This has been an intermittent problem for some time, but no signs of a fix by Apple. Open Apple photos, do a Get Info on a picture, and then when trying to enter a title, a caption, or a keyword, and I can only type 2-4 characters before the cursor disappears and I cannot type. I'm on MacOS 14.2.1, but it was like this in MacOS 13 and previous.
I'd gladly pay an annual subscription fee to get Photos to work properly.
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 14.2
For some unknown reasons the focus keeps switching from the text field in the Info to the Photos.app.
When that happens Photos will interpret the keystrokes we are trying to enter as a caption or title as keyboard shortcuts and start beeping, when it does not understand the shortcut. This is particularly annoying, when there is a typo and I try to erase the wrong character with ⌫.
When the focus is lost, Photos will read the ⌫ as "delete image" and I will get the prompt "erase from all devices". That's a sure sign that my typing is no longer going into the textfield.
I noticed that happens when I have many apps open that are using a lot of memory. In that case it will help to close all open apps and to restart the Mac.
For some unknown reasons the focus keeps switching from the text field in the Info to the Photos.app.
When that happens Photos will interpret the keystrokes we are trying to enter as a caption or title as keyboard shortcuts and start beeping, when it does not understand the shortcut. This is particularly annoying, when there is a typo and I try to erase the wrong character with ⌫.
When the focus is lost, Photos will read the ⌫ as "delete image" and I will get the prompt "erase from all devices". That's a sure sign that my typing is no longer going into the textfield.
I noticed that happens when I have many apps open that are using a lot of memory. In that case it will help to close all open apps and to restart the Mac.
Give this a try: 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.
NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;
• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)
• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
• Disables user-installed fonts
• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files
NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.
I am closing most other apps when working with Photos. And avoid third-party apps, that have not been updated for years.
If you want to find the culprit, that is causing these random glitches, you may want to keep the Console open, so you can see, which process or app is filing crash logs, when the problem occurs.
Perhaps a system update will fix it for you. Fingers crossed - but I have not had this happen after I updated to macOS 14.4.
That's what I experience also. And it is not consistent. When I posted the original message, could not type anything as the cursor would disappear in 2-3 seconds. And then, a few hours later I had no problem typing in the Get info fields. This morning? Failed again. And then later it worked again.
I appreciate the suggestion by Old Toad about restarting in Safe Mode, but with this off-again on-again behavior, it will be difficult to tell what is the problem. And if it DID go away, how to tell which loaded font, login item, startup items, etc., is causing it? Back in the MacOS 9 and earlier days, you could move things into and out of the Extensions folder to see which one was the problem. Now, I don't know.
And it's not just this when I say i wish I could pay a subscription fee for a maintained and updated version of Photos. I cannot get Faces to stick and have given up on trying to use it on my large photo database (some stay, some go, and I've applied them multiple times). I have issues with iTunes (or should I say Music) that does not work consistently as it used to. But I'm not in the demographic from which Apple makes its money (I don't use the subscription service, I buy my music).
How to get deleted photos from iphone
Apple Photos cannot enter text into info fields
