Updater is broken (again)

[mrleblanc101]

Description

Almost every time I update by clicking "Update & Restart", Docker Desktop never relaunch.
So I go to launchpad and start Docker manually and I'm greeted with `Impossible to open application "Docker".
So I need to redownload and reinstall Docker Desktop, luckily this doesn't lose any data (images, containers, etc...)

In french:

Reproduce

1. Wait for an update
2. Click "Update & Restart"

Expected behavior

Docker Desktop shouldn't not nuke itself from existance while updating.

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
failed to connect to the docker API at unix:///Users/sleblanc/.docker/run/docker.sock; check if the path is correct and if the daemon is running: dial unix /Users/sleblanc/.docker/run/docker.sock: connect: no such file or directory

docker info

Client:
 Version:    29.1.5
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.17.1
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.30.1-desktop.2
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v5.0.1
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.47
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.35.0
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.0.7
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-model
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.41
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-offload
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.7.1
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.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/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.19.0
    Path:     /Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout
WARNING: Plugin "/Users/sleblanc/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-pass" is not valid: failed to fetch metadata: signal: killed

Server:
failed to connect to the docker API at unix:///Users/sleblanc/.docker/run/docker.sock; check if the path is correct and if the daemon is running: dial unix /Users/sleblanc/.docker/run/docker.sock: connect: no such file or directory

Diagnostics ID

F2355486-35FE-4FD3-89A1-BCFA376E133D/20260130185053

Additional Info

No response

[mrleblanc101]

I've just opened launchpad and seen this.
The update is clearly not "in_progress", it's been a while, so my guess is that it's stuck.

[mkushakov]

I have the same issue for past 2 updates. The only workaround was to download dmg and install it again. https://docs.docker.com/desktop/setup/install/mac-install/