TouchID switches locked "off" on mac

howardfromlafayette wrote:

I just noticed that TouchID wasn't working on my M1 iMac with Ventura 13.3.1. I was putting my finger on the sensor but my watch was unlocking it (until I left my watch in the other room). It used to work fine, but thinking back, it didn't ask me for a password a couple of days ago when I installed an upgrade.

I opened System Settings/TouchID & Password and saw all of the TouchID switches turned off. (It's hard to tell whether a switch is on or off these days) That's weird. I try to turn them on, but can't.

Why can't I switch my TouchID back on? Why did they stop working in the first place?

You can try setting it back up—

external keyboard—

switching off the keyboard for 30 secs or so and then hard connecting the keyboard w/ the lightning cable and then switching on the keyboard; see if resulting in the touch id icon reappearing in system settings for access.

If Touch ID isn't working on your Mac - Apple Support

Use Touch ID on Mac - Apple Support

SafeBoot How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support will sort many anomalies

*if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect the charging cable before booting to Safe Mode.  This will make it act as a wired keyboard and will result in a successful Safe Boot mode.