Your Mac's Dock has disappeared or keeps hiding

Why it happens

Your Mac can tuck the Dock away to give you more room, and it only slides back when the pointer touches the edge of the screen. The setting is easy to switch on by accident with the shortcut Option-Command-D. Full-screen apps and a second display can also make the Dock seem to vanish.

How to fix it

1. Move the pointer right down to the bottom edge of the screen and wait a moment. If the Dock slides up, it's just set to hide.

2. Press Option-Command-D for a quick switch between hiding and always showing.

3. To fix it for good, open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock and turn off Automatically hide and show the Dock.

   Desktop & Dock›Dock›Automatically hide and show the Dock

4. Nothing at the bottom? Check Dock position on screen in the same section. It may have moved to the left or right side.

   Desktop & Dock›Dock›Dock position on screen

Still not fixed?

1. In a full-screen app the Dock always hides. Move the pointer to the bottom edge to show it, or press Control-Command-F to leave full screen.

2. With two screens, the Dock moves to whichever screen you push the pointer down on. Move the pointer to the bottom of your main screen and hold it there.

3. If the Dock vanishes after sleep or the screen saver, install the latest macOS update.

   General›Software Update

4. If the Dock is frozen or won't come back at all, restart your Mac from the Apple menu.

5. Still missing after a restart and an update? Contact Apple Support. They can check whether something in your user account is stopping the Dock.