Some Application Icons Won't Stay in the Dock

Certain Application Icons Won't Stay In the Dock. MobileMe Sync Data Corruption?

My AirPort Utility icon refuses to stay in the Dock. I'm almost certain this problem was caused by some sort of corruption of MobileMe sync data. I've tried nearly everything I can think of, including everything you mentioned, to get it to STAY in the Dock for more than 1-2 seconds. There are a few other threads addressing this problem, with a few suggested actions, of which none have a working solution. I've yet to see anyone reporting success in solving this problem.

What I considered my best idea was to:
1. Set MobileMe sync to 'manual' in MobileMe preferences.
2. Unregister all computers but the one having issue.
3. MOVE ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist to your desktop
4. Repair Permissions
5. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal
6. Try adding the icon to dock to see if it stays put.

FAIL. The icon still disappears within 1-2 sec.
Any other ideas or tweaks to my steps above that may prove successful?

SUCCESS! I have a solution that worked for me!

I can gladly say the AirPort Utility icon is now staying in the dock. Here are the steps I took:

(Please read through all of the steps in this procedure before beginning. As always, you should have a full computer backup handy before messing with system files. This is what worked for me, it may not work for you. I am not responsible should anything go unexpected.)

1. Set MobileMe sync to 'manual' in MobileMe preferences.
2. Unregister all computers but the one having issue.
3. MOVE ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist to your desktop
4. Repair Permissions
5. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal
(icon will not stay put in dock at this point.)
6. Open "System Preferences>MobileMe>Sync" and Select "Advanced"
7. Select "Reset Sync Data"
8. In the "Replace:" dialogue select "Dock Items"
9. Toggle the LEFT ARROW selecting "On this computer with info from MobileMe"
10. Click "Replace"

You'll see MobileMe doing its thing, replacing the data on your computer with the data it has stored on the cloud. When it completes try adding the icon to dock to see if it stays put. If it does, you have success! (If not, I have no more help for you but please read the rest.) There are a few more steps you will want to consider. When you moved ~/Library/Preferences/com.appl.dock.plist to the desktop, OSX automatically created a NEW com.apple.dock.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ to replace it. But there's a problem; this file stores other Preferences like Spaces and Expose, and now all of these preferences are reset to factory defaults. Yikes! To get your settings back please continue below:

11. Take the com.apple.dock.plist file from step #3 (which should still be on your desktop) and place it back at ~/Library/Preferences/
12. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal

Now check to make sure the icon still stays in the dock. (For me it does) All of the icons in the Dock may be back to their factory defualts (they are for me) but the pesky icon that wouldn't stay in the dock now WILL! AND you've got all of your custom Spaces, Expose preferences back in order. Now all you need to do, to be back to normal, is add back all your preferred Application icons to the dock.

Hope this help someone! If it works for you please let us know and share this thread with others having this problem.

curiousjohn said:

I can gladly say the AirPort Utility icon is now staying in the dock. Here are the steps I took:

(Please read through all of the steps in this procedure before beginning. As always, you should have a full computer backup handy before messing with system files. This is what worked for me, it may not work for you. I am not responsible should anything go unexpected.)

1. Set MobileMe sync to 'manual' in MobileMe preferences.
2. Unregister all computers but the one having issue.
3. MOVE ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist to your desktop
4. Repair Permissions
5. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal
(icon will not stay put in dock at this point.)
6. Open "System Preferences>MobileMe>Sync" and Select "Advanced"
7. Select "Reset Sync Data"
8. In the "Replace:" dialogue select "Dock Items"
9. Toggle the LEFT ARROW selecting "On this computer with info from MobileMe"
10. Click "Replace"

You'll see MobileMe doing its thing, replacing the data on your computer with the data it has stored on the cloud. When it completes try adding the icon to dock to see if it stays put. If it does, you have success! (If not, I have no more help for you but please read the rest.) There are a few more steps you will want to consider. When you moved ~/Library/Preferences/com.appl.dock.plist to the desktop, OSX automatically created a NEW com.apple.dock.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ to replace it. But there's a problem; this file stores other Preferences like Spaces and Expose, and now all of these preferences are reset to factory defaults. Yikes! To get your settings back please continue below:

