Dock locking warning
You reached this page because you clicked a notification from the DockLock app.
DockLock detected Dock settings that are incompatible with the normal locking engine.
When this happens DockLock does two things
- Shows a notification with a link to this page
- Switches to an alternative locking engine that can work with the current Dock settings
Why this can happen
Some macOS tools change Dock settings in a way that is not fully reversible when you uninstall them.
Examples are utilities that try to speed up or tweak the Dock, such as tools similar to DockFix.
One setting is especially important
com.apple.dock autohide-delay
If autohide-delay is set to 0 the Dock animation becomes instant.
This looks fine, but it breaks the logic that the normal DockLock engine depends on.
In this case Dock cannot be locked reliably with the default engine.
DockLock apps are fully sandboxed.
They are not allowed to change your system Dock settings automatically.
Only you can revert these values.
How to restore Dock defaults
Use this if you did not intentionally set a custom ‘autohide-delay’ or if you want to go back to Apple defaults.
- Open the Terminal app
- Reset the ‘autohide-delay’ key for the Dock
defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-delay killall Dock - Wait for the Dock to restart
After this the Dock uses the system default delay again.
The next time DockLock runs, the app can return to its normal locking engine.
Alternative Dock locking engine
When DockLock detects incompatible Dock settings it automatically switches to an alternative engine.
- This engine is designed to keep working even when ‘autohide-delay’ or other Dock properties are changed
- It may use a bit more CPU or behave slightly differently compared to the core engine
- If it feels stable for you it is safe to keep using it
If you prefer the most stable and CPU efficient behavior
- Restore Dock defaults as shown above
- Turn off the alternative engine inside the DockLock app settings
With compatible Dock settings and the alternative engine disabled the core DockLock engine will be used again.
Still have questions
If this does not solve the problem or you are not sure how to proceed contact support.