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Sleep/Wake Button

Two days ago I had this sleep/wake button appear on my screen and to my knowledge, I didn't do anything to make it appear. When I did some research to figure out how to get rid of it, it told me to go to System Preferences, Keyboard, Dictation, and turn Dictation to the off position. Well, it's already in the off position. So, I turned it on, then turned it back off again. But, it's still here. It's making me nuts. I don't want it, I don't use it, and I wan't it to go away. Please help!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 27, 2022 11:08 AM

Reply
9 replies

Jan 27, 2022 12:06 PM in response to Mermaid0306

Please read the following user tip and restate your question/problem in detail


     Writing an Effective Apple Support Communities Question - Apple Community


Did you run any upgrades or updates just prior to this occurring?

Also post a screenshot of what you're seeding?

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?


Jan 27, 2022 2:13 PM in response to Mermaid0306

Two things:


1 - I wanted a screenshot of what you're seeing on your monitor of the buttons. Add it to your reply via the Image Insertion button:



Also you've installed and run what most of the experienced contributors here consider to be akin to malware: CleanMyMac. First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


Also, unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer, school or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint.  Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites


Uninstall CMM according to the developer's instructions. Also do the same for any of the other 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps that may be on your Mac.


If, after removing CMM, the button still appears boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.



Jan 27, 2022 2:39 PM in response to Mermaid0306

It looks like you have some app that's using your microphone. Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:



Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.



Copy the report



and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.



Jan 27, 2022 2:02 PM in response to Old Toad

Thank you for your response. I did not do any upgrades prior to when the button just appeared. However, I did use "Clean My Mac X" around the time that I think the button appeared. Here's a screenshot :-) https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/050WubXP5FtThDTbHBd4zTYww#Screen_Shot_2022-01-27_at_1.50.04_PM


Sorry if this doesn't work. I'm having trouble just copying and pasting

Jan 27, 2022 3:23 PM in response to Mermaid0306

Uninstall Webroot according to the developer's instructions. You can check to see if you've removed all of the supporting files by downloading and running the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with the application's or the developer's name in the file name.  For the Webroot software you'd do the following search(es): 


1 - Name contains webfoot


Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop or Trash bin in the Dock for deletion.


FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.  



Sleep/Wake Button

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