Why does Touch ID keep disabling and require a password on my Mac?

Question

Why does Touch ID keep disabling and require a password on my Mac?

After some time, maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour or so, my TouchID disables.

Rebooting usually fixes it, as does turning off the keyboard then turning it on again. This is annoying.

Often, too, when I come back to the machine after an hour or so, it needs a password - it used to work perfectly with touchID before.

I can't find anything in the log files about touchid - any suggestions for finding when it happens and why, gratefully received!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 15.3

Posted on Mar 22, 2025 4:58 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

146,728 points

Mar 22, 2025 6:16 PM in response to Fustbariclation

Without any information it's very very difficult to answer your question. Please do the following:

It will help us get a good idea of what is causing your problem if you provide a report of your system, that way we do not have to play 20 questions with you. The report we are requesting does NOT provide any personal information and is extremely safe to use. Please navigate towww.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.

For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community It is helpful to us if you download the report to your Desktop.

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Answer 2

Mar 24, 2025 9:35 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you, that's a useful resource. I downloaded it and ran it. It creates a compressed XML file with the extension .etrecheck:

rename it with the extension .gz
uncompressed it with gunzip
rename it with the extension .xml
upload it to ChatGPT

ChatGPT unpacked it and explained it. It turns out the problem is with the trustd daemon.

Uploaded ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/TrustTopic_2025-03-22-232504_<machine_Name>.diag to ChatGPT
it tells me it is to do with outdated certificates

Ran:

sudo /usr/libexec/trustd --reset-server

sudo systemctl restart trustd

Restarted the machine.

It seems to be working now. I'll watch it over the next few weeks to see if any problems recur, but, with any luck, this was the problem!

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Why does Touch ID keep disabling and require a password on my Mac?