Richard Sjolund

Q: The Dock keeps switching on my Macs with dual monitors

I have 2 monitors on my computers - 2 Mac Pros (2011) and an iMac.  All are running 10.10.1.

 

I have one monitor in each case that is the "home" monitor - with the dock and files on the desktop.  All 3 of my computers keep switching the Dock to the other monitor .. randomly.  Once switched, the Dock stays on the other monitor until I use system preferences to change the arrangement.

 

Has anyone found a cure for this problem?  It started for me with OS 10.9

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), iPad, iPhone5, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec 8, 2014 11:13 AM

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Q: The Dock keeps switching on my Macs with dual monitors

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  • by sterling r,Solvedanswer

    sterling r sterling r Dec 9, 2014 11:49 AM in response to Richard Sjolund
    Community Specialists
    Dec 9, 2014 11:49 AM in response to Richard Sjolund

    Hey there Richard,

     

    It sounds like your dock is moving to your external monitor when you are working in that space. On Mavericks, this is expected behavior. The dock can be available on whatever monitor you are currently working on. Here is some more info on that:

     

    OS X: Using multiple displays in Mavericks

    Working with the Dock

    When the Dock is configured to appear at the bottom of your screen, it's available on whichever screen you’re working on. Just move your pointer to the bottom of either display. When the Dock is configured for the left or right position, it appears on the leftmost or rightmost display edge.

     

     

    Tip: If you don't see your dock because it's set to hidden or there's a full screen app on the display, move your pointer to the location of the Dock. If the Dock still doesn't appear, swipe your pointer towards the Dock again to unhide it.

     

    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

    Regards,

    Sterling

  • by Richard Sjolund,

    Richard Sjolund Richard Sjolund Dec 9, 2014 12:05 PM in response to Richard Sjolund
    Level 2 (240 points)
    Dec 9, 2014 12:05 PM in response to Richard Sjolund

    Thank You --- it works !!!

     

    Richard

  • by sterling r,

    sterling r sterling r Dec 9, 2014 2:40 PM in response to Richard Sjolund
    Community Specialists
    Dec 9, 2014 2:40 PM in response to Richard Sjolund

    Excellent! Glad to hear your Dock is A-OK!

  • by christopherjhoh,

    christopherjhoh christopherjhoh Dec 10, 2014 12:12 PM in response to Richard Sjolund
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Dec 10, 2014 12:12 PM in response to Richard Sjolund

    It's a pain in the tush.  My solution is to keep the Dock Preferences Window open.  Then when the dock jumps (inevitably right where I'm trying to work), I click System Preferences, switch its position on screen from bottom to left (or right) and then switch it back again.  That's the only thing that seems to work reliably.  Apple, please make this "feature" an option we can turn off!

  • by Digicrat,

    Digicrat Digicrat Jun 26, 2015 8:46 AM in response to christopherjhoh
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 26, 2015 8:46 AM in response to christopherjhoh

    @christopher - That works perfectly (for a workaround), thanks.  I'm now wondering if there's some mechanism to automate that preference toggling...

     

    @apple - Please make this configurable, or at least make it smart enough not to move to the only monitor showing an application fullscreen. I just wasted more time than I care to admit trying to figure out how to get my Dock back because it jumped first to one screen, than to another where it was hidden behind a fullscreen app!  Requiring the dock to be docked to the left/right to prevent it moving is unacceptable -- particularly if, like me, you have your monitors stacked vertically. 

  • by John Bahr,

    John Bahr John Bahr Oct 23, 2015 5:51 AM in response to sterling r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 23, 2015 5:51 AM in response to sterling r

    Sorry, but this post doesn't make sense.  If Apple says in their documentation that "When the Dock is configured to appear at the bottom of your screen, it's available on whichever screen you’re working on. Just move your pointer to the bottom of either display." then the dock should move to whatever display your pointer is on.  That is NOT what was happening on Mavericks, Yosemite or now on El Capitan.  What is happening is the dock moves to a different display at random times and does not move back unless it is forced.  This is a bug and needs to be fixed.  Please make this "feature" an option so we can turn it off.

  • by ramhi,

    ramhi ramhi Dec 31, 2015 9:10 AM in response to John Bahr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 31, 2015 9:10 AM in response to John Bahr

    I agree with the several commentators who note that Apple's reply is inappropriate.

    The dock randomly shifts to the other side - certainly not when I'm working over there - and stays there. It does not return until I use preferences to re-site it. Please provide a relevant reply and, better yet, a fix to this annoying problem

    Glenn