Mac Dock Disappeared? How to Keep the Dock Visible on Your Mac

Your Dock displays a list of some of your apps at the bottom of your screen. But have you noticed that the Dock sometimes disappears from the bottom of your screen? Don't worry; it might be because the system is set to hide the Dock when an app is open. Moving your cursor to where it should be will make it reappear, but this isn't a permanent solution. Sometimes, bugs or issues with Dock apps can also cause the Dock to vanish on your Mac. So, how do you keep the Dock visible on your Mac?

Why is the Dock missing on my Mac?

Well, the Mac's Dock disappears only when you open an application. The system is smart enough to know that the Dock might interfere with the user interface and experience if it remained on the screen, so it hides the Dock automatically to give you an unobstructed view of your screen.

How to Keep the Dock Visible on a Mac

If you want to keep the Dock visible on your Mac, follow the methods we prepared for you below. With them, you can have your Dock always showing on your Mac.

• Method 1: Disable Auto-Hide for the Dock
• Method 2: Update Your Operating System
• Method 3: Restart Your Mac
• Method 4: Reset the Dock

Method 1: Disable Auto-Hide Dock

We'll start with the simplest solution – un-hiding Auto Hide. Auto Hide might be the reason your Dock is disappearing on your Mac, and you can make it visible again by simply turning off this feature.

Step 1: Open System Preferences

Click the apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen, then select “System Preferences” from the drop-down menu to open the options.

Step 2: Choose a Dock and Menu Bar

It's all about the Dock and Menu Bar options. Click it, and it opens up all the options for the Dock at the bottom and the Menu Bar at the top.

Select the Dock and Menu Bar.png

Step 3: Deselect "Automatically hide the taskbar"

Now, uncheck the “Automatically hide and show the Dock” option, and you'll see the Dock spring back into view. From now on, it will be permanently visible across all your open apps on your Mac.

Method 2: Update Your Operating System

Many errors and issues are related to an outdated operating system, so it's best to update your macOS as soon as possible. To do this, you need to:

Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen, click “System Preferences,” then click “Software Update.” Click “Update Now,” wait for the update to finish, then restart your Mac.

Method 3: Restart Your Mac

The simplest solution to the Dock disappearing on a Mac might be to simply restart your computer. The Dock on a Mac can vanish due to some software issues, and restarting your Mac usually takes care of minor problems like this.

Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen, then click Restart. Your Mac will shut down and turn back on, at which point you can check to see if the Dock is visible.

Method 4: Reset the Dock

The fourth method is also called the "killall Dock" method. This will restart and reset your Dock to its default settings, possibly getting rid of any errors or glitches in the process. It requires you to enter a specific command in a program called "Terminal." To access Terminal, do the following.

Step 1: Launch the Finder, go to the Applications folder, and open Utilities.

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Step 2. In Utilities, you need to find "Terminal." To easily locate it, just use the search bar at the top.

Step 3: Type in the command "killall Dock" and press Return. The Dock will reset and reappear.

Conclusions

In most cases, you won't even need to do the above since the Dock on a Mac usually hides itself automatically. This is so that when you go full screen with an app, the Dock gets out of the way so you can enjoy the full-screen view. Keeping your Mac up to date is another way to ensure optimal performance. As mentioned earlier, an outdated OS can cause a lot of issues. Hopefully, this article has helped you figure out how to keep the Dock visible on your Mac.