11. Take the com.apple.dock.plist file from step #3 (which should still be on your desktop) and place it back at ~/Library/Preferences/
12. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal

Now check to make sure the icon still stays in the dock. (For me it does) All of the icons in the Dock may be back to their factory defualts (they are for me) but the pesky icon that wouldn't stay in the dock now WILL! AND you've got all of your custom Spaces, Expose preferences back in order. Now all you need to do, to be back to normal, is add back all your preferred Application icons to the dock.

Hope this help someone! If it works for you please let us know and share this thread with others having this problem.

Click to expand...

Can anyone else confirm that this (or something else) has worked for them? My iTunes icon started displaying this behavior earlier this afternoon for no apparent reason and I desperately want it fixed.

newappleboy said:

Can anyone else confirm that this (or something else) has worked for them? My iTunes icon started displaying this behavior earlier this afternoon for no apparent reason and I desperately want it fixed.

Click to expand...

So why don't you try it yourself?

miles01110 said:

So why don't you try it yourself?

Click to expand...

Because I'd like to know if anyone else has found something a little less drastic that works, or if they've confirmed this works before I go resetting my MobileMe settings and messing with system files.

Other solutions.

You may not need to change any system settings. This is just what worked for me. I think I saw a few people reporting success with just unregistering and then re-registering their computer with mobileme. Give it a try and report back!

curiousjohn said:

You may not need to change any system settings. This is just what worked for me. I think I saw a few people reporting success with just unregistering and then re-registering their computer with mobileme. Give it a try and report back!

Click to expand...

Mine seems to have spontaneously stopped (hopefully for good!) after just a repair permissions and multiple restarts. I didn't reset MobileMe settings so after a couple restarts it realized that the iTunes dock icon wasn't where it should be and put it there. In the past it would still snap out of position, but for now it isn't anymore. Hooray! Thanks for the advice though; if this fix isn't permanent, I'll follow your steps for a hopefully more permanent fixture.

newappleboy said:

Can anyone else confirm that this (or something else) has worked for them? My iTunes icon started displaying this behavior earlier this afternoon for no apparent reason and I desperately want it fixed.

Click to expand...

miles01110 said:

So why don't you try it yourself?

Click to expand...

newappleboy said:

Because I'd like to know if anyone else has found something a little less drastic that works, or if they've confirmed this works before I go resetting my MobileMe settings and messing with system files.

Click to expand...

I had an app which started to remove itself from the dock. I keep my 2 Macs' docks in sync. I followed the steps all the way to the end and it worked for me. Hope you've tried it already.

TRAG said:

I had an app which started to remove itself from the dock. I keep my 2 Macs' docks in sync. I followed the steps all the way to the end and it worked for me. Hope you've tried it already.

Click to expand...

Thanks, but the situation resolved itself after a week or so.

curiousjohn said:

I can gladly say the AirPort Utility icon is now staying in the dock. Here are the steps I took:

(Please read through all of the steps in this procedure before beginning. As always, you should have a full computer backup handy before messing with system files. This is what worked for me, it may not work for you. I am not responsible should anything go unexpected.)

1. Set MobileMe sync to 'manual' in MobileMe preferences.
2. Unregister all computers but the one having issue.
3. MOVE ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist to your desktop
4. Repair Permissions
5. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal
(icon will not stay put in dock at this point.)
6. Open "System Preferences>MobileMe>Sync" and Select "Advanced"
7. Select "Reset Sync Data"
8. In the "Replace:" dialogue select "Dock Items"
9. Toggle the LEFT ARROW selecting "On this computer with info from MobileMe"
10. Click "Replace"

