Docker Desktop GUI fails to open after closing on macOS Tahoe (16) Beta - requires force kill to restart

Description

Docker Desktop 4.57.0 fails to reopen after being closed on macOS Tahoe (16) Beta. The app briefly appears in the Dock for ~1ms then disappears. The Docker whale icon does not appear in the menu bar. Backend processes continue running but the GUI cannot be launched.
(I've been aware of the problem since 4.55.0, but I don't know if it existed before that.)

The only workaround is to force kill all Docker processes via Activity Monitor or pkill -9 -f Docker before reopening.

After a fresh install or complete reset (deleting all Docker-related folders), Docker starts once successfully. But after closing the app, the same issue occurs.

Environment:

Docker Desktop version: 4.55.0
macOS version: 16.2 Beta (Build 25C56) - Tahoe
Architecture: Apple Silicon (arm64)

Workaround:
Force kill Docker processes before starting:
pkill -9 -f Docker && open -a Docker

Reproduce

Install Docker Desktop 4.55.0 on macOS Tahoe Beta
Open Docker Desktop - works fine on first launch
Quit Docker Desktop normally (Cmd+Q or via menu)
Try to reopen Docker Desktop via Launchpad, Dock, or open -a Docker
App icon appears briefly in Dock (~1ms) then vanishes
No Docker whale icon in menu bar
ps aux | grep docker shows backend processes still running
Only pkill -9 -f Docker followed by open -a Docker allows restart

Expected behavior

No response

docker version

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:           28.4.0
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.25.1
 Git commit:        d8eb465f86
 Built:             Wed Sep  3 20:52:20 2025
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.57.0 (215387)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.1.3
  API version:      1.52 (minimum version 1.44)
  Go version:       go1.25.5
  Git commit:       fbf3ed2
  Built:            Fri Dec 12 14:50:40 2025
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          v2.2.1
  GitCommit:        dea7da592f5d1d2b7755e3a161be07f43fad8f75
 runc:
  Version:          1.3.4
  GitCommit:        v1.3.4-0-gd6d73eb8
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

docker info

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:    28.4.0
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.17.1
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.30.1-desktop.1
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.0.1
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.35.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.0.6
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-model
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.40
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-offload
  pass: Docker Pass Secrets Manager Plugin (beta) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.0.22
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-pass
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.6.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sandbox
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.19.0
    Path:     /Users/roes/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
 Containers: 0
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 0
 Images: 0
 Server Version: 29.1.3
 Storage Driver: overlayfs
  driver-type: io.containerd.snapshotter.v1
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Discovered Devices:
  cdi: docker.com/gpu=webgpu
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 runc
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: dea7da592f5d1d2b7755e3a161be07f43fad8f75
 runc version: v1.3.4-0-gd6d73eb8
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  seccomp
   Profile: builtin
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 6.12.54-linuxkit
 Operating System: Docker Desktop
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: aarch64
 CPUs: 12
 Total Memory: 7.653GiB
 Name: docker-desktop
 ID: 80a4624e-177e-4887-82ec-e265b585981c
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 HTTP Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 HTTPS Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 No Proxy: hubproxy.docker.internal
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=unix:///Users/roes/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/docker-cli.sock
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  hubproxy.docker.internal:5555
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false

Diagnostics ID

4CF54013-373B-4D2D-A11F-CA72885E0205

Additional Info

No response

Face the same issue. My environment:

macOS Tahoe 26.2
docker 4.58.1
CPU: arm64

More docker info

❯ docker version
Client:
 Version:           29.1.5
 API version:       1.52
 Go version:        go1.25.6
 Git commit:        0e6fee6
 Built:             Fri Jan 16 12:47:44 2026
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.58.1 (217134)
 Engine:
  Version:          29.1.5
  API version:      1.52 (minimum version 1.44)
  Go version:       go1.25.6
  Git commit:       3b01d64
  Built:            Fri Jan 16 12:48:37 2026
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          v2.2.1
  GitCommit:        dea7da592f5d1d2b7755e3a161be07f43fad8f75
 runc:
  Version:          1.3.4
  GitCommit:        v1.3.4-0-gd6d73eb8
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

This is another instance of issue 7762

@troesner-clesk

@troesner-clesk any solution to this?

@lucasattia

Hey @lucasattia - partial workaround on my side:

Opening Docker Desktop via the Applications folder / Launchpad / Dock still doesn't work for me once the app has been quit. The icon flashes for a moment and disappears, same as before.

What does work now (since some recent Docker or macOS update):

Leave the Docker whale icon in the macOS menu bar (top right of the screen) alone.
If the GUI is closed but the menu bar icon is still there, right-click the whale icon and choose "Go to Dashboard" - the GUI opens back up.

This didn't work for me a few versions back (the menu bar item was dead after closing the window), but on my current setup it reliably brings the dashboard back without the pkill dance.

@troesner-clesk

Thanks for sharing, @troesner-clesk . No luck for me on this solution, either. I ended up installing docker via CLI for now. Would be great if some folks from Docker could work on addressing this issue

Was this fixed or just marked as not planned?

@scarere

@scarere According to the release notes it was fixed in 4.73.0.

For a long time cmd + q just closes the dashboard application without quitting the docker daemon. It never does "fully quitting Docker Desktop". This fundamental behavior was changed without mentioning in the release notes.

@homm

@homm see first line of the 4.73.0 release notes https://docs.docker.com/desktop/release-notes/#4730

@bsousaa

@bsousaa right, it mentioned some bug with cmd+q was fixed. You could consider it as a long-living bug. But what is actually happens: cmd + q effect was completely changed. It never stops whole Docker before.

This is happening to me in Docker Desktop 4.94.0 (241994), it killed a long running mutation suite I had to try and save some CPU/GPU cycles from the rendering loop (which by the way still happen even when in another workspace or minimized). Garbage water...

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Docker Desktop GUI fails to open after closing on macOS Tahoe (16) Beta - requires force kill to restart #7833

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Docker Desktop GUI fails to open after closing on macOS Tahoe (16) Beta - requires force kill to restart #7833

Description

Description

Reproduce

Expected behavior

docker version

docker info

Diagnostics ID

Additional Info

Activity

p-dros commented on Jan 31, 2026

scarere commented on Feb 12, 2026

lucasattia commented on Apr 24, 2026

troesner-clesk commented on Apr 24, 2026

lucasattia commented on Apr 24, 2026

scarere commented on Apr 30, 2026

maffe commented on May 13, 2026

homm commented on May 13, 2026

bsousaa commented on May 13, 2026

homm commented on May 14, 2026

SeedyROM commented on Oct 19, 2026

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