(High Sierra) Dock Icons get missing at all the time

I tried deleting the dock plist file and restarting my computer but it didn't help me; the app icons were still missing in the dock.

To fix each missing app icon, I removed the icon from the dock and then added it back. To do that, I

* Right-clicked the icon in the dock, then clicked Options, then I made sure Keep in Dock was unchecked.

* Then I closed the app if it was open. At this point, the app with the missing icon was no longer in the dock.

* Next, I opened the app (using Spotlight, the magnifying glass in the top right of the screen). Now that the app was open, its (correct) icon was on the right side of the dock. I then dragged the app icon to the left to where I wanted it in the dock so that it would stay in the dock.

I did that for the 5 or so apps that had been missing their icons. So far, all the app icons are still correct.

by the way, I had this issue when running macOS 10.13.2 High Sierra.

good luck!

Howie

Remove the applications from the Dock (click and drag them into your desktop area and they will be removed), then re-open the offending applications via Finder or Launchpad and reselect them to "Keep in Dock".

If this does not immediately fix it, go to Macintosh HD -> Library -> Preferences and remove "com.apple.dock.plist" and "com.apple.dock.extra.plist" (you may not have the "extra" file). Then restart your machine and repeat the process above (ie remove and reselect to keep them in the dock), if it has not already self-resolved.

This did not work for me. "com.apple.dock.extra.plist" was not on the list, but "com.apple.dock.plist" was. Removed it (sent to Trash), emptied Trash and rebooted. Still had the problem (only with two programs, Malwarebytes and FinalDraft, but I use them both regularly and they looked the same.) The solution that worked was from TA_Allen (see below). Drag the icon from Applications to the desktop. Then drag it from there to the dock. Then delete the offending generic. (Thanks TA_Allen!)

I only had the com.apple.dock.plist file. I found it by going to Finder --> Library --> Preferences

After deleting this file, and restarting, the logos in the doc all reappeared correctly.

note: The default Apple Apps (like pages, numbers, facetime, photos, etc) will all be back in your dock, so you'll have to re-remove them and shuffle the icons around. But this process worked for me.

MacOS High Sierra version 10.13.3 running on MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch

What did the trick for me was to simply restart in Safe Mode (press the shift-key while restarting). Damaged icons showing up again in Safe Mode. Then restart normally.

Hello Folks,

as most of you know by now, nothing really helps. Safe start - only a temporary fix till it comes all back.

However, i recently installed the COMBO UPDATE to High Sierra 10.13.2 to fix some other issues.

And lo and behold - the icon bug seems to have gone for good. At least since the combo update i didn't have to run any esoteric terminal commands or perform safe starts or nvram resets.

I suggest you try it, too. Go grab the appropriate COMBO UPDATE Laden - macOS High Sierra 10.13.2-Combo-Update

Cheers.

Its in Finder and the solution worked for me... i only had the file "com.apple.dock.plist" but removing this, shutting down and restarting worked for the dock... launchpad has a similar problem, but i rarely use it and will sort that later

I cannot believe how often people think that removing the icons then re-adding them will solve anything.
Yes, the icons reappear for some time.

BUT THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM THAT APPLE HAS INTRODUCED IN HIGH SIERRA IS STILL THERE.

High Sierra tends to scramble the caches in some weird ways. It's mainly the finder/dock cache, but also the launch services.

Neither resetting NVRAM nor starting into SAFE MODE nor messing around with the ICON CACHES will permanently and definitely solve the problem. It always will pop up again at some point.

Installing the COMBO UPDATE made the problem go away, but after the latest "security patch", it's back again.

I also suspect it has to do with hibernation and how caches behave before sleep and after wakeup , but that's another topic.

APPLE has seriously messed around with cache behaviour, permissions and maybe the relativity theory to address some serious security issues, but it turned out to spoil the party in some weird ways.

The only reliable workaround we have to this date is to start into SAFE MODE by pressing the SHIFT KEY during startup, then restart into normal mode and hope, it takes some time for "High"Sierra to get stoned again.

Neither of the top two solutions worked for me. I ended up figuring out another workaround.

• Remove the original, missing icons from the dock
• Opening up the applications from your applications folder
• Once open, right click on the application in the dock
• Click on Keep in Dock
• Voila

Thank you for posting Orlando!

Just a small clarification for Rashdude...

1. Choose the Finder. (E.g. click the mouse on your screen background wallpaper.)
2. When in Finder, go to the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. Choose top level menu Go
4. While the Go menu is displayed, press the option key to show hidden directories.
5. Choose the Library folder
6. In Library, find and open the Preferences folder
7. See the rest of Orlando's solution.

This solution (mostly) worked for me. I couldn't delete the com.apple.dock.plist file even though I'm an administrator. I had to use the terminal. Note that this solution reverts the doc to default format, including default apps, configuration, and behaviors. If you only have a few missing icons, I'd recommend TA_Allen's approach below.

Go to your applications folder, select ( do not open ) the app in question, bring up the get info box for the app ( I use command i ). Click on the icon at the top of the window and copy, click on the icon under the preview portion of the window and paste. Close the window and click on the dock icon of the app.

I found a very easy solution in another thread and it worked! Just restart with the Shift key held down. All of the original icons were there when my Macbook restarted.

i found that when you open SYSTEM preferences then select DOCK ---> position on screen choose LEFT or RIGHT at least appears again. 😁

I got this issue after upgrading to 10.13.2. I called Apple Support and they talked me through booting to the disk repair utility, we ran disk first aid, rebooted, and the icons were restored to their former glory.

The following will do the trick:

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support