I have tried to research the issue but am having not luck as everything just says that once you turn on displays have separate spaces the dock should display and it doesnt.
MacBook Air, macOS 26.0
The Dock will be on the main display, not on both displays. By default, the internal display is the main one. You can change that in System Settings > Displays, either select the external display then Use as: Main display OR click the Arrange button at the bottom and drag the semi-transparent representation of the menu bar to the other display (in Arrange, you can also move the displays to match their physical arrangement on your desk).
The Dock will be on the main display, not on both displays. By default, the internal display is the main one. You can change that in System Settings > Displays, either select the external display then Use as: Main display OR click the Arrange button at the bottom and drag the semi-transparent representation of the menu bar to the other display (in Arrange, you can also move the displays to match their physical arrangement on your desk).
neuroanatomist wrote:
The Dock will be on the main display, not on both displays.
That is not entirely correct. The Dock will only appear in one display at a time, but it can be moved from one display to another, without changing the main display setting.
With two displays side by side, and the Dock positioned at the bottom, the user would need only bump the cursor against the bottom of the second display to make the Dock move.
With other display arrangements, things may vary. JulyIGHOR and Barney have already discussed what could happen with displays set atop one another. And if the displays are side by side, and the Dock is set on one side instead of at the bottom, then it will only stay on the display that is on that side.
Here's an explanation of where the Dock can appear based on your Arrange Displays layout. The Dock cannot move to a display if the bottom edge of that display fully overlaps with another one. To fix this, slightly shift one display left, or right in Arrange Displays so their bottom edges don't completely align.
You can also try the DockLock Lite app from the Mac App Store, which can force the Dock to relocate to the correct display.
[Edited by Moderator]
Have you turned the monitor off and let it power down and turned it back on?
mark probert wrote:
I have tried to research the issue but am having not luck as everything just says that once you turn on displays have separate spaces the dock should display and it doesnt.
The Dock will move between displays, but it won't appear on both at the same time.
Also, the Dock will not appear on the seam between displays. So, if you have one display above the other, the Dock won't appear on the top display unless there is some non-overlapping space between the displays.
Dock not displaying on 2nd monitor despite "Displays have separatee spaces" being turning on
