MacOS - Touch ID greyed out, deleting fingerprint deleted all Touch ID settings

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Level 1

49 points

MacOS - Touch ID greyed out, deleting fingerprint deleted all Touch ID settings

Touch ID has always been an iffy thing on my Macs (it would never work at night, but worked fine during the day - no, using bright lighting in the room at night didn't do a thing), but with the recent MacOS update to 15.3.1, Touch ID stopped working entirely. In system settings, all of the sliders for Touch ID were off and greyed out. I keep the keyboard mostly directly cabled to the computer (a brand new M4 Mac Mini), but unplugged, replugged, restarted the computer, etc. Nothing worked. So, given suggestions by some of the experts here, I deleted my old fingerprint in Touch ID to start fresh. Hah ... now there are no options to add fingerprints, nor any settings related to Touch ID under Touch ID & Password in my system settings. It's completely gone. Rebooting doesn't do a thing.

Where do I even start with fixing this issue? Maybe a new keyboard - I guess it's possible that it doesn't recognize the Touch ID function?

Mac mini (M4)

Posted on Mar 1, 2025 1:39 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,432 points

Mar 2, 2025 10:17 AM in response to Chappsnet

Open Bluetooth Settings and Forget your keyboard. Plug the keyboard in with the cable and re-pair it.

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Answer 2

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 2, 2025 9:05 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for reminding me about Safe Mode - I should have tried that earlier. Yes, once I did that and then rebooted again, I saw the full options of adding a fingerprint, and the sliders for allowing fingerprint to unlock, et al. Unfortunately, I'm guessing that something must be up with my keyboard since I got this error message when I tried to start the process of adding a print. It didn't even allow me to start scanning my fingerprint - this came up after a short wait. Sooo ... I guess I have to get a new touch ID keyboard. This one is about two or three years old, which shouldn't be glitching but that's tech for you. Sigh ...

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Answer 3

leroydouglas

Level 10

199,518 points

Mar 2, 2025 9:44 AM in response to Chappsnet

Chappsnet wrote:

Touch ID has always been an iffy thing on my Macs (it would never work at night, but worked fine during the day - no, using bright lighting in the room at night didn't do a thing), but with the recent MacOS update to 15.3.1, Touch ID stopped working entirely. In system settings, all of the sliders for Touch ID were off and greyed out. I keep the keyboard mostly directly cabled to the computer (a brand new M4 Mac Mini), but unplugged, replugged, restarted the computer, etc. Nothing worked. So, given suggestions by some of the experts here, I deleted my old fingerprint in Touch ID to start fresh. Hah ... now there are no options to add fingerprints, nor any settings related to Touch ID under Touch ID & Password in my system settings. It's completely gone. Rebooting doesn't do a thing.

Where do I even start with fixing this issue? Maybe a new keyboard - I guess it's possible that it doesn't recognize the Touch ID function?

Turn the keyboard off, plug it in and turn it ON

Slide the on/off switch on the back edge of the keyboard to turn it on (so green is visible) or off.

Mac, connect it to your Mac with a USB-C to Lightning Cable to pair it, then disconnect the cable to use it wirelessly. Use the same cable to charge your keyboard.

Magic Keyboard with Touch ID - Apple Support

Mac mini - Magic Keyboard with Touch ID

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Answer 4

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 8, 2025 1:03 PM in response to leroydouglas

Already done all of this, and then repeated it with Apple Support. Their only solution at this point is to reinstall MacOS (ugh). Brand new computer, too - just a couple of weeks old. More than a little frustrating.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

136,193 points

Mar 1, 2025 1:45 PM in response to Chappsnet

Try booting into Safe Mode then restart normally. Sometimes that will fix anomalies.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

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Answer 6

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 7, 2025 2:13 PM in response to dialabrain

As a follow-up, I went through this and so, so many other troubleshooting routines with Apple Support. Nothing worked. Switching the keyboard to my older Mac, and Touch ID works just fine (except at night - it's never worked at night, oddly). So ... AS wants me to reinstall MacOS. Argh. I'm in a particularly busy month, so not eager to do this at the moment, in case something goes wrong and I wind up with a mess (it's happened before). But I'll carve some time out next week and give it a whirl.

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Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

136,193 points

Mar 2, 2025 9:12 AM in response to Chappsnet

You're welcome. I suppose it's a possible keyboard failure. I assume you tried it with the charging cable plugged in and wiping the key itself.

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Answer 8

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 3, 2025 11:02 AM in response to dialabrain

Yep, cable plugged in, cable out, careful cleaning of the touch ID sensor, turning the keyboard on and off, repeat. Nothing works. Including removing it from Bluetooth settings and repairing.

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Answer 9

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 3, 2025 11:03 AM in response to Barney-15E

Sigh. I wish that had worked - it was one of the first things that I did. Tried it four or so times, and it re-paired just fine, but no Touch ID capability in the settings. I'll work with Apple Care folks to see what they suggest. Someone else came across this and had to do a complex routine suggested by the Apple folks, and it worked. But it's not something any of us - no matter how technical - would think of doing.

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Answer 10

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 3, 2025 11:12 AM in response to leroydouglas

Already did all of that and more. Nothing works. As you can see from my response to another message, rebooting to Safe Mode, then rebooting again made the Touch ID controls reappear in Settings, but just clicking on 'set up Touch ID' throws an error message and the controls disappear again.

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Answer 11

Chappsnet Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 7, 2025 2:10 PM in response to Barney-15E

One of the first things I tried ... multiple times. Apple Support is even stumped, as I'd tried everything in their troubleshooting routines (I used to work in tech and was the head of IT for a series of businesses, so this is all depressingly familiar).

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