Why is There a Question Mark Icon in the Dock on Mac?

You may occasionally find a situation where a question mark icon appears in the Mac Dock, sometimes it’s even several question mark icons. If you click on the question mark icon in the Dock, nothing happens. What is the question mark? Why is there a question mark icon in the Dock? How do you remove or fix it? We’re going to answer these questions and resolve this issue.

What is it and why is there a question mark icon in the Mac Dock?

The question mark Dock icon is an indicator that the linked app, file, or folder, is no longer where it was expected to be.

Typically the question mark shows up in the Mac Dock if an app, file, or folder, has been moved, uninstalled, or deleted. For apps, the most common reason is that the app was deleted, but for files, network shares, folders, and even sometimes apps too, the most common reason is often that the item was simply moved to another location.

How to Remove the Question Mark from the Mac Dock

Removing the question mark icon from the Mac dock is easy:

1. Click and hold on the question mark icon, and drag it far out of the Dock
2. When the icon says “Remove” above it, release the click to remove the question mark from the Dock

This is just like removing any other app, file, folder, or server from the Mac Dock.

But what if the question mark icon appears unexpectedly, for an app or item that you want in the Mac Dock? In that case,

How to Fix a Question Mark Icon in Mac Dock

To fix the question mark icon, you must find the original item that it was linked to, and drag it back into the Mac Dock:

1. Hit Command+Spacebar to open Spotlight on Mac (or click the magnifying glass icon in the menu bar)
2. Search for the name or the file/folder to find it on the Mac
3. Select the Spotlight result with the app/file and hold down the Command key and hit return to open the containing folder
4. Drag the app or file/folder into the Mac Dock as usual
5. Remove the question mark icon from the Dock as you would remove any other item

It’s also possible that you will not find the app you are looking for when searching with Spotlight, in which case you’ll need reinstall the app, whether from the Mac App Store, the app developer, or where ever the app is available or where from originally obtained.

Another noteworthy situation, though less common, is that the app, file, folder, or item, was located on a network drive or external storage device, and that is no longer connected to the Mac, in which case you might see the question mark in the Dock.