You'll see MobileMe doing its thing, replacing the data on your computer with the data it has stored on the cloud. When it completes try adding the icon to dock to see if it stays put. If it does, you have success! (If not, I have no more help for you but please read the rest.) There are a few more steps you will want to consider. When you moved ~/Library/Preferences/com.appl.dock.plist to the desktop, OSX automatically created a NEW com.apple.dock.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ to replace it. But there's a problem; this file stores other Preferences like Spaces and Expose, and now all of these preferences are reset to factory defaults. Yikes! To get your settings back please continue below:

11. Take the com.apple.dock.plist file from step #3 (which should still be on your desktop) and place it back at ~/Library/Preferences/
12. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal

Now check to make sure the icon still stays in the dock. (For me it does) All of the icons in the Dock may be back to their factory defualts (they are for me) but the pesky icon that wouldn't stay in the dock now WILL! AND you've got all of your custom Spaces, Expose preferences back in order. Now all you need to do, to be back to normal, is add back all your preferred Application icons to the dock.

Hope this help someone! If it works for you please let us know and share this thread with others having this problem.

Click to expand...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

I have had this problem for almost a bloody year!! Every now and again I search for a solution. Your solution is the first that has worked! This has been driving me bonkers!

Thank you!!!

Worked for me also...

No idea which of the steps actually made it happen, but I followed them all anyway and my Dock is back to normal.

Nice one.

Stop! At "repair permissions" and make sure the issue is not resolved.

I tried the sequence listed at the top of the thread which did not work for me and nearly quit in frustration. But being compulsive obsessive and finding it hard to let a challenge when, I read further down the thread (I'm also attention deficit so didn't read the whole thread) and saw the posting saying that the problem was resolved at "repair permissions." I tried it and "show nuff" it worked!

So to avoid going through the entire sequence listed at the top of the tread, after "repair permissions" STOP! and test to see if the issue was resolved.

My problem occurred after I tried syncing the docks of my iMac and MacBook Pro

curiousjohn said:

I can gladly say the AirPort Utility icon is now staying in the dock. Here are the steps I took:

(Please read through all of the steps in this procedure before beginning. As always, you should have a full computer backup handy before messing with system files. This is what worked for me, it may not work for you. I am not responsible should anything go unexpected.)

1. Set MobileMe sync to 'manual' in MobileMe preferences.
2. Unregister all computers but the one having issue.
3. MOVE ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist to your desktop
4. Repair Permissions
5. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal
(icon will not stay put in dock at this point.)
6. Open "System Preferences>MobileMe>Sync" and Select "Advanced"
7. Select "Reset Sync Data"
8. In the "Replace:" dialogue select "Dock Items"
9. Toggle the LEFT ARROW selecting "On this computer with info from MobileMe"
10. Click "Replace"

You'll see MobileMe doing its thing, replacing the data on your computer with the data it has stored on the cloud. When it completes try adding the icon to dock to see if it stays put. If it does, you have success! (If not, I have no more help for you but please read the rest.) There are a few more steps you will want to consider. When you moved ~/Library/Preferences/com.appl.dock.plist to the desktop, OSX automatically created a NEW com.apple.dock.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ to replace it. But there's a problem; this file stores other Preferences like Spaces and Expose, and now all of these preferences are reset to factory defaults. Yikes! To get your settings back please continue below:

11. Take the com.apple.dock.plist file from step #3 (which should still be on your desktop) and place it back at ~/Library/Preferences/
12. RUN 'killall Dock' in Terminal

Now check to make sure the icon still stays in the dock. (For me it does) All of the icons in the Dock may be back to their factory defualts (they are for me) but the pesky icon that wouldn't stay in the dock now WILL! AND you've got all of your custom Spaces, Expose preferences back in order. Now all you need to do, to be back to normal, is add back all your preferred Application icons to the dock.

Hope this help someone! If it works for you please let us know and share this thread with others having this problem.

Click to expand...

Worked great for me, thank you!

While this thread is pushing 5 years old I just had this very same problem. iTunes wouldn't stay in the dock after upgrading to version 11.3 (running 10.9.4 osx). For me a simple fix permissions with disk utility fixed my problem and now iTunes will stay in the dock when it is closed.