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User profile for user: Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper
Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

The Touch ID on my "Magic Keyboard" is suddenly not recognized

I have an iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) and a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. It was working great for a couple months, and then this week a software issue has broken the Touch ID feature. I just upgraded to the latest macOS (12.2.1), but I believe the issue started just before the upgrade.


I say it's a software issue because it won't even try to set up Touch ID anymore – it's like it thinks the device isn't capable. Please see this screenshot of the System Preferences pane for Touch ID:


I have shut down, restarted, and tried an SMC reset by shutting down and unplugging the power for 15 seconds. Still no luck.


Googling for "Unable to set up touch id on your keyboard" produces no exact results at this time, so my guess is that this is a newish issue.


How to fix?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Feb 25, 2022 5:05 PM

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User profile for user: Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper
Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Posted on Feb 26, 2022 10:15 AM

OK, so support with Apple over Messages was fast, and they walked through an additional keyboard reset sequence, of shutting the computer down, doing SMC reset, and turning off the keyboard as well. Then, plug the keyboard in and turn it on, and start up system. Touch ID still wasn't appearing then, but after turning keyboard off and on again, it did appear, and the Touch ID pane appeared with a re-pairing message of sorts:


From there on in, it worked as expected, including once disconnecting the cable from the keyboard and reverting to Bluetooth use.

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User profile for user: Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper
Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 26, 2022 10:15 AM in response to Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper

OK, so support with Apple over Messages was fast, and they walked through an additional keyboard reset sequence, of shutting the computer down, doing SMC reset, and turning off the keyboard as well. Then, plug the keyboard in and turn it on, and start up system. Touch ID still wasn't appearing then, but after turning keyboard off and on again, it did appear, and the Touch ID pane appeared with a re-pairing message of sorts:


From there on in, it worked as expected, including once disconnecting the cable from the keyboard and reverting to Bluetooth use.

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User profile for user: Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper
Tessier-AshpoolCryptkeeper Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 26, 2022 9:34 AM in response to Jack-19

OK, I have tried those steps, and no luck. Even while booted in safe mode, the Touch ID pane of System Preferences either doesn't appear at all, or has its controls greyed out, or shows the "Unable to set up touch id on your keyboard" error message screenshotted above.


Guess I'll be in touch with Apple Support for this 2-month old iMac having issues already...


Here's another screenshot, this time of the Touch ID pane greyed out. It will show this at first after a system reboot, and then after quitting and relaunching System Preferences, the icon for the Touch ID pane doesn't appear at all.


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The Touch ID on my "Magic Keyboard" is suddenly not recognized

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