Escape key randomly stops working in Monterey

[cylack]

I found a bug in Monterey. I have an M1 Mac Mini. Randomly, the escape key suddenly stops working. Through extensive searching on the internet I found the answer. It seems that Siri is the culprit. If you use Activity Monitor and force quit Siri, the escape key will work again. However, the bug will re-appear again sometime in the future. This has happened for me on multiple different models of Apple Magic Keyboards (with and without touch id). Has anyone found a better solution to this problem?

 

[mj_]

Are you actually using Siri on macOS? I have to admit this is the first time I have heard of this issue. I use my Escape key regularly and all the time, and not once has it stopped working for me. I do, however, also have Siri disabled on macOS since I find it utterly useless to begin with.

 

[cylack]

Yes I do use Siri often on my mac. I find it convenient to ask it about the weather or when the NFL playoffs are on, etc.

But, now that you mention it I will try turning it off and see if this problem goes away. However, I have reported this issue to Apple on Feedback Assistant. I did have this topic up on Apple Forums but a tattletale got it removed because I made the cardinal sin stating I was using Monterey beta and you're not supposed to discuss beta software on Apple forums. I am no longer on beta, but on the official 12.1 Monterey and the issue still persists.

 

[derekww]

same problem here. sometimes siri stops working, sometimes the escape key stops working. to resolve this, either restart mac or disable and enable siri again. this problem only started after i upgraded from big sur to monterey 12.1.

 

[flowrider]

Never had or heard of these issues on my NcMP.

Lou

 

[fafafafa18]

Got the same issue here, usually I just restart my mac to resolve it. Then I read your solution to force quit Siri, and it works! Thanks!
Hope Apple would resolve this issue soon. I have to disable Siri now.

Device: MBA M1 2020