Disable touchbar while typing

Hello,

how can I disable the Touch Bar while typing?

Because of the touch display, which has no resistance compared to normal keys, I'm regularly activating random buttons while typing.

This totally disrupts my workflow while programming and every time else I have to type something.

Is there any option without gaffer taping the entire Touch Bar screen?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 31, 2020 9:29 AM

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Posted on Jul 31, 2020 10:01 AM

Thank you for your answer!

I'm currently using the Touch Bar with the "expanded control strip".

The issue is that whatever buttons are there, they get clicked pretty often accidentally because of the touch display which has zero resistance compared to buttons.

If it was possible to completely disable the Touch Bar I would loose quick access to basic system functions such as changing the brightness.

Therefore I'm looking for a way to disable it just while typing.

(in the same way as most laptops disable the touchpad while typing)

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Jul 31, 2020 10:01 AM in response to steve626

Thank you for your answer!

I'm currently using the Touch Bar with the "expanded control strip".

The issue is that whatever buttons are there, they get clicked pretty often accidentally because of the touch display which has zero resistance compared to buttons.

If it was possible to completely disable the Touch Bar I would loose quick access to basic system functions such as changing the brightness.

Therefore I'm looking for a way to disable it just while typing.

(in the same way as most laptops disable the touchpad while typing)

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Jul 31, 2020 10:20 AM in response to sugeedarou

Try one of the other options there to see if they improve it at all. Many people have complained about this, the touch bar remains somewhat controversial ... but I have found that the 16" Macbook Pro (latest model) is much better about this than the 13" Macbook Pro from a few years ago -- with the latter, the touch bar is very close to the physical keys and seems to be activated by just passing fingers nearby through air. It's different for each person and his/her typing style.

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Jul 31, 2020 11:29 AM in response to steve626

Ok thank you!

I agree apple should either fix this issue by disabling the Touch Bar while typing, or use physical keys which do not have this kind of issues. For now, maybe I'll completely disable the Touch Bar. This just makes changing brightness and volume etc. very complicated.

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Jul 31, 2020 9:45 AM in response to sugeedarou

You can mostly turn off touch bar by using System Preferences, Keyboard.


For the Touch Bar Shows option, you can selected "expanded control strip" or one of the other options that is NOT "App Controls." If you use "App Controls" it will be active when you are typing within an app, which you obviously don't want.

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Disable touchbar while typing

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