Touch ID Not Working after Monterey Installed

Hello LarryLosAngeles,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand thatTouch ID stopped working after updating to macOS Monterey. We are happy to help.

Let’s try the steps here: If Touch ID isn't working on your Mac - Apple Support

Let us know the results.

Take care.

I'm running the latest Monterey and Touch ID started failing intermittently before not working ever on my 2019 MacBook Air (Intel with T2 chip). I searched and found a recommendation to reset the SMC (System Management Controller) to address Touch ID issues. I did so after deleting all my registered fingerprints.

After shutting down and restarting again for good measure after the SMC reset, I added a couple fingerprints and Touch ID seems to be working normally again (knock on wood :-).

I see folks with M1-based Macs complaining about the same issue - perhaps an SMC reset will work there too.

@Bearded_Yoda wrote:

The SMC solution is not applicable for the Macs with M1 chip [...]

Yeah... I posted a mia-culpa / correction / apology regarding my wishful thinking about an SMC reset being a helpful idea for M1 Macbook owners when I discovered that. Apparently edits become impossible once a post is marked "Helpful" or maybe just someone next replies to a thread :-).

Have you gotten on the phone with the Apple Support folks about this? I would try that if I had a newer Macbook and was experiencing this issue. They don't monitor this forum (at least not officially).

FWIW, the Touch ID feature of my Intel-based macbook has continued to work just fine for nearly 4 months since that SMC reset and post (knock on wood :-).

I have an M1 Macbook with wireless keyboard. In my case, the touch ID onboard works fine, but on my new external/wireless keyboard, it would stop working after sleep.

For now I found 2 temporary "workarounds":

1. Turn the wireless keyboard off and on. OR
2. Without touching the physical on/off switch, log in to MacOS > Click on the BLUETOOTH icon on the menu bar on the top right screen > Click on the wireless keyboard to disconnect > Click again to re-connect.

Hopefully Apple will fix this issue in the short future.

trudy999, here is tgasc's comment that I was referring to, about rebooting:

I have an M1 Macbook with wireless keyboard. In my case, the touch ID onboard works fine, but on my new external/wireless keyboard, it would stop working after sleep.

For now I found 2 temporary "workarounds":

1. Turn the wireless keyboard off and on.

OR

1. Without touching the physical on/off switch, log in to MacOS > Click on the BLUETOOTH icon on the menu bar on the top right screen > Click on the wireless keyboard to disconnect > Click again to re-connect.

Hey, there!

I've been experiencing the same issue.

I tried all the steps many times with no result.

Then deleted my saved fingerprint but then Touch ID just wouldn't remember my new print.

I'm using MacBook Pro 2020.

Regards

Yovka

Yep, this happened to me as well. Apple told me to boot into safe mode, then try it. That fixed it. But it stopped working a few days later again. They are going to tell me to completely reinstall Mac OS again...

I have also experienced this issue.

Prior to installing Monterey, I merely had to rest my fingerprint on the Touch ID key on my keyboard (M1 iMac), now I have to fully suppress the key, and it doesn't work every (most) times. It absolutely DOES NOT work by finger placement anymore.

I also lost the use of my Touch ID and Bluetooth mouse (vertical scroll stopped working first, then all of it) directly after the Monterey install. (which took longer than most installs) For the Touch ID, at first it worked when I depressed the button, then I tried to add another finger's print, now it doesn't work at all. For the mouse, at first, when I turned my mouse off and then back on it worked again, but then it failed again and now won't even pair. (I charged it, turned it on and off several times.) My mac, keyboard, and mouse are brand new. Mahalo in advance for figuring a solution!

It's intermittent for me. And today (for the first time) the Magic Trackpad also disconnected from my iMac (m1) and would only work if plugged in with the lightning cable. But if I plugged it in, then the keyboard stopped working (completely). So I had to go back and forth plugging each one in, then restarted the machine and now both work again (for now....). What a mess.

@LarryLosAngeles wrote:

> For me, just turning off the wireless keyboard and turning it back on has worked.

I saw that... Since my MacBook's keyboard isn't independently-wireless and turning the whole **** computer off & on didn't fix it, I had to keep looking for a fix or get used to just using my password :-).

Hopefully the SMC reset that appears to have fixed my issue will do the trick for those with integrated/wired keyboards as well.

About my suggestion that "resetting the SMC on M1 Macs..." might be a fix - I just read that M1 chips provide the same functions internally and - there is no SMC to reset! So... nevermind.

If you're having the Touch ID failures on your Intel-based mac, the SMC reset seems to sort this out.

Since installing Monterey, my fingerprint fails more often than not. I've deleted the fingerprint and added it again in System Preferences I've done the SMC reset thing. Still doesn't work, most of the time. It seems like Apple needs to fix something.