Level 1

46 points

Touch ID stopped working after Big Sur update

I have a 13-inch 2019 MacBook Pro that I just upgraded to Big Sur 11.1. After the restart, I wasn't being asked for Touch ID, only my password. I went into System Preferences and everything was checked. I tried restarting but that didn't help. I deleted my fingerprints, turned off all the Touch ID options and restarted the Mac. I went back into System Preference and tried to add a fingerprint, but when I click on the +, nothing happens. I can check the boxes, but once I exit the Touch ID screen and go back in, they are unchecked again. Any ideas?

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 4:22 PM

Top-ranking reply

Peter Almere

Level 3

512 points

Posted on Mar 11, 2021 5:40 AM

I believe I finally solved the problem of, at least, my own touch-id problems.

I tried to re-install Big Sur a few times but it did not resolve the problem. However each time that I completely wiped my HD I could set touch-id up and it would keep working. But the problems came back as soon as I used Migration Assistant.

This led me to believe that some settings etc. that I could not skip from migration, were each time taken from my old MacBook Pro. That did not run Big Sur and was an Intel without T2 chip. Since Big Sur many security settings had changed and on a MacBook Pro M1 there are even security differences in the hardware.

But what went wrong I wondered. Then on this Apple support Forum some users told that their problems went away after deleting Little Snitch. And these problems even stayed away after re-installation of this FireWall module.

When I first set up the M1 computer I was struck by the fact that the FireWall was disabled by default. I thought of that as a serious fault on Apple's side. But now I thought that this might have been on purpose. Maybe my own firewall was blocking the use of touch-id. Or maybe some settings of my old laptop were imported into the settings of my new one and caused a conflict. Or maybe some apps that originally had full disc access on my old computer, could obstruct security settings on my new one.

So I went to the security and privacy panel in the system settings. I first removed all app's that had full disc acces, I had already disabled them but now I removed them from the list until the list was blank. Then I went to the firewall and disabled it. Then I deleted all my fingerprints.

I closed the system settings and with my cursor I restarted the computer.

After initial start-up the laptop stalled and a program called Recovery Assistant came up. And it started to recover the security settings. I did not do anything it started by itself I have never heard of this app before.

After restoration of the security settings, the app disappeared and the M1 started up as normal.

This morning my touch-id is still working as normal and I am pretty sure that it will keep working. I have enabled the FireWall after giving in new finger prints yesterday. But I did not enable Stealth mode.

View in context

Similar questions

154 replies

Ahmed9o

Level 1

4 points

Jan 26, 2021 11:10 AM in response to Rosabella131

I had same this issue and I made these next steps and its working fine now:

Shut down your Mac.
Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, then release the button.
Wait a few seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.

more info go here > (https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201295)

Thanks,

Feb 18, 2021 4:00 PM in response to urtzy13

I fixed this by going to System Preferences -> Touch ID: Uncheck the "Unlocking Your Mac" button. Browse out of that page and back in to make sure it applies. Then Recheck the "Unlocking Your Mac" button.

Works fine now.

jjmcgaw

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2021 11:41 AM in response to urtzy13

I tried these solutions (zapping the PRAM, SMC reset) and threw in a Big Sur 11.2.1 reinstall + reinstalling the 11.2.2 update. I could add/remove fingerprints but couldn't unlock the mac or authenticate to websites etc. Nothing seemed to work so after a day or so of scouring the Internet, gave up as I DON'T want to reinstall the OS from scratch.

Last night I happened to uninstall/reinstall Little Snitch and my Bitdefender antivirus - magically Touch ID started working 100% again. Probs a fluke but thought id share.

Cheers

Jamie

Jan 4, 2021 2:43 AM in response to urtzy13

I had the same problem. Hold down the power button for 10 seconds to shutdown and then restart. This fixed the problem for me. Soft restart using menu commands didn't work, had to do hard restart.

csharma1

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2021 5:07 PM in response to urtzy13

This trick worked. Thanks for the help.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201295

Shutting down, holding the power button for at least 10 seconds, followed by a normal restart, fixed the issue.

