TouchID intermittendly works to unlock screen

andre_tux wrote:

After I upgraded to Big Sur, my TouchID did not work and I reset the SMC which got it working again.

But then, after a few months, TouchID would not unlock my screen. I can use TouchID to unlock things in the System Preferences or to use saved passwords, all the stuff where it is used, except to unlock the screen.

I tried again to reset the SMC and all the other suggestions people have, like removing and adding fingerprints, but nothing works.

Then one day it just started working again. But now it has stopped working again.

Any idea what is going on?

There are a few caveats worth reviewing...

There are a couple of cases where Touch ID will not be accepted by macOS:

• If you restarted your Mac, or if you're not logged into your user account.

• If you have not unlocked your Mac for 48 hours.

• If you are trying to unlock Security & Privacy

• If you are trying to unlock Users & Groups Preferences (when FileVault is on)

• If 5 wrong fingerprints attempts

"If you have problems with Touch ID"

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/touch-id-mchl16fbf90a/mac

You can try both—

resetting the SMC https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

resetting NVRAM/PRAM http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

Toggle the user preferences and come back to your preferred settings:

>System Preferences>TouchID

andre_tux wrote:

I have Intelligent Hub (software that allows my employer to install software and updates, and make sure the machine is secure) and stupid Symantec Endpoint protection installed by my employer.

It is most probably one of those two that is causing it.

Note that I have already tried all the standard suggestions of resetting SMC, NVRAM, removing fingerprints, disabling fingerprint services, etc. Makes no difference.

The problem is that TouchID works for everything EXCEPT unlocking the screensaver. And then one day it just starts working again without any changes made.

Then after a reboot it stopped working agian.

Your hands may be tied...

Third party Anti-Virus is known to cause nothing but added issue.

Startup in Safe Mode:    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

To exit Safe Mode, click  in the menu bar and choose “Restart”.