Every app already gets the keys you type into its own windows. Input Monitoring is for input meant for other apps, so an app should ask for it only when watching that input is its job, such as remapping a key or reacting to an extra mouse button wherever you are. If an app's job doesn't need it, you can say no.
What it allows
Apple describes the permission in two places. The guide to the setting says some apps can monitor your keyboard, mouse or trackpad even when you're using other apps, and the wording is the same in its versions for macOS 14 through macOS 27. The short description in Privacy & Security settings changed after macOS 14:
- macOS 15 Sequoia and later: apps can monitor your mouse or trackpad and “see what you type on the keyboard”.
- macOS 14 Sonoma: apps can monitor input from your keyboard, mouse or trackpad, even while you're using other apps.
Both say the same thing in practice. An app with the switch on can observe the keys you press and what you do with the pointer in any app, not just its own. Apple adds that whatever such an app collects is covered by its developer's terms and privacy policy rather than Apple's, so read them before you agree.
Some places on a Mac can shield your typing. Terminal, for example, has a Secure Keyboard Entry command in its Terminal menu, which Apple says can stop other apps on your Mac from detecting and recording what you type in Terminal.
What Input Monitoring isn't for: a keyboard shortcut on its own doesn't need it. An app can register a shortcut with macOS and be told when you press it, without seeing any of your other keys.
Which apps ask for it
Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring to see who has asked: Apple's description says the listed apps have requested access, and a switch that's on means the app has it. The apps with a real need are the ones built to react to input anywhere on your Mac:
- Tools that remap keys, or add actions to mouse buttons and trackpad gestures.
- Automation and macro apps that start something when you press a key in any app.
- Apps whose purpose is to log or measure what you type, which you should only ever allow knowingly.
When a request doesn't fit the app's job, ask why. A note-taking app or a photo editor has no obvious reason to see keystrokes meant for other apps, and its documentation should explain what the permission is for. If you can't find a reason, leave the switch off; you can turn it on later if a feature needs it.
Turning it off is safe to trySwitching an app off in the list doesn't delete the app or its settings. It only stops the app watching your input until you switch it back on.
Input Monitoring or Accessibility?
The two are in the same Privacy & Security list and are often asked for together, but they cover different things:
| Permission | What Apple says it allows | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Input Monitoring | Monitoring your mouse or trackpad and seeing what you type, even while you use other apps. | Remapping keys and buttons, reacting to input anywhere |
| Accessibility | Accessing and controlling your Mac through accessibility features. Apple adds that this also gives the app access to your contacts, calendar and other information. | Reading and arranging other apps' windows, choosing menu items, pressing buttons, typing for you |
Accessibility is the broader of the two. Apple's developer documentation says an app trusted for accessibility may also observe key presses sent to other apps. So switching Input Monitoring off for an app you've given Accessibility doesn't make your typing private from it: judge an Accessibility request at least as carefully. Some apps ask for both, because they watch your input and also act on it. What the Accessibility permission lets an app do covers the other side.
Screen Recording, the third permission people mix up with these two, is about what's on your screen rather than your input: see what Screen Recording reveals.
Grant or remove it
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Open Privacy & Security
Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
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Click Input Monitoring
On macOS 14 it's in the list on the right. Otherwise the steps are the same on macOS 14, 15, 26 and 27.
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Turn each app on or off
Use the switch next to an app. To add one that isn't listed, click + below the list, select the app and click Open. To take an app off the list, select it and click −. macOS may ask for your password.
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Reopen the app if it doesn't notice
If an app still says it can't monitor input after you turn it on, quit it and open it again.
To clear an app's answer completely, so that it has to ask again, use the tccutil command in Terminal: how to reset privacy permissions with tccutil.
With Flick
Flick, the window switcher we make, doesn't ask for Input Monitoring. Its shortcuts, such as holding ⌥ and tapping Tab or pressing ⇧⌘Space for search, are registered with macOS, which tells Flick when you press one. While you hold its shortcut, Flick also notices when you let go of the modifier key, so it can switch, and while its panel is open, when you click outside it, so it can close; what you type into its search field goes to Flick itself. It doesn't watch what you type in other apps.
Flick does need Accessibility, to list your windows and bring the one you pick forward, and as above that's a broad permission. It doesn't ask for Screen Recording either; the only other permission it can ask for is Automation, once for each browser you turn on for browser tabs. Flick's permissions article lists what Flick reads with Accessibility, all of which it keeps in memory only.
Which permissions Flick asks for, and why
Sources
Checked on , in each guide's versions for macOS 14, 15, 26 and 27.
- Control access to input monitoring on Mac (what the permission allows, the steps, third-party privacy terms; the same in every version, with “on the right” on macOS 14), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac (the descriptions of Input Monitoring and Accessibility, adding an app with +), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac (macOS 14) (the older Input Monitoring description), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Allow accessibility apps to access your Mac (what Accessibility gives an app), Mac User Guide, Apple
- addGlobalMonitorForEvents(matching:handler:) (key events from other apps and accessibility trust), Apple Developer Documentation
- Use secure keyboard entry in Terminal on Mac, Terminal User Guide, Apple
