How can I disable my Caps Lock key on macOS Sierra, without it resetting after a reboot? For years, I’ve disabled my Mac’s caps lock key (because I only ever hit it by accident) in System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys.

Recently, I did a clean install of macOS Sierra on my 2014 MacBook Pro. Since then, my disabling of the caps lock key doesn’t seem to persist after reboots.

I found an apparent report of the same issue on Apple’s forum, and there are a few similar questions about previous versions of macOS:


Caps Lock key mapped to a second Control key, reset after wake in Mountain Lion
How do I prevent my MacBook Air from forgetting my Remapped Caps Lock Key?


But I don’t see an actual identified cause anywhere, nor a workaround.

Is this a bug? If so, how can I fix it?

If not, is there any way I can get the old, persistent behaviour?
It could be a problem with file permissions. Try this command in the Terminal (a built-in system tool):

chmod -RN ~/Library/


It resets permissions for your user Library folder. When the command is done executing, reboot. Change the setting and then reboot again, and see if the setting persists.

If it didn't work, then try this command:

chmod -RN /Library/


Yes, there is a difference: it resets permissions for the system’s Library folder.

Then reboot and change the setting as mentioned before, and see if it persists now.