Input Monitoring on a Mac: what it allows and which apps have it

2 October 2026 · 6 min read

Input Monitoring is the macOS permission that lets an app receive keyboard, mouse and trackpad input while you are working in other apps. A handful of tools need it for honest reasons, and a keylogger needs exactly the same thing. You can see every app that holds it in System Settings, under Privacy and Security, then Input Monitoring, and switch any of them off there.

What Input Monitoring actually grants

Normally an app only receives the keys you press while it is the app in front. Input Monitoring removes that limit. An app with the permission can watch key presses, clicks and trackpad input that were meant for any other app: the message you type in a chat window, the search you type in a browser, the shortcut you press in an editor.

The first time an app tries, macOS shows a prompt saying the app would like to receive keystrokes from any application, with a button that opens System Settings and a button to deny. Nothing is granted until you switch the app on in the list yourself.

It helps to know what the permission does not cover:

It listens; it does not act. Typing for you, clicking for you or driving another app’s interface is Accessibility, a separate permission.
It does not show the screen. That is Screen Recording.
It does not open your files. That is Full Disk Access, or the per-folder prompts for Desktop, Documents and Downloads.

One built-in protection is worth knowing about. When a standard password field is active, macOS switches on secure input, which keeps those keystrokes away from apps that are listening. It is a good safety net, but not every app uses a standard field, so it is not a reason to hand the permission out freely.

How to check which apps have it

Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
Click Privacy and Security in the sidebar.
Scroll down and click Input Monitoring.
Read the list. Every app that has ever asked appears here. A switch that is on means the app can monitor input; a switch that is off means it asked and was refused.
To revoke, turn the switch off. To clear the entry completely, select the app and click the minus button under the list.

macOS may say the app has to quit and reopen before the change applies. Let it; apps read their permissions when they start.

While you are on this screen, go back one level and open Accessibility too. An app with Accessibility can also observe input, so the two lists together are the full picture. Accessibility permission on a Mac: what it grants and why apps ask covers that one in detail.

Apps that have an honest reason to ask

The permission is not a red flag by itself. These kinds of tools cannot do their job without seeing input meant for other apps:

Keyboard remappers, which change what a key does before the app in front receives it.
Text expanders, which watch for an abbreviation and replace it with a longer phrase.
Some launchers and window managers, when their shortcuts go beyond what a plain global hotkey can do. Many global shortcuts need no permission at all, so not every tool in this group will ask.
Push-to-talk and dictation tools that wait for a key to be held down.
Remote desktop and screen sharing tools, which pass your keyboard and mouse through to another computer.
Macro and mouse customization tools.

The test: can you say in one sentence why this app needs to see keys pressed in other apps? If so, the request is reasonable.

Apps that should make you pause

An app whose job has nothing to do with the keyboard. A file converter, a weather widget or a wallpaper app has no reason to be in this list.
Anything you do not recognize. Find it in the Applications folder and check who makes it.
Monitoring software on a work Mac. Employers can install tools that record activity, and those often hold this permission. If the Mac is managed, ask IT what is installed rather than guessing. What employee monitoring software sees, and what a personal tracker should not explains the difference.
Time trackers that score “activity”. A tracker that reports keystroke counts or activity levels has to watch your input to do it. That may be a trade you accept, but it should be a decision, not a surprise.

What a time tracker needs, and what it does not

Knowing which app is in front does not require Input Monitoring, or any other permission. macOS tells any app that asks.

That is the whole basis of Punchcard, a Mac menu bar app that notices which app is in front during your day and prints a receipt at the closing time you set: the top five apps with a time on each line, the rest as MISC, and a day total. It needs no macOS permissions to work: no Accessibility, no Screen Recording, no Full Disk Access. You will not find it in the Input Monitoring list, because it never asks. Out of the box it records app names only, never keystrokes, window titles, document names or screen contents.

The one optional permission is Automation, and only if you switch on “Itemize websites” in Settings. That lets Punchcard ask a supported browser for the front tab’s address and keep just the site name. It still reads nothing you type.

The honest limit follows from the same design. Because Punchcard does not watch input, it cannot tell you how much you typed or grade how “active” an hour was. It answers a narrower question: where the day went, by app. If that is the question you have, a tracker has no business asking for your keystrokes.

For the wider view of what each permission exposes, see what Mac apps can see about you, permission by permission.

If you find something you did not expect

Turn the switch off first. This stops the monitoring at once and breaks nothing permanently.
Quit the app and use the Mac for a day. If a shortcut or a text replacement you rely on stops working, you have found what the permission was for.
If you do not recognize the app, look in System Settings, General, Login Items to see whether it starts by itself. Login items on a Mac shows how to audit that list.
If you do not want the app, remove it, then clear its entry with the minus button.
On a managed work Mac, talk to IT before removing anything. The software may be required.
If you believe something was recording your typing without your consent, change your important passwords from a device you trust.

Questions

Does granting Input Monitoring mean the app records everything I type? It means the app can see it. Whether it stores or sends anything depends on the app, which is why the permission should go only to tools whose purpose you understand and whose maker you trust.

Is Input Monitoring the same as Accessibility? No. Input Monitoring is about listening to the keyboard, mouse and trackpad. Accessibility lets an app control the Mac and read other apps’ interfaces, which also allows it to observe input. Check both lists.

Does Punchcard need Input Monitoring? No. It needs no macOS permissions to work, and it never records keystrokes.