Answer

What is Secure Input, and why do keyboard sounds stop in password fields?

Secure Input is a macOS privacy feature that stops key presses from reaching any other app while you type in a password field, so every keyboard sound app, Clacky included, goes quiet until it is switched off again.

That silence is your Mac protecting your password. If keyboard sounds stay off after you leave the password field, some app is still holding Secure Input, and one Terminal command tells you which.

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What Secure Input does

When an app turns on Secure Input, macOS stops delivering key presses to event taps in every other app. Keyboard sound apps use those taps, so they hear nothing. No keyboard sound app can get around it.

Clacky also checks for Secure Input before every key sound and plays nothing while it is on, and its typing stats don’t count those keys. Mouse click and scroll sounds keep playing. Keyboard sounds listen for key down/up only. Clacky never records, stores or sends which keys you type, and respects Secure Input.

Which apps turn it on

Secure Input belongs to whichever app asked for it, and it stays on until that app lets go.

Password fields in any app or web page, while the field has focus.
The macOS login and lock screen, and system password prompts.
Password manager unlock windows.
Terminal with Secure Keyboard Entry ticked in the Terminal menu, and iTerm2 with the same option in its iTerm2 menu, while they are in front.
Now and then an app that leaves it on by mistake after a password prompt.

How to find which app holds Secure Input

If key sounds stay silent everywhere, this check names the app.

Open Terminal (in Applications › Utilities).
Paste the command below and press Return.
Look for a number after kCGSSessionSecureInputPID. That number is the process ID of the app holding Secure Input.
Open Activity Monitor and find that number in the PID column, or run ps -p 1234 -o comm= with your number in place of 1234 to see the app’s name.
Close that app’s password prompt, untick its secure entry option, or quit it. Keyboard sounds come back straight away.

ioreg -l -w 0 | grep SecureInput

Quick fixes, in order

Most of the time the first one is enough.

Click out of any password field and close password prompts.
In Terminal or iTerm2, untick Secure Keyboard Entry, or switch to another app.
Lock and unlock a password manager you just used, or quit it.
Quit the app the check above names. If you can’t find it, log out and back in.

When it isn’t Secure Input

If the check finds nothing and sounds are still silent, the cause is usually the Input Monitoring permission, the sound output, or a quiet setting such as Quiet during calls. Keyboard sounds not working on Mac walks through each one, and why Clacky needs Input Monitoring covers the permission.

Questions

Should I turn off Secure Keyboard Entry in Terminal?

It stops other apps from seeing what you type in Terminal, like a password for sudo. If you prefer to keep it on, keyboard sounds simply stay quiet while Terminal is in front.

Do click sounds stop during Secure Input too?

No. Secure Input only hides key presses. Clacky’s mouse, trackpad and scroll sounds keep playing.

Can a keyboard sound app play sounds in password fields?

No. macOS doesn’t deliver those keys to other apps, and Clacky plays nothing while Secure Input is on.

Why do keyboard sounds stop when Terminal is open?

Terminal’s Secure Keyboard Entry turns on Secure Input while Terminal is in front. Untick it in the Terminal menu if you want key sounds there.

Facts checked on 5 November 2026.

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