Question marks replaced app icons on dock

I downloaded Skype and VLC on my MBP retina, and when I went to Finder and ejected the disks, two gray question marks popped up on my dock, where Skype and VLC should've been.
I didn't have this problem on my old MacBook; how do i solve this problem?

I had the same problem and have left it ever since I upgraded this less than 1 year old machine.
It has quietly frustrated me, but I have been so busy I hadn't time to worry about such a small inconvenience, I thought it may take days to solve.
You just solved it for me in moments!
Thank you mende1 from me too.

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Safari only opens under 1 user,question mark appears over icon in dock...please help,i am clueless

as title says safari opens under wifes user name,it was not in her dock we found it in trash and "put back",then icon appeared on her desk top we put it in her dock,now its in dock and desk top,and other usres cannot open safari,get question mark over icon in dock,we are clueless as u can probably tell any help appreciated

ralphfromronkonkoma wrote:
we found it in trash and "put back",then icon appeared on her desk top we put it in her dock,now its in dock and desk top,and other usres cannot open safari
If you found Safari in the Trash it was probably the Safari.app itself. Icons on the Dock do not go into Trash. They drag off and "Poof".
That means that the app, itself is on your Desktop. Choose it and Get Info (command-i). Does it say, "Safari.app"? Drag it back into /Applications folder. Then drag your icon off the Dock and create a new one by dragging Safari.app to the Dock. It will create an alias which is all the Dock icons are.
The question mark means an alias has lost the path to the application. Have your other users drag it off the Dock and drag it from the applications folder to create a new alias on the Dock.

Question mark instead of icon in dock

I'm seeing a question mark instead of the VLC icon in my dock. Does anyone know why?

The icons in the dock are basically shortcuts to the applications themselves.
Can you still open VLC through Spotlight or the Applications folder?
If so, delete the question mark from the dock by dragging it up off the dock and letting it go "poof." Then open VLC, right-click on its icon in the dock, and choose Keep in Dock.
~Lyssa

Question Mark for FIrefox Icon in Dock

I needed to reinstall my operating system today--I had some issues when I was doing some updating.
I got everything back and it's running just fine now, however, instead of my Firefox icon in the dock, I have a question mark there now. If I click on it, Firefox opens just fine, and if I put my mouse over it, it tells me it's Firefox so it is useable--it's just that it would be nice to have the icon there instead of a question mark. I also have a question mark there for MSN Messenger but I'm not really that concerned about that missing icon.
Any ideas on what I can do?

Items it the Dock are just short cuts or aliases to the original item. If the original item gets moved from it's original location then you will get a question mark because the alias in the dock is no longer correct. Check and see if Photobooth is still in your Applications folder and if it is still there then do what was said above. Drag the question mark out of the dock and drag the original Application back to the dock creating a new dock alias for it.
George

A transparent question mark on iTunes icon in dock/ iTunes won't open

Thanks for reading this and helping me--I have an iMac and a transparent question mark is in the middle of iTunes symbol in my dock. iTunes will not open at all when I try to open and there are no error messages.
Thanks

Open your Applications folder and locate iTunes. Drag it's icon to the doc. Drag the other icon out of the dock and it will disappear.
If you can't locate iTunes in your applications folder, download a fresh copy here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Question mark on mail icon in dock.

Mail application will will not open and has a question mark on it. Application can no longer be found in applications. Where and why did it go?
How do I just reinstall the mail app? Skype application also disappeared at the same time.
Thanks for any help

Well, applications don't delete themselves, so the only logical conclusion we can reach is that you deleted them, or someone who was using your computer deleted them. Deleting things without knowing what you're doing or what will happen is a good way to hose your entire system, so don't play around with things you don't understand.
If you want to get Mail back, you will have to insert your Mac OS X install/restore disc, navigate to the Optional Installs folder, and open the Optional Installs.mpkg inside. When you get to the installer section check the box to install Mail and run it. When that's done, quit the Installer and eject that disc. Then use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions.
Afterward, you will need to download and reapply the 10.4.11 Combo Update to bring your version of Mail up to date, after which you can start using it again. For Skype, you'll have to reinstall that on your own, since it's not part of OS X.
Mulder

Gray question mark over mail icon in dock

What does this mean? I cannot open mail.
MAC OS X 10.5.6 Safari Beta4

Insert your OS X Installer disc and double-click on the Install Pre-bundled Software package. You can reinstall Mail from that installer. When completed you will need to reinstall the Leopard combo updater for the current version of Leopard you now have installed. You can download the appropriate combo updater at support.apple.com/downloads/.

Question marks instead of icons in the dock.

Hi,
can anyone suggest why my macbooks have question marks instead of icons on and off in the dock. When clicked the icon will re-appear and the application will launch. There is no pattern to which icons will be replaced by question marks or how many. Sometimes all will be question marks, and other times only one? Any ideas?
Also - just a general question - of less importance, but with Leopard looming, historically how well does a server cope with new software versions on clients? Will I really need Server 10.5?

