Big Sur - system preferences - unlocking privacy - privacy freezes

Hey there Hans Lijnbach,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having some issues with your Mac becoming unresponsive when opening System Preferences. We're happy to provide some assistance.

Let's follow the steps outlined in this helpful resource that relates to the issue you're having:

If an app freezes or quits unexpectedly on Mac

If the whole system is unresponsive, you may need to power down your Mac by holding the power button. Take a look under the "Shut down" section here:

Log out, sleep, wake, restart or shut down your Mac

We hope this helps.

Have a great day!

Thank you for the reply Hans Lijnbach!

Since the issue persists, let's see if this occurs in another user account to help us isolate the issue. If you do not have a another user account, please create one and test:

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

If the issue persists, boot in safe mode. This will help us check to see if the issue you’re experiencing are caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up. You can boot your device in safe mode by following the steps here: 

Start up your Mac in safe mode

Keep us posted.