Prevent deletion of specific icons from dock

Question

I regularly accidentally drag the Downloads folder from the dock to trash when trying to delete a recently downloaded file, removing it from he dock.

Is there any way to disable dragging and deleting icons from the dock? An equivalent of locking a file but for individual dock icons?

I don't want to lock the entire dock, just specific icons.

There is no way to lock specific icons in the Dock. You can lock all icons using the method in daniil-manokhin's answer. — Graham Miln, Commented Dec 17, 2018 at 13:52
I'm curious as to how you manage that, as all that happens for me if I drag the Downloads Dock Tile off of the Dock or over to the Trash Dock Tile, it simply removes the Downloads Dock Tile if I let go of it, not into the Trash. What version of macOS are you running and is it actually putting the Downloads Dock Tile or the Downloads folder into the Trash? — user3439894, Commented Dec 17, 2018 at 16:05
It doesn't end up in Trash. It gets removed from the dock, as you describe. Updated question to clarify. — dunxd, Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 17:08
I wonder if it would be possible to write a tweak that supports dragging the topmost item (the most recent one, in the usual configuration) instead of the whole stack. That would be sooo convenient. — hans_meine, Commented May 30, 2020 at 14:50

user310476user310476 · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-17 13:11:41Z

1

I don't think it is possible to lock specific icons.

To lock all the icons go to Terminal and type:

defaults write com.apple.Dock contents-immutable -bool yes

Press enter then type:

killall Dock

answered Dec 17, 2018 at 13:11

user310476

1

This is not what the OP needs, unfortunately, and its mentioned at the very end of the question.
– IconDaemon
Commented Dec 17, 2018 at 13:24
@IconDaemon I said it is not possible
– user310476
Commented Dec 17, 2018 at 13:57
1

I know. The OP mentions in the question itself that the solution you provided will not work, thus your answer is not really an answer that will work.
– IconDaemon
Commented Dec 17, 2018 at 14:10
1

It wasn't what I needed, but it does answer the question (you can't do what I want) and provides the closest option (lock all icons) so a good answer and didn't deserve a down vote.
– dunxd
Commented Jan 9, 2019 at 15:00

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John Keates · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-17 15:49:08Z

0

Apple has not implemented support for this in the Dock, only the all-or-nothing approach is available.

answered Dec 17, 2018 at 15:49

John Keates

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2 Answers 2