MacOS M1 Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix after reinstalling Docker

I am on MAc M1 and and dfter removing docker and reinstaling it I can’t launch it anymore.
The Docker Desktop show a white page.
The command sudo docker ps -a shows

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///Users/XXX/.docker/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

and the command /Applications/Docker.app/Contents/MacOS/com.docker.diagnose check shows:

Starting diagnostics

[2024-08-22T12:31:10.857923000Z][com.docker.diagnose.ipc] 517ecc7f-diagnose -> <HOME>/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/backend.sock BackendAPI

[2024-08-22T12:31:10.858451000Z][com.docker.diagnose.ipc] (c0ebbbb4) 517ecc7f-diagnose C->S BackendAPI POST /idle/make-busy

[2024-08-22T12:31:10.858814000Z][com.docker.diagnose.ipc][W] (c0ebbbb4) 517ecc7f-diagnose C<-S NoResponse POST /idle/make-busy (360.334µs): Post "http://ipc/idle/make-busy": dial unix <HOME>/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/backend.sock: connect: connection refused

[2024-08-22T12:31:11.859757000Z][com.docker.diagnose.ipc] (c0ebbbb4-3) 517ecc7f-diagnose C->S BackendAPI GET /idle

[2024-08-22T12:31:11.860703000Z][com.docker.diagnose.ipc][W] (c0ebbbb4-3) 517ecc7f-diagnose C<-S NoResponse GET /idle (960.25µs): Get "http://ipc/idle": dial unix <HOME>/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/backend.sock: connect: connection refused

[PASS] DD0027: is there available disk space on the host?

[SKIP] DD0028: is there available VM disk space?

[PASS] DD0018: does the host support virtualization?

[FAIL] DD0001: is the application running? Docker is not running

[FAIL] DD0017: can a VM be started? vm has not started: failed to open init.log: open /Users/XXX/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/log/vm/console.log: no such file or directory

[FAIL] DD0016: is the LinuxKit VM running? prereq failed: is the application running?

[FAIL] DD0004: is the Docker engine running? prereq failed: is the LinuxKit VM running?

[FAIL] DD0015: are the binary symlinks installed? checking binaries in /usr/local/bin: following symlink /usr/local/bin/docker: lstat /usr/bin/docker: no such file or directory

checking binaries in $HOME/.docker/bin: unable to find /Users/XX/.docker/bin: stat /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: no such file or directory

[FAIL] DD0031: does the Docker API work? prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

[PASS] DD0013: is the $PATH ok?

[FAIL] DD0003: is the Docker CLI working? prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

[FAIL] DD0038: is the connection to Docker working? prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

[FAIL] DD0014: are the backend processes running? prereq failed: is the LinuxKit VM running?

[FAIL] DD0007: is the backend responding? prereq failed: are the backend processes running?

[FAIL] DD0009: is the vpnkit API responding? prereq failed: are the backend processes running?

[FAIL] DD0010: is the Docker API proxy responding? prereq failed: are the backend processes running?

[FAIL] DD0030: is the image access management authorized? prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

[PASS] DD0033: does the host have Internet access?

[PASS] DD0018: does the host support virtualization?

[WARN] DD0001: is the application running? Docker is not running

[WARN] DD0017: can a VM be started? vm has not started: failed to open init.log: open /Users/XXX/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/log/vm/console.log: no such file or directory

[WARN] DD0016: is the LinuxKit VM running? prereq failed: is the application running?

[WARN] DD0004: is the Docker engine running? prereq failed: is the LinuxKit VM running?

[WARN] DD0015: are the binary symlinks installed? checking binaries in /usr/local/bin: following symlink /usr/local/bin/docker: lstat /usr/bin/docker: no such file or directory

checking binaries in $HOME/.docker/bin: unable to find /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: stat /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: no such file or directory

[WARN] DD0031: does the Docker API work? prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

[WARN] DD0032: do Docker networks overlap with host IPs? prereq failed: does the Docker API work?

Please note the following 7 warnings:

1 : The check: is the application running?

Produced the following warning: Docker is not running

Is the Docker Desktop application running?

2 : The check: can a VM be started?

Produced the following warning: vm has not started: failed to open init.log: open /Users/XXX/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/log/vm/console.log: no such file or directory

The Docker engine runs inside a Linux VM. Therefore we must be able to start Virtual Machines.

3 : The check: is the LinuxKit VM running?

Produced the following warning: prereq failed: is the application running?

The Docker engine runs inside a Linux VM. Therefore the VM must be running.

4 : The check: is the Docker engine running?

Produced the following warning: prereq failed: is the LinuxKit VM running?

The Docker engine manages all containers and images on the host. Check the dockerd.log to see why it failed to start.

5 : The check: are the binary symlinks installed?

Produced the following warning: checking binaries in /usr/local/bin: following symlink /usr/local/bin/docker: lstat /usr/bin/docker: no such file or directory

checking binaries in $HOME/.docker/bin: unable to find /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: stat /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: no such file or directory

The symlinks to the docker CLI etc are needed for docker commands to work.

6 : The check: does the Docker API work?

Produced the following warning: prereq failed: is the Docker engine running?

If the Docker API is not available from the host then Docker Desktop will not work correctly.

7 : The check: do Docker networks overlap with host IPs?

Produced the following warning: prereq failed: does the Docker API work?

If the subnet used by a Docker network overlaps with an IP used by the host, then containers

won't be able to contact the overlapping IP addresses.

Try configuring the IP address range used by networks: in your docker-compose.yml.

See https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/compose-file-v2/#ipv4_address-ipv6_address

Please investigate the following 3 issues:

1 : The test: is the application running?

Failed with: Docker is not running

Is the Docker Desktop application running?

2 : The test: can a VM be started?

Failed with: vm has not started: failed to open init.log: open /Users/XXX/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/log/vm/console.log: no such file or directory

The Docker engine runs inside a Linux VM. Therefore we must be able to start Virtual Machines.

3 : The test: are the binary symlinks installed?

Failed with: checking binaries in /usr/local/bin: following symlink /usr/local/bin/docker: lstat /usr/bin/docker: no such file or directory

checking binaries in $HOME/.docker/bin: unable to find /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: stat /Users/XXX/.docker/bin: no such file or directory

The symlinks to the docker CLI etc are needed for docker commands to work.

Please Help

You should not need sudo on macOS for Docker Desktop as it is in your home directory.

You mentioned you reinstalled it, but you must have missed something. Start with removing $HOME/.docker. If that does not help, follow the uninstallation guide for Mac:

If that doesn’t help, I made a video some time ago for older versions which could give you some ideas to find files that may cause problems: https://youtu.be/maQJSnRdy10