Keymapping plist not working in macOS 26.2

TidBITS Talk
1

On my M2 MBAir, the F5/F6 keys were changed from Keyboard Backlighting to Mic/Moon. I change the backlighting frequently so they were very useful til the M2.

I did find on Stackexchange way back a way to add a plist file to the LaunchAgents folder to remap the F5/F6 back to backlighting.

Last night I updated the M2 to macOS 26.2 and of course the plist procedure hasn’t worked as it has on previous updates (move plist file out of ~/Library/LaunchAgents, shut down, boot, add plist back into LaunchAgents, shutdown and boot). After several off/on cycles the F5/F6 keys remain tied to the, to me, useless Mic/Moon fuctions.

Searched online for about 20 min and found similar instructions but nothing new since OS 26.

Any input? have the codes used for the keys changed, so I need to change the text of the plist file or something like that? Do I need to trash the LaunchAgents folder (only one other occupant) and make a new one?

2

UPDATE:

I guess the digital dust of Tahoe 26.2 update is settling. I removed the plist file from the proper LaunchAgents folder to the desktop and left it there for several days, restarted the Mac several times and finally for fun dragged it back into the folder, shut down, booted and now it works.

I didn’t do any updates and all the automatic software stuff is off. :man_shrugging: