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

Does anyone here get the problem of missing icons on Dock (High Sierra, 10.13 (17A365))?


User uploaded file


I have tried many solutions, as such

1. restart Dock Dameon: "killall Dock"

2. reset Dock profile into default stage.


This happened at all the time even though I have performed a clean installation. I have got 2 devices: MacBook Pro (Late 2013) and iMac 5k (Late 2015); all macOS High Sierra 10.13 (17A365) updated.


I am quite sure this is one of bug that Apple should be addressed ASAP.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 1, 2017 1:11 PM

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Posted on Nov 30, 2017 2:01 PM

This is a silly workaround, but here's what I did:

Go into the applications folder, and pick the app whose icon is not displaying properly:

User uploaded file

Drag it to the desktop to create an alias:

User uploaded file

Drag the Alias that has the correctly displaying icon to the dock:

User uploaded file

Then remove the old icon that is not displaying properly.


I only had 5 icons that were not displaying when upgrading to high sierra, so it was not too cumbersome.

Cheers,

🙂T

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Question marked as Best reply

Nov 30, 2017 2:01 PM in response to atlonxp

This is a silly workaround, but here's what I did:

Go into the applications folder, and pick the app whose icon is not displaying properly:

User uploaded file

Drag it to the desktop to create an alias:

User uploaded file

Drag the Alias that has the correctly displaying icon to the dock:

User uploaded file

Then remove the old icon that is not displaying properly.


I only had 5 icons that were not displaying when upgrading to high sierra, so it was not too cumbersome.

Cheers,

🙂T

Dec 4, 2017 5:35 PM in response to tromperie

I was having the same issue.


What worked for me:


Booting up the computer in safe mode. Then simply restarting the computer.


So how to do that?


1. Fully turn off laptop.


2. Then turn on your laptop while holding the shift button (you will be holding the shift button for about 1 minute)


3. Your laptop will boot up then in safe mode (note that the screen may flicker...and may be of poor quality)


4. Once you're at the log in screen, you can stop holding the shift button.


5. Log in to your computer.


6. At this point, for me at least, all of my dock icons were restored on my dock.


7. Then I restarted my laptop and logged in as I normally do. (Meaning powering up my laptop without holding the shift key this time)



Let me know if this works! Good luck

Dec 9, 2017 10:28 AM in response to atlonxp

The magic begins when you go to /Users/Toaster/Library/Preferences, search .dock. I found strange strings and using different cmd (thanks google) nothing seemed to work. The most important thing to do is to empty your trash.


Files I found, Before:

User uploaded file


After purging plists (and emptying my ***trash***)

User uploaded file

My Dock has successfully changed Position. Will preform a reboot.

User uploaded file


(Last, Yes I named my laptop Toaster and my main computer is a fridge. Also IDK why I don't call apple care... I have 2 more years... lol).

Jan 7, 2018 1:18 PM in response to atlonxp

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.

Jan 3, 2018 2:38 PM in response to Orlando Castro

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.

Oct 1, 2017 6:49 PM in response to atlonxp

This is an old bug, very old bug. It has to do with Launchservices going crazy. Typically a problem if you run a system utility that manages system level caches (only similar to browser caches in that they optimized repeatable events on the system). If you run any system utility that cleans the system cache, remove it now.


Use http://www.etrecheck.com/ to find out what is installed on your system, that we may determine if you are running any utilities that mismanage the Launchservices. Copy/paste its results to the forum.

Nov 21, 2017 8:56 AM in response to Muskipad

Thanks for the note but it didn't work. Just how "High" were these engineers. Maybe they hired some Microsoft engineers. It screwed up my Creative Cloud app and my dock icons, now I am waiting for EFI print drivers friendly with 10.13.1. I have always said Apple would eventually become the useless bureaucracy they were always meant to be. I've told all the Apple users I supervise in our corporate communications department to delay their upgrade to High Sierra. I guess now I have to call support. Very nice people but it is still a hassle.

Dec 4, 2017 5:37 PM in response to atlonxp

I was having the same issue.


What worked for me:


Booting up the computer in safe mode. Then simply restarting the computer.


So how to do that?


1. Fully turn off laptop.


2. Then turn on your laptop while holding the shift button (you will be holding the shift button for about 1 minute)


3. Your laptop will boot up then in safe mode (note that the screen may flicker...and may be of poor quality)


4. Once you're at the log in screen, you can stop holding the shift button.


5. Log in to your computer.


6. At this point, for me at least, all of my dock icons were restored on my dock.


7. Then I restarted my laptop and logged in as I normally do. (Meaning powering up my laptop without holding the shift key this time)



Let me know if this works! Good luck

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

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