macOS Secure Input and shortcuts
Check these steps when some window shortcuts stop responding during or after password entry.
This guide is for macOS.
Leave the password field first
Finish entering the password, click outside the field or switch to another window, and try the same Corral shortcut again. Input may recover without restarting your Mac.
What is Secure Input?
Secure Input is a macOS protection that prevents other apps from observing sensitive keyboard input. Some Corral shortcuts read key state and may not respond while it is enabled.
Modifier keys can still be detected, so Window Snap and Sticky Resize modifier conditions remain usable. A related app name in the notice is an estimate. Corral does not disable another app’s protection or read passwords.
When the notice appears and what the app name means
The notice can appear when Secure Input is enabled and the pressed modifier combination exactly matches an active shortcut that may be blocked. It does not prove that you pressed a particular letter or arrow key. The notice is suppressed while recording shortcuts and during onboarding.
Window Snap and Sticky Resize triggers are excluded from these notices. macOS may report loginwindow instead of the real cause or provide no app name. Do not terminate a process solely because its name appears.
Recover according to the app
- Browsers: finish password entry and switch tabs or windows. If protection stays active, save your work and restart only the affected browser.
- Terminals: after sensitive input is finished, check Secure Keyboard Entry in the app’s menu. Disable it only when protection is no longer needed, and enable it again for sensitive input.
- Password managers: finish or close the input dialog and switch windows. If necessary, save your work and restart only the related app.
- Unknown cause: start with apps where you recently entered a password. If leaving fields or restarting that app does not help, save your work and try locking and unlocking the screen. Consider sign-out or restarting the Mac only as a last resort.
Verify that the action actually works
In a normal window, press the complete shortcut including its letter or arrow key, and check the window action. A notice disappearing alone does not prove recovery.
If the action still fails after leaving the password field, check Corral shortcuts and macOS permissions. For a recurring problem, report the OS and Corral versions, full shortcut, estimated related app, and whether leaving the password field helped. Do not include passwords or sensitive screenshots.
Apple: Terminal Secure Keyboard Entry ↗ · TextExpander: app-specific recovery and identification limits ↗