Since Scrivener started as a Mac software and thus the forums are crawling with highly intelligent and genius-level MacHeads, I’d thought to bring this problem here.
The Admin account to my MacBookPro (2022, 13", M2 chip) needs repairs. Mission Control and Launchpad randomly launch when I type ever since I upgraded to Sonoma in Sept 2023.
What I’ve done so far:
gone into System Settings and unticked every keyboard and trackpad option that controls those and other functions. (when I say “every,” I mean “every.”)
rebooted in Safe Mode
deleted cleaning, AV and optimization apps
reinstalled MacOS Sequoia (yes, it continued with the OS upgrade in 2024. Didn’t exist in Monterey or Ventura.)
The problem remains. Except:
When I created a test user account. Hence, the only remaining culprit is the admin account.
I might have asked this question here before but I can’t find it (also haven’t looked hard.) Anyway, nearly two years with this issue and my brain wants to explode. It’s irritating and getting to be a distraction.
In case anyone asks why I’ve allowed it to persist this long, in 2024 I had practically zero funds to deal with it. The laptop works just fine otherwise and as money was nonexistent, I “practiced patience.” Money is less of an issuse since I began collecting Social Security (I’m semi-retired, now.)
So, is there a way to repair a Mac Admin account? I am waiting for a local Mac repair shop to return my Facebook Messenger query, but if there’s a way I can do this myself (I’m cheaper.) that’d be nice.
Have you phoned AppleCare? They will help you for FREE and are up to date (almost daily) on anything that goes strange. You can even go online and get them to call you back at Apple’s dime.
I was eventually responsible for the third party call centers in a region that included over 50% of Apple customers and we provided free AppleCare phone support (as distinct from warranty and AppleCare+ device coverage) regardless of the age of the device. In my early days as a manager within Australia, I personally took a call to assist a lady with a perfectly functional Bondi Blue that was 18 yrs old. A sweet lady whose son had told her to send it to the tip. I told her what to do to her son
Changing the shortcuts was the first thing I did; AFAIK, the keyboard should only be able to type words and not control anything; same for the trackpad (thinking I may brush againt the trackpad and that causes this problem.)
I’ve thought about using another keyboard; I think we have and old one around here somewhere.
Um, I don’t think there was anything different. I’m pretty sure I checked the settings; erm, ahem, yeah, I MUST have, yeah, the settings were thre same.
That is looking like an interesting idea; curious as to what happens, especially since a test account didn’t replicate the problem (unless the Apple gods were tormenting me and restrained the Apple demon long enough to trick me that it is an account issue.)
Well, I am trying another keyboard, a wireless Logitech we had laying around. The problem has not made its appearance.
So, a different keyboard works, and a test account works. How can the two be connected? The admin account has some kind of problem controlling the built-in MBP keyboard ever since Sonoma was released?
Oh, and I’ll try Apple Care tomorrow or Tuesday, for those who recommended that.
Hard if not impossible to definitely say. Might not ever get to root cause but at some point in future after macOS upgrades, the original keyboard might work. Dunno.
Even first level Apple Support probably cannot, but maybe it’s an issue they’ve run across. My hunch is that it has something to do with the keyboard driver software which may or may not have changed when you changed keyboards.
Call Apple Support anyway. Can’t hurt (but the time it takes).
AppleCare is usually my first point of call as they are typically up to date on any issues. (Plus I often get to chat to people I trained or interacted with at Apple).
It may be premature, but since I upgraded to Tahoe yesterday evening, the problem has not presented itself. What was mysteriously introduced when I upgraded to Sonoma in 2023 appears to have gone away with Tahoe.
I’ve written a blogpost draft, worked on a chapter of a novel, futzed around with a fanfic guilty pleasure, and been active enough on social media since the upgrade that it should have happened by now.
I never called Apple Support; not that I didn’t value the suggestion. (I just really dislike dealing with customer service.) I will keep calling Apple Support in mind, should the problem reappear soon, or if something else pops up that defeats all other attempts to resolve.
Thanks to everyone who tried to assist me!
(It’ll reappear right after I post this; just you watch.)
It took 5 days. Later that week, on Friday, the problem returned.
I still didn’t call Apple Support (not out of lack of respect for the suggestion, but out of I really don’t like dealing with Customer Service.)
Anyway, I finally resolved the issue this way:
Did a Time Machine backup
Reset the MBP to factory settings and then downloaded Tahoe all over again.
That was October 2nd. It’s been 17 days since then and the thing hasn’t happened since. I figure that’s long enough for me to update this in case anyone else has a serious issue that evades solving; like this one or something else entirely.
FYI in case what you downloaded is not the newest, Apple has recently (Sep 29) updated Tahoe to 26.0.1 available in Systems Settings. I don’t know if this a better or different version than you were using and seeing these problems. Just FYI.
I’m still holding-off upgrading to macOS 26. Maybe in the New Year after a few more updates.
It was the newest. I got Tahoe on its release date, 15 Sept and the issues returned on the 19th. I waited until 2 Oct to do the factory reset. Oddly, it reinstalled Sequoia instead of Tahoe (I think the information on the procedure said the current OS will be reinstalled.) Anyway, Tahoe 26.0.1 was what I ended up with after the whole annoying procedure was completed.
No. I used System Settings----> General-----> Transfer or Reset----->Erase all Content and Settings. I don’t recall offhand if selecting “Erase all Content and Settings” opened Disk Utility, but if so, that would explain it. I know it didn’t access the Recovery, which I did use in September in one attempt to solve this and that did install the current version of the most recently installed macOS. I may have gotten confused about what was supposed to happen.
Erase all content and settings would likely do it on the M series. Going from memory here, it’s 5-6 years since I trained senior Mac advisors and I’ve only kept half a finger in the pie since.
FREE 
I finally did this: 
