Questions

How to unlock a Mac without a keyboard

Touch ID or an Apple Watch unlocks a Mac with no typing at all, most days. The hard moment is the password, which macOS asks for after every restart and whenever Touch ID gives up.

For that, macOS can show its own on-screen keyboard at the lock screen, and anything that moves the pointer can click it: a mouse, a trackpad, or, if you use one, a game controller or joystick through InputConfig, the free app I make. Here is each way, and what does and does not work before you log in.

On this page: 9 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Unlock with no typing
  3. Put a keyboard on the lock screen
  4. Unlock with a controller or joystick as your mouse
  5. If the keyboard just stopped working
  6. Lock it again from a button
  7. What it cannot do
  8. The short version
  9. Questions

Steps

  1. Set up Touch ID or Apple Watch unlock in System Settings, Touch ID & Password.
  2. Open System Settings, Lock Screen, Accessibility Options.
  3. Turn on the Accessibility Keyboard while you can still type.
  4. At the lock screen, click the password on the on-screen keyboard with any pointer.

Unlock with no typing

  • Touch ID. On a MacBook or a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, rest a finger on the key. Set it up in System Settings, Touch ID & Password.
  • Apple Watch. An unlocked Apple Watch on your wrist unlocks the Mac as you wake it. Turn it on in System Settings, Touch ID & Password.

Neither works after a restart: macOS always wants the password once before Touch ID or the Watch take over again.

Put a keyboard on the lock screen

System Settings: Where the lock screen's own accessibility tools are.

System Settings, Lock Screen, Accessibility Options

What happens: A list opens with the Accessibility Keyboard, Switch Control, VoiceOver and Zoom.

  • You: Turn on the Accessibility Keyboard.
  • macOS: Shows a keyboard you can click on the lock screen and the login window.
  • Check: Lock the Mac and look for the keyboard. On a Mac with FileVault, the first screen after a restart comes before macOS has fully started, so check that the keyboard appears there before you depend on it.

Set this up now, while you can still type, because it cannot be turned on from the lock screen itself.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Unlock with a controller or joystick as your mouse

If you run the Mac from a controller with InputConfig, 1.6 keeps the important part working when the Mac locks.

  • You: Move the pointer to the Accessibility Keyboard and click your password one key at a time.
  • InputConfig: At the lock screen, the running preset still moves the pointer, clicks and scrolls. Keys and text from the controller are blocked there on purpose, so no button, macro or Type Text row can type into the password field by itself.
  • Check: Anything held when the Mac locked, such as a toggled click, is let go first. While the Mac is asleep, nothing is sent at all.

This works for a lock, not a restart. InputConfig starts after you log in, so at the login window after a restart it is not running yet. Use a mouse, a trackpad or a helper for that one password, then log in and the controller takes over. To have the preset start by itself after you log in, see using a Mac without a mouse or keyboard. After a lock the controller can unlock the Mac; after a restart it cannot, because InputConfig is not running yet.

If the keyboard just stopped working

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Plug in another keyboard. Any USB keyboard, or pair a Bluetooth one with the trackpad or mouse.
  2. Turn on the on-screen keyboard. Once logged in, press Touch ID three times quickly to open the Accessibility Shortcuts panel and turn on the Accessibility Keyboard, or find it in System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard.
  3. Get it tested. A laptop keyboard that types the wrong letters or nothing at all is a hardware problem; Apple Support can test it.

A spare USB keyboard is the fastest way back in.

Lock it again from a button

Lock Screen is one of InputConfig's system function outputs, so any button, switch or knock can lock the Mac when you step away. It sends Control Command Q, the Mac's own lock shortcut. One button to lock, and the on-screen keyboard to unlock, closes the loop.

What it cannot do

  • Type the password. InputConfig blocks every key and text output at the lock screen, and it does not store passwords.
  • Run before login. It starts after you log in, so it cannot help at the login window after a restart.

The password always comes from you, one clicked key at a time, or from Touch ID.

The short version

  • Most days. Touch ID or an Apple Watch.
  • For the password. The Accessibility Keyboard, turned on in Lock Screen, Accessibility Options, clicked with any pointer.
  • With a controller. Works after a lock, not after a restart.

Turn on the lock screen keyboard today, while typing is still easy.

Questions

Can InputConfig type my password for me?

No. It blocks every key and text output at the lock screen, and it does not store passwords. Click the password in on the Accessibility Keyboard, or use Touch ID or an Apple Watch.

Does Voice Control work at the lock screen?

The lock screen's Accessibility Options list Switch Control, VoiceOver, Zoom and the Accessibility Keyboard, so check that list on your Mac for what it offers.

Will the emergency stop work while the Mac is locked?

Yes. InputConfig keeps reading the controller at the lock screen, so the controller hold and any control bound to Emergency Stop still stop the preset.

Does this work on an iMac or Mac mini with no keyboard attached?

Yes, the same way: the Accessibility Keyboard at the lock screen, clicked with whatever moves the pointer. Without Touch ID, every unlock needs the password, so the on-screen keyboard matters more.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.