Adding the "Applications" icon to dock does not work

[purple_elephant]

Running Mojave. At some point which I don't know precisely, the Applications icon was no longer in my dock. Don't know why. When I noticed it, I tried to add it again, both by dragging to the right and the left of the dock and by right-clicking it in Finder and selecting "add to dock". None of these does anything. It won't add to dock. I tried searching online and followed various instructions but nothing helped and nothing addressed this particular issue. A comp restart didn't help. Other things add to the dock just fine. Any help appreciated.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Do you meant the Applications folder icon near the Trash can, or the App Store (blue circle with white A) icon?

C

 

[purple_elephant]

Hi, I mean the Applications folder icon near the Trash can.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks for the clarification.

Can you drag any other folder to the right side of the divider near the Trash can?

C

 

[purple_elephant]

Yes, tried with documents and music and both worked.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hmmm...maybe a permissions issue? Do you know how to check that?

C

 

[purple_elephant]

Nope, I'm pretty new to mac... sorry...

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK...no worries.

Are you dragging the Macintosh HD > Applications folder, or the one from your user folder?

C

 

[purple_elephant]

Dragging the one from the user folder works, but the folder itself is empty. Dragging the one from the HD does not work.