MacBook Pro Touch ID not working after 26.3 update

Hi,

I have the same problem with a MacBook Pro M4 and a standard session.

I tried several things and even reinstalled macOS, but nothing worked...

On the other hand, Touch ID worked well to unlock my applications. It was only for unlocking my session that Touch ID wasn't working.

To check that the problem did not come from my session, I finally created a new standard session called "test" and there Touch ID was indeed offered after locking this session!

But the surprise was when I logged in again to my old user session, Touch ID miraculously came back!

I destroyed this "test" session and now everything works normally.

Everything happened as if the creation of this new “test” session had unlocked the Touch ID mechanism.

It looks like a bug in version 26.3.

Let me know if this tip solved your problem.

Kind regards

This is the perfect solution. I tried to feed it back into ChatGPT since their solutions were ineffective. At least they were able to clearly document it for me:

You can mark this as a work around for the issue. It not fixed, but this is a solid work around. You can close the case.

If Touch ID fails only at lock screen:

1. Log into an Administrator account.

2. Ensure Touch ID is configured for that admin.

3. Lock screen → test Touch ID (should work).

4. Log out.

5. Log back into the affected (non-admin) account.

6. Lock screen → Touch ID now works.

No Safe Mode required.

No Terminal required.

No reinstall required.

From ChatGPT:

Your Hypothesis About Admin Privileges

You may be right that:

• This does not occur when the primary account is Admin.

• It may only surface on Standard user accounts after the update.

That would explain why this bug hasn’t appeared widely in reports — most single-user Macs use admin accounts.

Thanks for the workaround. As others have said,

log out of your "normal" (non-Admin) user, log in as your Admin-type user so that the Tahoe 26.3 installation completes, log out, then log back in as your normal user, and my Touch ID is back working to unlock the screen.

Thanks for sharing that!

I had the same issue after upgrading an M3 Max MacBook Pro to 26.3. I couldn't use Touch ID to unlock the computer, but Touch ID worked within applications. I tried turning off and on the Touch ID setting, rebooting, deleting and recreating fingerprints, and booting in Safe Mode. Nothing helped.

After reading about using a different session, while still in Safe Mode I logged out of my regular account and logged into another account I had previously created on my Mac. Touch ID worked with that account. I then logged out and logged into my regular account. Touch ID worked there. I rebooted in normal mode and Touch ID continued to work.

I don't know if it made a difference but for completeness, the first account I was using (my regular account) does not have administrator privileges and the second account I used--which fixed the problem--does have administrator privileges.

This worked for me 100%. I logged out of my regular account (no admin privileges) and logged into admin. It installed a bunch of updates since I usually don't log into this account. I even had to manually setup a fingerprint since I never use it. I did, locked my screen, and Touch ID worked like a champ.

I logged out, logged in as me, locked my screen, and boom....Touch ID works.

Definitely a bug, and I am so glad for the work around! I will upload this to ChatGPT since it had me running all over with things that did no good.

Yes, starting in Safe Mode restores touch ID... for a while. Then it no longer works -- neither on my M1 nor my M3 MacbookPros. Yes, wiping out the fingerprints and redoing them also works... for a while. Then it stops working. This bug, which appeared with MacOS 26 and now is even worse in 26.3, is a major pain. Touch ID no longer unlocks my Macs, nor lets me enter sites that allow access by touch -- I have to insert passwords. Very aggravating, and Apple's response is a robotic loop of the same suggestions -- which all stop working after a while. Could be that 16 GB of memory isn't enough to handle the new liquid glassy system without losing some basic functionality? (My 18 GB M3 MBP just responded positively to logging out, logging in as someone else, then going back to my main login. Fingerprint is now working on unlock from sleep and also on an assortment of sites that allow touch ID -- BUT: I'm holding my breath to see how long it works before disappointing me again.)

Same problem here. After locking the screen, touch id for logging back in is not offered (no text at all below password box). I did find a way re-enable it without logging in, using the multi-user capability.

From the lock screen, with touch id not being offered, if you already have another user set up:

1. Select one of the other users, as if you are going to log in to that one. Login switches to prompting for that user's password. Text appears under the password entry box ("Your password is required..." or "Touch ID or Enter Password").
2. Don't log in. Instead, just switch back to the original user. The login prompt now displays "Touch ID or Enter Password" text under the password entry box, and Touch ID works to log in.

This only fixes it for one time -- as soon as you lock the screen again, the problem shows up again. So you have to do the whole rigamarole again. But for me, going through the two user switches is slightly faster than typing in my password.

The concept of this solution worked for me. I already had a separate administrator account from my day-to-day login. Simply logging out of my daily account and back into my admin account and back to my daily account fixed the problem. I did not have to use Safe Mode.

Using an M3 MBPro. Same issue. Log out from non admin account, log in with admin privileges to complete macOS 26.3 update, log out, log in with regular standard user, locked screen and wow, touchID works again. Thanks @ksv666.

TheSimulator wrote:

I hadn't done that at the time I posted, because Touch ID works for other things (such as installing apps, changing system settings, etc.)

So I tried that, by attempting to delete one fingerprint, and was asked for my password. After entering it (correctly), I get this:

There are times I f*****g hate MacOS...

Yep that is frustrating indeed.

—A SafeBoot Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support will sort many anomalies

Does a quick disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, third party system modifications and system accelerations are disabled temporarily.

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test. Caches get rebuilt automatically.

If not sorted, I would Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753) escalate the issue up the chain of command, get engineers involved for some resolve

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

I had the exact same problem, just logging out (Apple Icon -> Log Out User...) fixed the problem for me, Touch ID now works again normally.

Same issue on iMac M1.

Having red all the answers, I logged as another local user with touch ID enabled and it was working, I relogged as the previous user having problems and... it was working correctly back again!

Very very strange...

Same on my M1 MBA, and also unlocking via Apple Watch not working anymore.

I could solve it by going to the Admin users login (without actually logging in) and going back to my normal user login -> everything is working again!

For me, nothing worked except a reboot. I assume this resets and reinitializes the T2 chip, after which everything works again. I’ve also noticed significant battery drain, high resource usage, and overall slowness since updating to macOS 26. I understand that the system needs time to reindex after a major update, but even after that process completed, the slowness and battery drain persisted. Immediately after the update, I also received a notification that my battery needs replacement.

TheSimulator wrote:

After the 26.3 update, I can no longer unlock my MacBook Pro (M1 Max) using Touch ID.

After the machine has locked, I have to enter my password to unlock it (there's no option to use Touch ID). Touch ID does still work, it's just not available on the unlock screen.

I tried going to Settings / Touch ID & Password, then toggling the "Use Touch ID to unlock your Mac" option. (To be clear, this was ON before I toggled it.) When I set it back to ON, I get prompted for my password. However, it seems, despite entering the correct password, MacOS prevents me from re-entering it for an increasing duration (just now, it was disabled for 19 minutes):

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/94561389-9066-45cd-af1b-2eaf37002dd2

After the required period has elapsed, I can typically login at the second attempt, but Touch ID is still unavailable when the machine next locks.

In case it's relevant, I'm using an Active Directory server to authenticate my login (it's running and available).

I did not ever have this issue prior to the 26.3 update (although MacOS's support for AD completely sucks).

Any suggestions?

Have you deleted all finger prints and set it back up...?

ref: If Touch ID isn't working on Mac