🏃‍♂️💨 Catch That Runaway Dock!

Does your Dock keep leaping from one monitor to another in your macOS multi-display setup? Tired of chasing it around like a cat after a laser pointer? Here are some real-world (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) ways to keep your Dock where it belongs.

1. Tame It with Money 💸

“Money solves everything!” Buy DockLock and force your Dock to stay put on one screen. (Your wallet gets lighter, but your mind gets calmer.)

2. Corner the Dock ↔️

When the Dock is at the bottom, it gets extra jumpy. Move it to the left or right and its urge to wander drops dramatically.

$ defaults write com.apple.dock orientation left   # right, bottom also possible
$ killall Dock

Left-side Dock: weird at first, but you’ll get used to it. (Probably…)

3. DIY Dock Guarding with DockGuard.spoon 🕵️‍♂️

“If you want it done right, do it yourself!” Use Hammerspoon to keep an eye on your Dock and shout “No escaping!” (Some coding skills and patience required.)

4. Make the Dock Disappear 🫥

“If I can’t stop it from jumping, I’ll just make it vanish!” Set the Dock to auto-hide and crank up the delay so high, it’s basically a legend.

# Auto-hide the Dock
$ defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true

# Set a huge delay before the Dock appears (in seconds, e.g., 1000 = 16 minutes 40 seconds)
$ defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 1000

# Make the animation super slow
$ defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 5

# Restart the Dock
$ killall Dock

Now your Dock is a myth. (To bring it back, reset the settings as below:)

$ defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool false
$ defaults remove com.apple.dock autohide-delay
$ defaults remove com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier
$ killall Dock

5. Just Give Up 😇

Maybe the Dock’s wanderlust is just its destiny. “Go where you want, Dock…” Find your inner peace and let it be.

May your Dock be ever stable! (And may Apple someday fix this for real…)