Fix missing Mac permissions

macOS does not let any app see the screen or control the mouse and keyboard until the person at the Mac allows it. Blink needs two permissions, and only the customer can give them:

• Screen & System Audio Recording: so you can see the screen and hear the Mac’s sound.
• Accessibility: so your mouse and keyboard reach the Mac.

Symptoms

In the viewer:

• A card says The customer has not allowed screen sharing yet, and the screen stays black.
• A card says Screen Recording allowed. Waiting for Blink to restart.
• A bar says Your mouse and keyboard don’t reach the customer’s Mac yet.
• The audio button shows Audio not allowed.

On the customer’s Mac, a Blink window says Your technician needs permission to see your screen (or to control your screen), with a row for each permission.

Give the permissions

1. If Blink’s permission window is not on the customer’s screen, click Ask the customer again in the viewer (or Ask again on the bar).
2. Ask the customer to click Open Settings next to Screen & System Audio Recording. This opens System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording.
3. Ask them to turn on Blink. macOS may ask for their password.
4. Screen Recording only takes effect after Blink restarts. Usually Blink restarts itself and rejoins the session, and its window also offers a Restart Blink button. If the window instead says to click Quit & Reopen, the customer clicks it when macOS asks. The viewer shows the screen once Blink is back.
5. Ask the customer to click Open Settings next to Accessibility and turn on Blink there too. This one works straight away.
6. The window shows ✓ Allowed for each permission and All set. Your technician can now help you., then closes by itself.

The window refreshes every second, so the customer does not need to close or reopen anything to see the new state.

The switch is on, but it still says “Not allowed yet”

This usually happens after the customer runs a newer Blink download than the one they first allowed. macOS keeps the old permission for the old Blink, and the new one does not inherit it.

1. In System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, ask the customer to select Blink.
2. Remove it with the − button.
3. Do the same under Accessibility if Blink is listed there and control does not work.
4. Ask the customer to open Blink again and allow it when asked, or turn it on in the list again.

Blink will not open on the Mac

If macOS refuses to open the downloaded Blink app, ask the customer to go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway, then open Blink again. The join page shows the same steps.

Files from you are not arriving

The first time you send a file, macOS may ask the customer whether Blink can use their Downloads folder. They must allow it. Files arrive in Downloads › Blink. See Fix failed file transfers.

When to contact IZT

Contact IZT if both permissions show ✓ Allowed and the screen is still black, or if control still does not work. Send the session id, the Mac’s macOS version and the session log. See Collect logs for IZT support.