Unable to remove greyed out question marks in dock

ubnjtx · Jan 28, 2014

Using Mavericks 10.9.1 I am unable to remove numerous greyed out question marks from the dock either by dragging off or using the option to remove from dock. most of the items there have been removed from the computer after a wipe and install. Very frustrating.

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Join Date: Jan 2014
Angry unable to remove greyed out question marks from dock
Using Mavericks and have wiped/reinstalled drive, used option key to try and remove. dragged off dock, repaired permissions/drive, rebooted yet still does not remove after restart. several apps i.e.: Quark, stuffit show icon in dock, but also there is a question mark designated for the same. I have tried to place icon for Word, Excel and others, but they have disappeared and only the grey question mark remains and remains and remains................

GGJstudios · Jan 28, 2014

ubnjtx said:
Using Mavericks 10.9.1 I am unable to remove numerous greyed out question marks from the dock either by dragging off or using the option to remove from dock. most of the items there have been removed from the computer after a wipe and install. Very frustrating.

Try holding the Command key down while you drag them far away from the Dock and hold them for a few seconds before letting go. You may also try restarting your Mac.

techfreak103 · Jan 28, 2014

Can't remove question marks? [REPLY]

Actually to remove question marks on the dock:
Hold down Control and click on the question mark
Move cursor to Options in the little black box that appears and click Remove from Dock

ElectronGuru · Jan 28, 2014

Mavericks has a new safety feature. Instead of erasing with a quick drag and drop, you must now drag, hold, and drop. Give it a count of 2.

KoolAid-Drink · Jan 28, 2014

In the spirit of accuracy, it was actually Mountain Lion (10.8) that introduced the "sticky-safety" feature for the Dock.

In any case, drag said question mark off the dock up near the menu bar, hold until you see the puff of smoke appear on the icon, then release.

If the icon still sticks, do a permissions repair and then restart.

ubnjtx · Jan 29, 2014

unable to remove greyed out question marks from dock

Using Mavericks and have wiped/reinstalled drive, used option key to try and remove. dragged off dock, repaired permissions/drive, rebooted yet still does not remove after restart. several apps i.e.: Quark, stuffit show icon in dock, but also there is a question mark designated for the same. I have tried to place icon for Word, Excel and others, but they have disappeared and only the grey question mark remains and remains and remains................

swordfish5736 · Jan 29, 2014

ubnjtx said:
Using Mavericks and have wiped/reinstalled drive, used option key to try and remove. dragged off dock, repaired permissions/drive, rebooted yet still does not remove after restart. several apps i.e.: Quark, stuffit show icon in dock, but also there is a question mark designated for the same. I have tried to place icon for Word, Excel and others, but they have disappeared and only the grey question mark remains and remains and remains................

try dragging the question mark away from the dock on the desktop until the pointer changes shape and a little dust cloud appears next to it. Then when you release it should remove from the dock. It seems as though you have to move things further from the dock in mavericks than previous versions of OS X

Fishrrman · Jan 29, 2014

ubnjtx, try this:

Open Terminal.

Copy the line below (without quotes), and then paste that into the dock and hit return:
"defaults write com.apple.dock contents-immutable -bool false"

(this is the command to "unlock" the dock)

Next, copy this and paste into the Terminal window, and again hit return:
"killall Dock"

(this force-quits and restarts the dock)

Now right-click on the question marks in the dock, and under "options", choose to remove them.
Any better?

nyolc8 · Jan 29, 2014

Did you tried to delete the /Users/<your_username>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file?

So:
Open Finder > press "cmd+shift+g" > write "~/Library/Preferences" in there > delete "com.apple.dock.plist" file > Open Terminal > write "killall Dock" > press "enter/return".

This will restore the dock to default.

ubnjtx · Jan 29, 2014

Greyed out Question marks

Thanks for all the help, this finally worked. Up and running correctly now

nyolc8 said:
Did you tried to delete the /Users/<your_username>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file?

So:
Open Finder > press "cmd+shift+g" > write "~/Library/Preferences" in there > delete "com.apple.dock.plist" file > Open Terminal > write "killall Dock" > press "enter/return".

This will restore the dock to default.

jbullard · Oct 17, 2014

Still does not work

I also now have the grey question mark in the dock after a restart, and none of the solutions suggested in this thread worked, including the last one that seems to finally have worked for ubnjtx. I have tried them all at least twice with no luck. Just to summarize, here is what I've tried without success:

1. Dragging the question mark to the trash
2. Ctrl-mouse and selecting "Remove from Dock" in the little black window that appears. The problem is that "Remove from Dock" does not show up as an option.
3. Dragging the question mark far away from the dock and keeping the mouse held down; no puff of smoke ever appears even after holding for 30 seconds, and the question mark just springs right back down to the dock.
4. Holding the Cmd key down and dragging the question mark off the dock.
5. Deleting the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file, then killall -KILL Dock
6. Same as 5 but restarting the computer afterward.

UK2TX2CA · Nov 7, 2014

Fishrrman said:
ubnjtx, try this:

Open Terminal.

Copy the line below (without quotes), and then paste that into the dock and hit return:
"defaults write com.apple.dock contents-immutable -bool false"

(this is the command to "unlock" the dock)

Next, copy this and paste into the Terminal window, and again hit return:
"killall Dock"

(this force-quits and restarts the dock)

Now right-click on the question marks in the dock, and under "options", choose to remove them.
Any better?

Thanks, this worked when I added a delete of the dock.plist.

lizpercival · Aug 21, 2017

I am having a similar problem. I'm using OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 and after being forced to upgrade my Office programs by my university, I am left with grey question marks in the dock that refuse to be deleted.

I have tried all the following:

1. Ensuring program is closed by using force quit
2. Dragging the question mark to the trash
3. Ctrl-mouse and selecting "Remove from Dock" in the little black window that appears. The problem is that "Remove from Dock" does not show up as an option.
4. Dragging the question mark far away from the dock and keeping the mouse held down; no puff of smoke ever appears even after holding for 30 seconds, and the question mark just springs right back down to the dock.
5. Holding the Cmd key down and dragging the question mark off the dock.
6. Deleting the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file, then killall -KILL Dock
7. What Fishrrman described above :

Open Terminal.

Copy the line below (without quotes), and then paste that into the dock and hit return:
"defaults write com.apple.dock contents-immutable -bool false"

(this is the command to "unlock" the dock)

Next, copy this and paste into the Terminal window, and again hit return:
"killall Dock"

Does anyone have any other suggestions for how to remove the annoying grey question marks from the dock?

Thanks

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Unable to remove greyed out question marks in dock

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