While using macOS, you might occasionally find yourself unable to type in Vietnamese, even if your 3rd-party input engine is active (in my case, I use EVKey).
This issue often occurs unexpectedly and isn’t tied to a specific application, which can be quite disruptive to your workflow. In this post, I’ll show you a quick and effective way to fix this “frozen” Vietnamese input issue.
1. The Root Cause
One of the primary reasons for this bug is a macOS security feature called Secure Input. When Secure Input is active, the system disables certain input method features to protect sensitive data, such as passwords or private information.
2. What Exactly is Secure Input?
Secure Input is a security layer designed by Apple to protect your keystrokes when you type into sensitive fields (like password boxes). When this mode is triggered, other software, including 3rd-party Vietnamese input engines, cannot access or modify the content you are typing.
Ideally, Secure Input should turn on automatically when you click a password field and turn off once you’re done. However, macOS sometimes fails to release this state properly, causing your input engine to remain blocked.
3. How to Fix It
Before diving into technical commands, try a “soft reset” by locking your screen (CMD + Ctrl + Q) and logging back in. If that doesn’t work, follow these steps:
Step 1: Check Secure Input Status
Open your Terminal and run the following command to identify which process is currently holding the Secure Input lock:
ioreg -l -w 0 | grep SecureInputIf Secure Input is active, you will see a result containing a PID (Process ID).
Example output:
| "kCGSSessionSecureInputPID" = 1234In this example, 1234 is the PID of the process causing the conflict.
Step 2: Terminate the Process
Once you have the PID, you can force-stop that process using the kill command:
sudo kill 1234(Replace 1234 with the actual PID you found in the previous step).
This command forces the specific process to stop, thereby releasing the Secure Input lock. Alternatively, you can find the name of the process via Activity Monitor and quit it manually there.
Step 3. Verify the Fix
Test your Vietnamese typing again. If it still doesn’t work, you may need to restart the specific application you are using or, in rare cases, restart your Mac.
Important Notes:
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Identify first: Only kill processes that aren’t critical. If you don’t recognize the PID, search for the process name in Activity Monitor first.
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Stay Updated: If this happens frequently, check for macOS updates or review recently installed apps that might be causing conflicts.
Hopefully, this helps you resolve the issue quickly so you can get back to your work on macOS without any interruptions!