A quick guide on how to restore multi-touch gestures on macOS after they stop working, without the need to reboot your system. Inspired by personal experience and community solutions, this guide focuses on a practical approach that is quick, effective, and minimally disruptive.
Most of these solutions were found (or re-discovered) on the following StackExchange question:
The hidd (Human Interface Device Daemon) manages macOS gestures. Restarting it can quickly restore functionality:
sudo killall hiddThe process will automatically restart, and gestures should return immediately.
"I used to be a killall Dock type solver for this problem, but it's annoying as it un-minimised my FAR too many chrome windows/etc. I remembered stumbling on this answer a couple of weeks back and finally got a chance to try it out; and force killing hidd seemed to do the trick with no ill side effects! It re-spawned so quick that I didn't even have time to notice it disappear from Activity Monitor; but my gestures came back with it! 🖤" — Glenn 'devalias' Grant (Dec 2, 2024) (Ref)
If restarting hidd doesn’t work or isn’t an option, restarting the Dock can also help:
killall DockNote: This may un-minimize all your windows, which can be disruptive if you have many open applications.
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Disable and Re-enable Gestures: (Source)
- Open System Settings > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom.
- Disable gestures like "Scroll direction" or "Zoom in or out" and re-enable them.
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Put the Mac to Sleep:
- Use Apple Menu -> Sleep (Source)
- Wake the Mac after a few seconds. This can sometimes reinitialize gesture functionality.