Why won't Docker Desktop Start [closed]

Question

I am trying to install Docker Desktop for Windows and once I have completed the entire process as mentioned in their official documentation, including installing and enabling the wsl 2 on Windows. However, when I try to launch the application, nothing happens except for a process showing up in the task manager. Even the taskbar icon is not coming up. I have already browsed for information regarding this issue and tried the following solutions, but to no avail:

1. Reinstalling Docker Desktop
2. Removing the settings.json file in %APPDATA%\Roaming\Docker
3. Running Docker Installer as Administrator
4. Checking the WSL Feature in Windows Features is on.
5. Installing an older version of Docker, on which the same issue persisted

System Specifications:

• Dell Inspiron 5521 running Windows 10 Pro (Version 21H1, Build 19043.1826)
• Intel i7 3rd gen processor, 16GB RAM
• Docker version 20.10.17, build 100c701

This is the log file generated: Docker generated Log file

Can someone please guide me regarding this?

Edit: When I installed docker on my friend's computer, and running the wsl -l -v command, he gets 3 entries namely Ubuntu, Docker desktop and docker desktop data, but on my pc it is only showing Ubuntu.

Answer 1

1. Install WSL 2:

   • Follow the official steps on how to install WSL 2 at Microsoft Docs.

2. Update WSL:

   • Open PowerShell and run the command:

     wsl --update
     

3. Uninstall Docker:

   • If you have Docker installed, uninstall it.

4. Delete Temporary Data:

   • Delete the following folders:
     • C:\Users<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Docker
     • C:\ProgramData\Docker
     • C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop

5. Reinstall Docker:

   • Reinstall Docker, and make sure to tick the option for WSL during the installation.

6. Restart Computer:

   • After installing Docker, restart your computer.

7. Run Docker as Administrator:

   • Find Docker in your programs and run it as an administrator.

8. Run PowerShell as Administrator:

   • Open PowerShell and run it as an administrator.

9. Switch to Docker Daemon for WSL:

   • Run the following command in PowerShell:

     & 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe' -SwitchDaemon
     

   • If it doesn't work, you may need to run the above command one or two more times.

That's it! These steps should help you fix the problem.

Edit:

I've encountered the same problem again, which turned out to be related to my DNS settings. Initially, I was using NextDNS, but the problem was resolved after I switched to Cloudflare.

It's peculiar behavior from NextDNS, as I had not set up any blocking rules. However, upon reviewing the Docker engine logs, I noticed it was attempting requests to the Docker servers, which appeared to be blocked or unfulfilled when using NextDNS (although NextDNS didn't log any blocked queries, which is odd). Consequently, the Docker engine would get caught in an infinite loop during startup, continuously trying to complete these requests.

Answer 2

It might be because an instance of Docker Desktop is running in the background, try opening you Task Manager/Activity Monitor, searching for "Docker Desktop", then quitting all of those processes.