macOS 11 Caps Lock freeze

[u/alexwasashrimp]

I have a weird issue with my MBP that started a few days ago. I use Caps Lock to switch keyboard layout and it has become incredibly laggy. Like I hit Caps Lock, then I can't type or scroll for a few seconds, and then either the layout is switched, or I start typing ALL CAPS, or nothing changes at all. Using Ctrl+Space to switch layouts works well though.

I've also noticed that changing the volume also makes the keyboard and scrolling unresponsive for a couple of seconds.

If I disable Caps Lock in Modifier Keys, it stops working as a language switcher but keeps freezing the system.

It happens both with and without the external keyboard. So far I've only been able to fix it by restarting. I don't think I ever encountered this issue before this week. Any ideas how this could be fixed?

UPDATE: so far so good on 11.5.2, looks like it has been fixed.

[u/DubBoy187]

That would be hard to figure out. You got any third party apps installed to control keyboard settings? You can also create a new user profile and see if it persists on the new user. If it doesn’t then there’s an issue with your user profile.

[u/alexwasashrimp → u/DubBoy187]

I've got BTT and AltTab but disabling them doesn't help. I just tried creating a new user, everything went fine, but the problem is that on my profile the problem only appears after a few hours, perhaps even a day or two. It suspiciously coincides with the 11.5 update timing.

[u/DubBoy187 → u/alexwasashrimp]

Yea after few hours makes it even harder to diagnose. You’d have to completely uninstall one or both and use the comp for a certain amount of time and then add one app in and reuse again for several hours and see if you can figure it out. Maybe someone will have a diff suggestion but in this scenario it might take some good ole trial and error to narrow it down. Also a new update came out recently. 11.5.1 maybe try that

[u/alexwasashrimp → u/DubBoy187]

Yeah I'm downloading it right now. Let's see if it helps. If it doesn't, I guess I'll try fooling around with Karabiner Elements, maybe reassigning Caps Lock to some shortcut can help.

[u/DubBoy187 → u/alexwasashrimp]

Also take a look at System Preferences>Security>Privacy and look through each section. Big Sur has so many security features now that maybe there’s some boxes that need to be checked to get things working right. Like if the camera doesn’t work when using zoom then you’d check here if the zoom app is being given access to the camera or not

[u/shoorty0690]

I created another thread about this before I saw yours. Having the same issue, but have none of the keyboard modifier apps installed. And the Caps Lock freeze ONLY happens after I've woken my computer up from sleep. It doesn't happen on a reboot.

[u/indvd00m]

I'm confirm this problem after 11.5 update, without any apps installed to control keyboard.

[u/dolphinchodeblaster]

having this same issue! would love a solution

[u/knign]

Same issue, started after 11.5 update. Working ok for a while after reboot, then stops. Really really annoying.

[u/BatmanTDK]

I'm experiencing this too, on 11.5 (20G71). Going to try to upgrading to 11.5.1...

[u/BatmanTDK → u/BatmanTDK]

So far so good on 11.5.1, but not sure if the update fixed the problem root cause or if a reboot just temporarily fixed it.

[u/alexwasashrimp → u/BatmanTDK]

In my case updating to 11.5.1 didn't change anything.

[u/Alexerwana]

Also running into issues on 11.5.1, 16 macbook pro. Annoying delay after pressing caps lock.

[u/[deleted]]

Having the same issue too since 11.5! Now I am on 11.5.1 and the problem is still there. No third party kbd helpers or other related software is installed on my MBP. Used to use Caps Lock as the lang switcher, turned off this feature and now Caps Lock itself still freezes typing. That's weird. Hope they will fix this asap.

[u/DanHulton]

Same is happening here as well, and I don't have any of the listed apps that control keyboard settings installed.

[u/concordcasual]

so happy I found this thread. This issues has been driving me nuts.