Touch ID and passwords not working on Big Sur

Question

Touch ID and passwords not working on Big Sur

I upgraded my 2020 MacBook Pro to Big Sur yesterday. Now the touch ID is not working.

Additionally seems apple doesn't think my appleID password is correct on that machine any more. But it still works just fine on all other devices/computers.

I have deleted the fingerprint and tried to set up a new one -- it won't let me -- it asks for password then does nothing.

Appears to be a Big Sur issue. Are others having this problem after upgrading?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 17, 2020 10:45 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

ClairCanberran Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 2, 2021 6:40 PM in response to ClairCanberran

Hi All --

So I still had this problem and finally had time to talk to Apple and see if they could help out -- and they did. :)

This is what they said I needed to do - hopefully it'll help you too. I needed to resent the SMC (system management controller) - to do this I basically had to (1) shut down computer, (2) press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds or so - you keep pressing the button as computer begins to start up and it'll shut down again, then (3) quick press on power button to restart computer and it has reset what it needed to. Then I was able to go into system preferences | Touch ID and scan a new Touch ID and it was able to accept it and worked just fine.

Good luck. 🤞

This is the link they sent for the details instructions on SMC reset:

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

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Answer 2

Dec 28, 2020 4:12 PM in response to ClairCanberran

Hi, the same happened to me... Touch ID isn't working. I did the same, I deleted the previous fingerprint in order to set up a new one, (because I thought it will fix it) but it just asks for the password and it doesn't let me continue...

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Answer 3

krisdr

Level 1

21 points

Jan 2, 2021 7:27 PM in response to ClairCanberran

Hey everyone. Yes you need to reset the SMS. Any Mac or MacBook Pro that is 2017 or newer has a security T2 on it that needs reset after upgrade. I had all the same issues- and once I reset it, I had my full admin access, my admin password worked, and my Touch ID was able to get reset :)

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