Mac users, how do I get my header, and dock back?

Hello.

Every time I reboot, the header (with the time, app, battery WiFi, etc) and the dock disappears. I have to move the cursor in the area for it to appear. I would like them to be there all the time.

I have clicked on everything, and still don’t have them.

Thanks bunches for your help.

In System Preferences click on the General icon. There is a check box titled Automatically hide and show menu bar; make sure it is not checked.

For the Dock, go to System Preferences. Click Dock. Uncheck ‘Automatically hide and show the dock’.

Thank you ticker and johnny. I got them back. Except when Firefox is open. Then they go away. So, I guess the issue is with Firefox.

Firefox may be in “full screen” mode. Press shift-command-F.

Or, move your pointer to the Menu Bar, and then press the “double arrow” icon in the title bar of the window (pre- El Capitan), or press the green dot (El Capitan).

Perfecto!

I am back to the way I like it.

Thank you very much!

Weird. Firefox is OK, but I have that problem with Safari. Shift+Command+F does nothing.

Try Control-Command-F.

That works, but if I go to another site off the dock and return, there’s just a gray area and no icons. I can get the dock or the search bar but not both. If I get the search bar moving the cursor down doesn’t bring the dock back.

Sounds like you have Safari is it’s own Space.

Does Space with a capital S mean something in Macworld?

Yup.

Totally intuitive, just like all Apple products. Why, a six-year-old would know that automatically.

But since I’m not a six-year-old, I found that explanation totally non-explanatory. What does Spaces do that is different from just opening up different applications and alt-tabbing? And how would I have something in a Space when I didn’t know that such a thing existed? Does Apple intuitively create things for me?

Thanks for your help, but you need to treat me like a idiot.

Spaces do multiple things.
You can have a set of applications (1 or more) with windows arranged how you want them, and not have to worry about other application’s windows getting in the way. You can have different window arrangements for different uses, and move between them easily. An obvious use for Spaces is with Virtual Machines, where Windows, OS X, and Linux can all take over their own monitors and let you switch between them.

Spaces let’s individual applications run full-screen - recently Spaces and normal OS X window handling has merged, so running Apps full-screen is actually putting it into it’s own Space.

So, the first thing you need to do is to go to Safari, and find the green button on the title bar of the window and click it, and see what happens.

I’m still in Mountain Lion, so I get the double arrow and that doesn’t solve anything.

Screen shots would help.

Go into System Preferences -> Mission Control, and see what it says…

Checking Automatically hide and show menu bar makes it always show when I move the cursor. That seems to be the best alternative. This didn’t used to happen so some update must have changed settings.