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Update 2: This problem is due to 3rd party software -- details at the bottom of this post

I use dock "hiding" which is supposed to show the Mac OS dock only when the mouse is brought to that edge of the screen, and I've been having trouble with the dock sometimes getting "stuck" open rather than automatically hiding.

But until now, I've never been able to figure out why it gets stuck. I've tried solutions on some sites (such as this) which recommend using the Terminal killall Dock command or other solutions, but none of it has worked for me.

As the following screen capture shows, the problem I'm experiencing happens when the mouse is dragged to the edge of the screen and then slid along that edge. In my video the Dock is along the left edge, but similar things happen when it's placed at the bottom or on the right side of the screen.

enter image description here

While recording this video I used software which shows mouse left clicks as red circles and keystrokes in a gray box at the upper left corner.

Although I move the mouse pretty quickly, before each "stuck" event I have inserted a red arrow to show how the mouse is about to move to cause the problem.

It was hard for me to figure out how to reproduce this, so don't be surprised if you find it difficult to reproduce. As seen in the .gif, I have several failed attempts even with all my practice.

To get it unstuck requires moving the mouse back to the edge where the dock is, but I've also found that clicking twice on the control center menu bar item will get it unstuck. Using cmd-opt-D to hide/unhide does not help it get unstuck, and as you can see in the .gif no amount of clicking away from the dock helps.

Is there a solution to this problem?

Update: After @Tetsujin commented on an inability to get the Dock to pop up "while the cursor is still moving" I did some more tests. In the .gif below you can see that I am able to reproduce the problem even with a very slow moving cursor.

I'm using MacOS 13.2.1 on a MacBook Air M1, 2020

enter image description here

Update 2: This problem is due to 3rd party software. Specifically, a feature called "Hide Menu Icons" within the "Parallels Toolbox" of the Parallels emulation software for Mac OS. I've posted a bug report on their site, but here is a screen capture demonstrating that the Dock gets stuck (1) when the "Hide Menu Icons" is turned on and (2) the Dock does not get stuck when the "Hide Menu Icons" is turned off and (3) the Dock gets stuck again when the "Hide Menu Icons" is turned back on. Thanks to @benwiggy

enter image description here

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  • I've no clue how to fix it, but what's quite interesting is that the Dock pops up at all while the cursor is still moving. I can't get mine to do that, I must stop. You can see it's 'failed' already at this point, because there's no localised magnification where the cursor is. It's already stuck.
    – Tetsujin
    Feb 18 at 8:18
  • Do you have any third-party software that might be interfering with mouse activity, or other parts of the GUI? Also, do you have Universal Control, with another device's screen to the left of this one?
    – benwiggy
    Feb 18 at 15:05
  • Apologies, Tony M, I've edited your question to make it clearer. It was a lot to digest at one read, and I obviously missed it.
    – IconDaemon
    Feb 18 at 16:08

1 Answer 1

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It's possible that this is caused by some third-party software that is interfering with the UI, either by accident or by design.

Starting in Safe Mode will disable any Launch Agents and Login Items: if this fixes the issue, you will have to narrow it down by testing combinations of your software.

Testing a brand new user account is another way of pinpointing the source of the problem. If the problem persists, the cause is at the system level; otherwise it's something in the user domain.

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  • see update #2 in the original post for details on why benwiggy was right.
    – Tony M
    Feb 19 at 11:42

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