Dec 18, 2020 6:54 AM in response to urtzy13

Resetting the SMC as explained here https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201295 ended up doing the trick for me.

I only had to do the first suggestion....shut down your MAC and hold the power button for 10 seconds. After restarting, Touch ID worked properly.

RMoman

Level 1

13 points

Dec 20, 2020 5:11 AM in response to ogikolo

Be sure that you reset, and did not just restart. When I held down my power button, my MacBook acted as though it would restart. But after about 7 seconds, the fan came on for a second, and then it shut down. I held the power button down for several more seconds before I let it go. Then I waited about 30 seconds before I pressed the power button to restart. This worked for me.

Hope his helps.

bs99x

Level 1

4 points

Dec 21, 2020 2:57 AM in response to RMoman

Thanks for this. I had exactly the same two problems - no Touch ID and admin password not working to unlock confidentiality settings. Shutting down, holding the power button down for 10 seconds and a normal restart fixed both for me too.

Jan 16, 2021 11:27 AM in response to urtzy13

Shut Down your Mac NOT USING the Apple menu from the upper left of the screen but PRESSING FOR AT LEAST TEN (10) SECONDS the shut down bottom in the keyboard. When you re-start your Mac the ID TOUCH feature should work properly and if you deleted your previous finger(s) or you want to add a New Finger go to System Preferences --> ID Touch and add the finger.

I hope the above helps!

Feb 20, 2021 9:10 AM in response to urtzy13

I am on a MacBook Pro M1 and on this machine I have this trouble too. I tried all the solutions that are mentioned here and translated them to my M1. Because on this computer things work different, like resetting the smc is done automatically after shutdown and closing the lid of the computer for about 30 seconds.

But it does just not help. I also did a complete new installation after resetting the password in the terminal right after startup in the recovery mode. (holding down the power key while turning on the laptop brings your there on the M1). But that also did not help.

However.....

Immediately after installing Big Sur, it asks you to set it up. And I was in my obeying mode just doing that. Setting up Apple pay and the whole bunch. And everything worked fine. But then...... After restoring my account with TimeMachine to the freshly installed new system, all the problems came back! And Apple Pay said that it could not be activated because I changed the security settings of my system.

So I think that these problems that many have, find their origin in some security setting that has been introduced by Big Sur. On my M1 I did not change the security setting that you can change during (or before) installation. It was set, and I kept it there, at the highest security level. But that is somehow what is going on with all those mac's that won't no longer work after the update.

What I now want to try is do the whole installation again and quit the set-up immediately after the installation. And first restore my account before setting up touch-id and iCloud etc.

But I will do that only when I am in my 'recovery-mode-mood'. When that has set in and I know the result, I will post it here.

Dec 19, 2020 6:47 PM in response to Please-HelpMyMac

Perfect, shutting down & holding the power button for 10 seconds reset touch ID perfect !

ERegan1

Level 1

4 points

Jan 3, 2021 11:14 AM in response to urtzy13

Shutting down your Mac, then holding the power button for 10 seconds fixed this issue for me.

ERegan1

Level 1

4 points

Jan 3, 2021 11:15 AM in response to salli28

Shut down your mac. Then hold the power button down for 10 seconds for a hard reboot. This worked for me! Everything is working fine now.

jiroch

Level 1

4 points

Jan 4, 2021 6:59 AM in response to urtzy13

Great! Hard restart (holding 10s power button) solve my both problems (not working touch ID and unlocking the lock by admin account - sure the right password did not accept). Thank you.

odilegr8

Level 1

4 points

Jan 7, 2021 5:06 PM in response to Glendamaree

It worked too! I held the power button for 10 seconds and touch ID was working right after that!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Touch ID stopped working after Big Sur update