the dock. If I try to drag it in the trash can, it will simply slide back where it was before, and there is not "Remove from Dock" item under the options menu.

I tried deleting the ~/Library/Preferences/apple.com.dock.plist file then "killall Dock", yet nothing to do. I also tried reseting the dock with its default value, and that brings me back to the point where I can remove some icons, but not all of them. Worst even, the "Applications" (which contains all my apps) got replaced by the "My Applications" folder (which is empty).

I also made sure the application I wanted to remove from the dock were not running. Yet, I can't figure what to do.

Does anyone knows any other tricks I could try?

Thank you.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 1, 2014 7:13 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Apr 21, 2017 4:26 AM in response to Cocotton

I thought this may be too late but it can help you to sort it out. Open Terminal in Utilities and use this command line:

defaults delete com.apple.dock; killall Dock

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Answer 2

Feb 6, 2014 6:02 AM in response to Cocotton

Hello Cocotton,

When removing items from the dock be sure the application is not running. When my Adobe Reader is launched or running the icon appears on the dock. When the application is running the icon cannot be removed from the dock. Also, please increase the size of your dock and notice the small white graphic being used, at the very bottom, to indicate the application is running. After you quit the application the icon will disappear, or the icon will be ready for removal by a drag and drop to the trash can.

One more dock tip; if you hold down 'cotrol' as you click on a dock application it will show a menu with options. One option is to OPEN or QUIT the application depending on the current status.

IDEA: maybe in the future Apple will program the open icon on the dock to ask the user what to do. ... ... ... Oh, I see you just trashed an open application; would you like to Quit, Close, or do nothing?

I hope this information helps.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

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Answer 3

Tuttle

Level 7

29,565 points

Feb 1, 2014 9:14 AM in response to Cocotton

The My Applications folder is likely empty because this folder contains applications you have placed in your ~/Applications folder (in your Users folder). If there aren't any applications there, then the folder will show in the Dock as empty.

For your larger problem, is it possible that you have locked the Dock contents using a third-party utility like TinkerTool, Cocktail, OnyX or similar?

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Answer 4

Cocotton Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 1, 2014 11:13 AM in response to Tuttle

Hello, thanks you for the reply.

I have not installed any software which lock my dock, that I know. Even if, I don't think I'd be able to remove some icons, but not some others.

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Answer 5

Apr 24, 2017 2:14 AM in response to Oneapple Huynh

I tried to dismount the two partitions of an external SolidState Drive one after the other. The second one probably too soon after the first. The first still being dismounted, the second landed left of the trashcan and could not be removed although the partition itself WAS unmounted.

Your tip worked excellent. Thanks a lot.

Rob (Netherlands)

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Answer 6

Ndfanpj

Level 1

4 points

Aug 5, 2017 3:09 PM in response to joeboulley

Thank you for this tip. I had 3 icons I have been trying to remove. They were obviously still running, because after I clicked on them, then "quit" them, they were easily removed. Thank you.

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