Input Monitoring lets an app see what you type and your mouse or trackpad input while you use other apps; the list is in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring. Keyboard remappers, mouse utilities and some remote-support apps need it, so remove any app you don't recognize.
Last reviewed · 4 sources
Where to find it
System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring
Input Monitoring lets an app watch your keyboard, mouse and trackpad even while another app is in front. Apple's description is to monitor input from your mouse or trackpad and to see what you type on the keyboard. Password fields use macOS secure event input, which keeps those keystrokes from apps that intercept the keyboard, so the exposure is everything else you type: messages, searches, card numbers in ordinary fields.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
Each app has a switch for whether it can monitor your input devices.
Keyboard remappers, mouse and trackpad utilities, stream controllers and remote-support tools need it. Remove anything that has no reason to read your keystrokes.
Turn off the switch, or select the app and click the minus (-) button.
macOS may offer Quit & Reopen. Until then a running app can keep its access.
With Full Disk Access, CoreLock's free Privacy report lists the apps macOS has granted Input Monitoring and flags any still held by apps you've deleted. It shows what macOS granted, not what an app saw.
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It's the capability a keylogger needs, not a keylogger itself. Keyboard remappers and mouse utilities use it to see your key and button presses; a malicious app would use the same access to record what you type. That's why the list should hold only tools you chose.
For Logi Options+, yes: Logitech says Input Monitoring is needed for the features the app adds, such as custom buttons, scrolling and gestures. If you use the device with its default buttons and no Logitech app, nothing needs the permission.
Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Input Monitoring and Accessibility for apps you don't recognize, since keyloggers use one or the other. CoreLock's free scan includes running apps and startup items among its six checks, and with Full Disk Access its Privacy report lists the apps that hold either permission.
The Privacy report and the scan are free, with no account, on macOS 13 or later.
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