Questions
Hot Corners not working on a Mac
When a Hot Corner stops working, it is almost always one of five things: the corner is set to nothing, a modifier key got attached to it, a second display is in the way, the Dock (which runs Hot Corners) needs a restart, or the action depends on another setting. Here they are in the order I would check them, then what to do when the real problem is that the built-in list cannot do what you want.
Steps
- Open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock, and click Hot Corners.
- Choose the action for the corner again, without holding any key.
- Push the pointer fully into a corner that does not touch another display.
- Restart the Dock by running killall Dock in Terminal.
- For a screen saver corner used as a lock, set Lock Screen to ask for a password immediately.
Check what the corner is set to
Open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, scroll down, and click Hot Corners. Each of the four menus shows the action for that corner, and a dash means the corner does nothing. Pick the action you want and click Done.
A modifier key got attached
If a key is held while you pick an action, macOS ties the corner to that key and shows its symbol, such as the Command symbol, in front of the action name. That corner then fires only while you hold the key, which looks exactly like a broken corner. Open the menu again and choose the action with no key held. If you like the key, keep it: it is the built-in way to stop a corner firing by accident.
Reach the actual corner
A Hot Corner fires when the pointer reaches the very corner of the screen. A quick flick gets there; a slow approach that stops a few pixels short does not. With more than one display, open System Settings, Displays, and click Arrange: if a corner touches another display, the pointer can slide across onto that screen instead of stopping, and the corner becomes hard or impossible to hit. Move the displays in the arrangement, or use a corner on the outside.
Restart the Dock
Hot Corners are run by the Dock. If every corner stopped at once, restarting it is the usual first fix: open Terminal and run killall Dock. The Dock and the desktop vanish for a second and come back, with nothing lost. Logging out and back in does the same thing more slowly.
When the corner fires but the result looks wrong
- Start Screen Saver only locks the Mac if Lock Screen settings ask for a password after the screen saver begins. Set that to Immediately if you use the screen saver corner as a lock, or choose Lock Screen for the corner instead.
- Quick Note opens a note from the Notes app. It is the bottom-right corner out of the box, which is why a note appears when the pointer drifts there. Set that corner to the dash to turn it off.
- On macOS Tahoe, Launchpad was replaced by Apps, so that corner's action has a new name in the menu.
When the list is the real problem
Sometimes the corner works and the problem is the list: it cannot press a keyboard shortcut, open an app you choose, run a Siri Shortcut, or fire anywhere except the four corners. That is why I put screen regions in InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. Draw a rectangle anywhere on any display and bind it to a key combination, a macro, an app, a link, a Siri Shortcut, or a system function. It sits alongside the built-in Hot Corners; if both use the same corner, set the built-in one to the dash so only one fires. A region can also wait for a held key, like the built-in modifier trick. The full walkthrough is in custom hot corners on a Mac, and the Cursor Regions preset is a ready example.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Questions
Why does a note pop up when I move the pointer to the corner of my Mac's screen?
The bottom-right Hot Corner is set to Quick Note by default. Open System Settings, Desktop & Dock, Hot Corners, and set the bottom-right menu to the dash.
Why do my Hot Corners only work sometimes?
Usually a modifier key is attached to the corner, so it only fires while that key is held, or the pointer stops just short of the corner. Choose the action again with no key held, and push the pointer all the way in.
Can I add a delay to Hot Corners on a Mac?
System Settings has no delay setting. The built-in way to avoid accidents is to attach a modifier key to the corner. In InputConfig, a screen region can wait for a held key in the same way, for any action.
Do Hot Corners work on a second monitor?
They need the pointer to stop in a corner, and a corner that touches another display lets it pass through. InputConfig's screen regions can belong to one display or to all of them, and can sit on an edge instead of a corner.
How do I turn off Hot Corners completely?
Set all four menus in System Settings, Desktop & Dock, Hot Corners to the dash.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.