Unexpected 'Slow Keys' activation on MacBook Air M1

Question

Unexpected 'Slow Keys' activation on MacBook Air M1

We seldom look at the accessibility function on our 2020 M1 MacBook air 13. Yesterday my keyboard appeared to quit working. I tried it in mail and a number of safari sites but nothing. The first google search item (accessed on my phone) was to reboot the laptop, which I was reluctant to do because I didn't know if I could even reenter my laptop password but I had to try. The keyboard did allow me to enter normally the laptop password but it wouldn't seem to allow typing in my mail or elsewhere. I did notice a small 1 second box on reboots with the words "slow keys". Another google search brought up the accessibility link in which I found slow keys toggled on. So finally to my question - how could that be toggled on inadvertently? I didn't select it on?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: inadvertent "slow keys"

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.7

Posted on Nov 1, 2025 7:58 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

pooya3d

Level 1

14 points

Nov 1, 2025 8:26 AM in response to soarlike1eagle

An unexpected activation of Slow Keys on your MacBook Air M1 is likely due to an accidental keyboard shortcut press or a change in your Accessibility settings, which can be fixed by pressing Option-Command-F5 to open the Accessibility Shortcuts panel or by disabling the feature in System Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.

If that doesn't work, check for sticky keys with compressed air, ensure correct keyboard layouts, and try restarting your Mac.

What Slow Keys Does

Slow Keys is an accessibility feature that introduces a delay between when a key is pressed and when it is registered by the system. This prevents accidental repeated keystrokes, but if turned on unexpectedly, it makes your keyboard feel unresponsive.

1. Check & Disable Slow Keys in System Settings

Click the Apple menu () > System Settings.
Click Accessibility in the sidebar.
Select Keyboard (you may need to scroll down).
Make sure the toggle for Slow Keys is off.

2. Use the Accessibility Shortcut

Quickly press Option-Command-F5 (or press the Touch ID button three times) to open the Accessibility Shortcuts panel.
From there, you can quickly uncheck or turn off Slow Keys.

3. Verify with Keyboard Layout test

Go to System Settings > Keyboard.
Find the Text Input section and click Edit.
Make sure the correct keyboard layout is selected from the input menu.

4. Check for Recent App Installs

If the problem started recently, a new application might be interfering with keyboard behavior. Check any newly installed apps to see if they can be disabled or uninstalled.

5. Create a New User Account

To determine if the problem is system-wide or specific to your user account settings, create a new user account in System Settings > Users & Groups and test the keyboard there.

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Answer 2

Nov 1, 2025 8:42 AM in response to pooya3d

pooya3d wrote:

An unexpected activation of Slow Keys on your MacBook Air M1 is likely due to an accidental keyboard shortcut press or a change in your …

OP already found and disabled the setting, and AFAIK there is no shortcut for this setting.

Or put differently, it’s difficult to enable this particular setting accidentally.

Which usually means there’s a transient corruption, or the login password is known and somebody else has been messing with the settings.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,884 points

Nov 1, 2025 12:54 PM in response to MrHoffman

MrHoffman wrote:

macOS sometimes turns on (or off) an obscure setting.

Yes! This happening with Full Keyboard Access (which can cripple space bar) and Mouse Keys (which disables 789uiojklm) has been reported many times in these forums. First time I have seen Slow Keys ….

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Answer 4

Nov 1, 2025 8:30 AM in response to soarlike1eagle

macOS sometimes turns on (or off) an obscure setting.

I suspect a longstanding and very obscure low-level bug in preferences caching exists.

Sometimes the setting even shows as correct and expected, but isn’t.

For that, switching it “the other way”, restarting, and switching back usually clears that.

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Answer 5

Nov 1, 2025 1:53 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom Gewecke wrote:

MrHoffman wrote:

macOS sometimes turns on (or off) an obscure setting.

Yes! This happening with Full Keyboard Access (which can cripple space bar) and Mouse Keys (which disables 789uiojklm) has been reported many times in these forums. First time I have seen Slow Keys ….

If the local or ISP network is glitchy, it can play havoc with iCloud Keychain corruptions including (but not limited to) Wi-Fi networks and passwords, too.

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