Docker for Mac hangs while starting up. Stuck on "Docker Desktop is Starting"

[rje0929]

• [x] I have tried with the latest version of my channel (Stable or Edge)
• [x] I have uploaded Diagnostics
• Diagnostics ID: 9516E931-4567-4F91-AACB-30019CED0937/20201209185508

Expected behavior

Docker starts up

Actual behavior

Docker doesn't start and just hangs with the "Docker Desktop is Starting" message.

Information

• macOS Version: 10.15.7

Diagnostic logs

Docker for Mac: 10.15.7

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Just double click the Docker app to start. It also does it on restarting.

[radj]

As with @kasabov , upgrading and then deleting ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker worked for me. Factory reset was not enough.

This worked for me albeit with a twist: it was ~/Library/Containers/Docker in Finder.

[akshanshshrivastava]

I think there is an issue with docker 4.10 in Apple silicon chip docker desktop. I Uninstalled that and installed 4.7.0 it worked like a charm

[dsantiago]

Had this issues these days, what i did:

• Downloaded the .img again frmo donwloads page
• As the Docker proccess was dead, i usedkillall docker in terminal and killed also the Docker proccess in Activity Monitor
• Override the Docker in Applications

And it worked for me...

[raphaelsoul]

In my case, Kubernetes fails to start caused by connection issue and hosts mapping.

try kubectl cluster-info, if you got

Unable to connect to the server: dial tcp: lookup kubernetes.docker.internal on 114.114.114.114:53: no such host

see here https://github.com/kubernetes/kubectl/issues/874#issuecomment-635162212

My solution that works is edit /etc/hosts and add 127.0.0.1 kubernetes.docker.internal. But notice, do not try to edit ~/.kube/config this file will be override every time bootstrapping docker for mac.

[hscheib]

I am on macOS 12.5.1 (Monterey) experiencing the same hanging on "Docker Desktop is Starting" issue with version 4.11.1 (latest)

Wanted to share my temporary solution, I successfully got everything started by downgrading to version 4.8.1

I would like to run on latest version but I tried all the other tips in this thread with no luck

[edwin-alvarez]

This issue is also occurring on my macOS Monterey v 12.5.1.. installation goes well but, then Docker shows as (Not Responding).

<> I installed v 4.10.0 and it runs just fine. Note: I didnt try v 4.11x

I hope 4.12 patch is. avaialble soom

[liamwye]

Have been having the same issue for a few days now too. Started randomly after a shutdown, but now every morning when I boot my Macbook for work, I have to kill Docker and restart before I can do anything.

MacOS Monterey, Version 12.5.1 Macbook Pro (2021), M1 Pro, 16GB

Docker Desktop for Mac Version 4.12.0 (85629) Docker Engine Version 20.10.17

[dugajean]

It's hanging for me too on initial start.

[public-rant]

Same things here on a nearly fresh install of macOS and a brew bundle --global with my Brewfile containing a cask "docker"

The only unusual thing I did was a brew install docker followed by brew uninstall docker before running the bundle command.

---

macOS 12.6 Docker desktop 4.12 Docker engine 20.10.17

[shqld]

https://github.com/docker/for-mac/issues/5113#issuecomment-1019508978

My colleague had faced on the same issue and this still worked! Thanks!

• Docker for Mac：4.12.0
• Engine: 20.10.17
• OS: 12.3.1
• Arch: arm64

[matfianto]

If you have a firewall enabled try checking again, make sure Docker is on the list of allowed connections. I also had a problem like this on a bigsur mac and it turned out that the root of my problem was because of the firewall 😅

[public-rant]

If you have a firewall enabled try checking again, make sure Docker is on the list of allowed connections. I also had a problem like this on a bigsur mac and it turned out that the root of my problem was because of the firewall 😅

Now that you mention it, I think this might because I had the "kill switch" feature of my VPN enabled....

[demeralde]

@public-rant I have a kill switch enabled for my VPN too, although it seemed to be working with Docker most of the time. So I'm not sure what's going on there.

[xiaolinone]

I deleted ~/Library/containers/com.docker.docker/backend.lock. It seems to be working for me.

[florestankorp]

I deleted ~/Library/containers/com.docker.docker/backend.lock. It seems to be working for me.

On top of that I had to disable the "Kill switch" of my VPN client. Looks like it's working now...fingers crossed!

[florestankorp]

Nope. False alarm. It's still hanging, crashing and definitely not solved...had to uninstall and reinstall AGAIN for the 100th time...no clue what's going on

Docker Desktop 4.13 MacBook Air M1

[myugen]

Same issue here, gets stuck everytime. Uninstalled and reinstalled.

[aprilmintacpineda]

I'm experiencing this when I startup my pc, docker is configured to run on startup but for some reason it takes forever and seems to be stuck on starting.

[endangurura]

Same issue here, stuck on starting. Uninstalled and reinstalled, no success. MacBook Pro M1

[smark91]

4.14 not working too MacBook Pro M1 Max

Revert to 4.12 works

[jstm88]

Just encountered the issue on 4.13.1 - Docker suddenly stopped working and refused to restart.

