Disable Caps Lock Indicator on macOS Sonoma

A feature has been added to macOS Sonoma - the onscreen caps lock indicator.

While i am sure this may be useful for some, for me it is not, is there any way to disable it?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Sep 27, 2023 5:14 AM

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Posted on Oct 30, 2023 11:51 AM

19JAAM65 wrote:

Can someone explain how to do this to a lay person who is not technologically adept. How does the unsavvy internet user do this?


To permanently disable the new Caps Lock icon/indicator that came with macOS Sonoma, do the following easy steps:


1. Go to your Applications folder (Finder: menu: Go: Applications). Sort alphabetically and go down to the Utilities folder. (alternatively, in the Finder, hit ⌘-Shift-U and the Utilities folder window should pop up.)


2. In the Utilities folder, you'll find an app called Terminal. Double click to open it.


3. In the resulting Terminal window, you'll see some text and a blinking box (instead of a cursor). None of that really matters, it's just to let you know you're in the right place.


4. Copy and paste this line of text in your Terminal window:


sudo mkdir -p /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain


Then hit the Return key.


(don't type out that line of code, to avoid missing proper spacing, etc. Just copy and paste it into your Terminal window).


5. Now copy and paste this next line of text in your same Terminal Window:


sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add 'redesigned_text_cursor:Enabled' bool false" /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/UIKit.plist


Then hit the Return key.


6. You'll now see the Terminal window say "Password:_" with a key icon in place of the cursor. Go ahead and slowly and carefully type out your Mac's user account password. Note: you won't see the Terminal window respond to your keystrokes as you type out your standard user account password. Just know that it's accepting the keys. Hit Return.


You'll see some a line or two more of resulting text in your Terminal Window, probably something like "redesigned_text_cursor: Enabled"


7. Quit Terminal. (Command-Q).


8. Restart your Mac, and the stupid Caps Lock Indicator should now be permanently gone.

335 replies

Jan 23, 2024 11:05 AM in response to gerardjp

gerardjp wrote:

Seriously, where do people come up with this stuff?! .. There's two place I look at when I'm working. My keyboard and my screen. My keyboard has a led indicator and my screen .. well, IT THEN TYPES IN CAPS.

My keyboard doesn't.


I'm seriously wondering how people come to think of this arrow as added value 🤷🏼‍♂️

It's particularly useful when typing in passwords. I'm just a bad enough typist that I sometimes hit the caps lock by accident, sometimes instead of the shift key. Then, my password doesn't work and, because I'm typing it blind, I don't know why.

Jan 23, 2024 12:10 PM in response to gerardjp

gerardjp wrote:

Well, you literally found the one thing where it could be usefull, but then I always look at my keyboard, check the url, check the username, etcetera, just to make sure it's me and not some spoof site :)

I'm sure there are other people who find it useful for other reasons. Surprisingly, not everyone is you, and not everyone has the same needs. :)

Jan 24, 2024 4:17 AM in response to leroydouglas

The green arrow jumping around on the screen is pure annoyance and the inability to disable it through point and click system settings is wildly off-brand. The recommendation to click the green indicator arrow to disable it did not work for me as the indicator came right back the next time I enabled caps lock. The command line recommendation and a reboot did the trick.

Feb 5, 2024 9:52 AM in response to Ron Bernard

Dear Ron Bernard, Surely you know from reading the thread you posted to or the terms of use that you read when you joined ASC that this is a user-to-user forum, and not a way to get Apple’s attention.


And you don’t see posts from anyone about satisfaction with this new, useful feature, because people who like it don’t bother to post. But I’ll bet there are orders of magnitude more users who like it or are indifferent to it than those who are dissatisfied with it.


The way to to suggest something to Apple is here→Product Feedback - Apple

Feb 6, 2024 3:30 PM in response to yochees

Being both cautious and uninformed, I had to look up what these commands meant before I tried it, but it worked perfectly with no side effects. I was using a process where I had to click in various locations and then type capital letters. I kept accidentally turning caps lock off. Yes, when I clicked it and then hit the caps lock key again, the floating indicator went away. But every time I copied or pasted or switched windows, which my process requires constantly, the ****** thing came back again. It was driving me out of my mind. Apple really does need to provide an option for turning this "feature" off, but in the meantime, your workaround works. Thank you so much for this, yochees.

Feb 16, 2024 10:57 PM in response to peterclaver

peterclaver wrote:

Apple: PLEASE add a default / toggle switch in your next update to remove this constant poke in the eye. Better yet, just remove it. Forever.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple


I have certainly given them feedback about this feature. I think it's great.

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Disable Caps Lock Indicator on macOS Sonoma

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