MacOS Mojave: Black dashed lines appearing in Apple apps between side bars and main windows

Question

Level 1

13 points

MacOS Mojave: Black dashed lines appearing in Apple apps between side bars and main windows

Just upgraded to Mojave, 2nd day in, and I've got black dashed lines in between the side bar and the main window, on Finder, Calendar and the Messages app. Possibly more but those are the one's I have noticed them. These get better or worse, depending on where i move the window around the screen. I have a 1440p external monitor, but this problem also exhibits on the Macbook Retina screen also when unplugged from the main screen. Suggesting that this is a software issue because this wasn't visible in high sierra.

Macbook Pro mid 2014

Iris Pro graphics

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Mojave (10.14)

Posted on Sep 27, 2018 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

stefano45

Level 1

4 points

Oct 1, 2018 1:56 PM in response to stefano45

oh oh... I have another info: if I uncheck "automatic graphics switching" the problem disappears. Another issue with the integrated card. 😠

I say "another" because when it switches from integrated to discrete I always get glitches/artifacts for a moment on the screen... very annoying. But this is another story.

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Answer 2

n.chang

Level 1

8 points

Oct 29, 2018 11:45 AM in response to christian_5555

Hi All,

I have the same issue. My "Reduce transparency" was checked, but I don't remember if I have changed this option before Mojave. I only started to experience this issue (among others) right after I upgraded to Mojave.

I have also tried with other display resolutions and by unchecking this option also works.

By unchecking this option the dashed lines were vanished, but I think the issue is there...it is just not visible.

I will leave this option the way it is and wait for fix from Apple. For me it is better to have this issue visible and keep digging from time to time if it has been fixed rather than forget it by not seeing.

Thanks for the tip christian_5555!!!

I'll use it when taking screen shots.

Macbook Pro 13" retina (Mid 2014)

regards,

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Answer 3

sterling r

Community Specialist

Sep 28, 2018 8:50 AM in response to Phil Rust

Hey Phil Rust,

I can see from your post that certain Apple apps are displaying a series of vertical dash lines within their window. I don't blame you for reaching out on this especially when you've just updated to the latest software, so I'd like to see how I can help. To get started, what happens if you restart your computer? Do these lines disappear even temporarily? I'd also suggest testing this in safe mode as well and let me know what you see. The resource below can help.
Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac

Let me know the results.

Regards.

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Answer 4

Oct 1, 2018 12:51 PM in response to Phil Rust

It happens only on light theme, with dark theme it works fine. It seems a rendering issue: when you scroll, the dashed line moves with the scroll bar and sometimes it disappears for a while.

They appears with any scroll bar.

I tried to change color profile but they are always there.

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Answer 5

Oct 2, 2018 2:01 AM in response to paulo555

Having the same exact issue in Mail, it seems to change in saturation/darkness and position while I scroll... then it goes away unpredictably, waxing and waning even when trying to take a screenshot, notice the different colour of the top part vs the bottom. (2015 MacBook Pro Retina 15" with AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2GB).

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Answer 6

Oct 2, 2018 8:33 AM in response to sterling r

I have the same problems after an update from the latest os High Sierra (recently about 6 moth ago clean installed.)

The dashed lines are not visible in safe mode.

But they are back after reboot.

(Isolating start up programs does not help me)

Macbook Pro Retina Late 2013

256 GB SSD

2GHz Intel Core i7

Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

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Answer 7

Phil Rust Author

Level 1

13 points

Oct 2, 2018 8:49 AM in response to sterling r

Hi, Sorry for late reply. In safe mode the lines don't appear for me, I have tested this at the available resolutions and i can't replicate the issue in safe mode.

Generally speaking, in normal user mode, the lines are not initially visible, but appear when the window is moved. They appear to be more or less visible depending on the x position of the window. The problem persists after a restart yes.

Also to note, I just upgraded to a newer Macbook and transferred the old user space to the new Macbook via time machine backup. The new one has dedicated graphics, but the problem hasn't appeared with either the integrated gpu or the dedicated GPU active. So it seems to be limited to my mid 2014 Macbook currently.

I'm not using any custom user colours or anything out of the ordinary.

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Answer 8

Oct 3, 2018 1:45 AM in response to Jondesigner

Anybody tried with a fresh installation?

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Answer 9

Oct 3, 2018 6:53 AM in response to Phil Rust

Same problem here. Notes, Mail, Finder, Safari all affected. Became an issue as soon as I'd upgraded to Mojave.

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2015, Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB). Problem present on laptop screen and external 4k (3840x2160) monitor.

Dashed lines sometimes disappear but resizing Finder column (or Safari/Mail/Notes sidebar) brings them back.

Occasionally the line is not dashed but appears 'jagged', which on closer inspection is in fact two rows of offset dashed lines, this:

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Answer 10

paulo555

Level 1

69 points

Oct 1, 2018 12:57 PM in response to stefano45

At first I also thought that it was only in the light theme. But it is not true, it also happens in dark theme. Try for example Safari (blank page, scrolling side bar).

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