I honestly can't believe this is the "quality" that Docker deems acceptable. As of now I'm eliminating Docker from my toolchain. It's not worth the trouble.

[mauroservienti]

I'm using 4.14.1 on macOS Ventura (13.0.1) and facing this issue. "Reset Docker to factory defaults" doesn't work as a workaround. The only thing that works for a while is rebooting, which is unacceptable.

Is there a way to download previous version bits? On the Docker website the only option seems to be to download only the latest.

[yattias]

Click the docker icon => Troubleshoot => Reset to defaults & clear cache

[jstm88]

Click the docker icon => Troubleshoot => Reset to defaults & clear cache

This is only a band-aid since the same problem will recur. Plus, any "solution" that deletes data or settings is a massive red flag. Why would I ever trust anything important to Docker considering that?

Frankly, Docker needs to mark their Mac software as "pre-alpha" to establish more reasonable expectations. Claiming that they "support" the Mac is false advertising.

[PaleNeutron]

Nothing but restart OS worked for me.

[ArtemChekunov]

I was trying to apply the new default-address-pools but Docker Desktop start crashing at the start and the Reset Docker to factory defaults didn't help.

So I did:

1. echo '{}' > ~/.docker/daemon.json
2. start the Docker Desktop
3. rm all containers and networks

   docker rm $(docker ps -qa)
   docker network rm $(docker network ls -q)

4. apply my new config with default-address-pools

[henrik242]

So I finally managed to solve this by uninstalling Docker Desktop and switch to colima instead.

$ brew install docker docker-compose colima
$ colima start --memory 8 --cpu 4

Voila, docker and docker-compose works just as before, without the annoyance of Docker Desktop!

[dschiavu]

I'm having this issue when clicking on Restart on the Docker icon's context menu - check the screenshot - Docker freezing and all the menu options getting disabled. Rebooting the system usually resolves it. Thought this one might be related to this issue.

[oluwaseye]

I tried few solutions given in the comments above but found no luck. The solution given here worked for me: https://stackoverflow.com/a/44346110/5118708 Details:

Operating System: MacOs Big Sur 11.6 (intel)

Step 1: Quit docker Step 2: Clean everything including images, containers etc. using: (plz take backup if necessary)

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-machine
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-credential-osxkeychain
sudo rm -Rf ~/.docker
sudo rm -Rf $HOME/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker  # here we delete stored images, If you dont want to delete SKIP THIS STEP

Step 3: Install docker via command line using brew install:

brew install --cask docker  (correct command, the one given on SO didn't work for me.)

Step 4: Open Docker. After this my docker was up and running! Hope this helps! 🤞

Had the same issue here on macOS 12.1 Intel Chip and this worked for me !

Thanks been stuck for a while on this issue 😓 👍

You are a rock star!!! thanks. This worked for me

[bobwurtz]

@oluwaseye Your reply was very helpful - thank you! I'm using Monterey 12.6 with the Apple chip and I had to add a few steps to what you described.

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-machine
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-credential-osxkeychain
sudo rm -Rf ~/.docker
sudo rm -Rf $HOME/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker  # here we delete stored images, If you dont want to delete SKIP THIS STEP

# I added the steps below, clearing all docker references from /usr/local/bin
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/com.docker.cli
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-credential-ecr-login
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-index               
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/kubectl.docker
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/vpnkit

Then I downloaded Docker from the website and it started working.

[deendin]

I had this same issue on a Mac M1, I was so patient to follow this steps:

1. I restarted my machine
2. Started docker and the error still remains the same
3. I signed in to docker, and went back to quit my docker
4. I started it again and docker is back.

[bgok]

I also tried re-installing Docker. During the re-installation, I noticed a release note that says docker won't work when virtual box is installed. After Virtual Box was uninstalled, the project started fine.

[hscheib]

I have been stuck on an old Docker Desktop version (4.8.1) for the past year because every new version hangs when starting for me on my M1 macbook. I noticed I hadn't updated my macOS in a while. I updated to latest macOS 13.4.1 and then updated to latest Docker Desktop 4.21.1 and Docker Desktop started successfully! So my solution seemed to be getting to a latest macOS version

[Steellow]

For me it started working after I downloaded Docker from their official website. Installing with homebrew caused it to stuck

[srosato]

For me, it started working after I purged everything manually... I used ncdu to find where Docker had let a mark (60 GB of containers + VM within my user directory) and purged all and re-installed.

Since my setup is easy to reproduce I did not mind to start fresh again.

[nashaad]

This worked for M1, Ventura (Docker Desktop installation from official site)

1. Delete/Uninstall Docker Desktop from Applications

2. Cleanup. These steps are from another discussion

   rm -rf Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.docker
   rm -rf Library/Containers/com.docker.docker
   rm -rf Library/Application\ Support/Docker\ Desktop

3. Install from official website again

[huelsgp27]

same issue, reset works but it will happen again

[balusarakesh]

wow!!! 4 years old issue still happening on a paid platform for me the fix is to completely restart my mac

[CharanMN7]

User on M2, Sonoma 14.5 here.
This happened with me too. Restart was able to fix it. Not sure if it's gonna come back but, I guess another restart will do the job.