With regard to the questionmark issue, check out this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1137292&tstart=0
No answers yet, but it's being explored.

I got home today and got a message on Messages or IMessage and the Messages app would not open i restarted my computer and it had a question mark as the icon for the app. Help!?!?! What does this meen how can i prevent further damage or fix damage delt

I got home today and got a message on Messages or IMessage and the Messages app would not open i restarted my computer and it had a question mark as the icon for the app. Help!?!?! What does this meen how can i prevent further damage or fix damage delt

Is this what you see when you start up your MBP?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
Ciao.

Question Mark on Safari Icon - it won't start

I'm a newbie to Mac. I purchased my iMac in March. Last night I clicked on the Safari icon in the dock. A question mark overlaid the icon and it wouldn't start. Through Finder I found a command to start (or run) Safari but I got a message that Safari was either disabled or (I believe) deleted.
Sorry for the faulty memory but I have to use my work computer to post. Without Safari, I can't get on the internet at home and I can't seem to download Safari. I'm at my wit's end.

To all who responded,
Thanks so much for your suggestions. It ended up I kind of lucked into an easier solution. I was smart enough to buy a backup drive so when I went into Time Machine I was able to go back a few days and restore Safari.
Still can't figure out what happened. Time Machine told me the last backup (prior to my restoring Safari) failed for some reason. After I restored Safari I instructed Time Machine to do an immediate backup and it went fine.
Don't know if the two are related.
BTW, I'm going to download Firefox so I don't have to worry about this again. Thanks for the suggestion. Two nights I was ruing the fact that I neglected to do so earlier.

There is suddenly a gray shelf under the app icons in dock. does anyone know how to get rid of this?

there is suddenly a gray shelf under the app icons in dock. does anyone know how to get rid of this?

Take a look at the various suggestions in 'More like this' >>>>>>>> to the right of your original post. And don't forget the links within the threads. Several people have had that problem.

Boot error with question mark on folder icon

Hello.
This is very newest iMac (2014 late).
It worked very first time with basic way.
But 3 days later, iMac doesn't boot at all.
I've tried everything about reinstall and boot
Internet recovery, P+R+Alt+Cmd, recheck and verify hard drive.
However, sometimes There's no show hard drive on disk utility mode.
Can't even erase or format because I don't see it on hard drive list.
And now after power on, there's only [question mark on folder icon] and
it looks like warning me something.
Should I refund it? Or try something else?

Hi
Given Solution
1st check Hard Disk Working or Not
2nd check Partition table
3rd check reinstall Mac Os
and
after any problem vist ; [email protected]

Question mark on an icon in the dock.

I deleted iStat from my Mac using App Zapper, but the icon in the dock remained and now has a question mark on it. I tried to drag it to the trash but it won't move. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

RedSox1424 wrote:
I tried that too. All it says now is, open, show in finder, and open at login.
If you had the utility "Property List Editor" (part of Apple's Developer package) installed, you could probably use it to edit the file <yourhomefolder>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.doc.plist to eliminate that entry from the "persistent-apps" entry. If you don't, you could drag that file out of its folder, then log out and back in again. The problem with that approach is that you'd have to repopulate your Dock with anything you'd put there manually.

I reinstalled my computer because it was too slow, and Safary icon has a ? question mark on it in the dock, i pulled it out with the hope that i can bring it back from the application, but the icon could not be found in the application. Pls help me.

Could you pls help me? i reinstalled my computer and the Safari Icon has a ? mark on it in the dock, I pulled it out and it disappeared, I checked for this icon in the application folder but couldnt find it there. So for me to go on Internet i have to open Firefox first. 2. The message Java Plug in has been disable appeared immediatle after the reinstallation. I need help from the community pls.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
I think that your Mac detects your hard disk, but the problem is that your new hard disk doesn't contain any operating system, so your Mac doesn't find any bootable partition and you see a question mark.
If your Mac came with DVDs, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and hold the C key while your Mac is starting. Then, just install Mac OS X. If the hard disk isn't prepared to install Mac OS X, you will have to erase it using "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". See > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

PhotoBooth Has a Question Mark Over the Icon in the Dock

I'm trying to fix my bosses daughters MacAir. Her brother was playing around with PhotoBooth and now you can't even open it. The icon in the dock has a question mark over it and when I go into her applications and double click on PhotoBooth nothing happens. It looks like it loads but really it's just a quick half second thing and nothing happens. No PhotoBooth options show up on the top either, it just doesn't load at all.
How can I get her PhotoBooth back working? She has Mac OS X Version 10.5.5 and all possible updates are installed.
Any help would be appreciated...

Perform a custom install from the Mac OS X 10.5 disks and install only that component if possible; if not, use Pacifist to install it. In either case, rerun the combo updater for your Mac OS X version afterwards.
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Question marks replaced app icons on dock

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