“Your screen is being observed” is a notification that appears on the lock screen when a software is currently accessing the display of your Mac device. It may also appear as overlapping squares on the top right corner of the screen.
The message appears when users have left screen recording or a third party application open and running, that have access to the display, when locking their device. This message can also appear whenever your device is being accessed remotely.
This is a normal system process issued by your Mac andis not an error. The alert is simply a security and privacy notice which reminds users that the screen is currently being controlled or accessed by software somewhere on the system.
How to Troubleshoot “Your screen is being observed” Message?
To stop this message from appearing, users will need to quit/stop any application that is currently accessing the display or stop/pause any remote access granted to their device.
If you think that the message is appearingrandomly or if it is not caused by your actions, you can simply restartyour Mac and see if the error has gone away. If not, perform the fixes described below.
Stop Screen Recording
If the Quick time player or an application was using the feature when locking the device, the alert will pop up. To fix this, users will need to stop the screen recording function from the menu bar and/or, quit/disable applications from accessing the screen record feature.
If you have started screen recording from the Quick time player,
If you have granted screen recording access to third-party applications, disabling the record function fromSecurity & Privacy settingswill help solve the issue.
Turn off Screen Sharing
Another method to remove the alert from the lock screen is to stop the screen sharing feature from your device. Screen sharing is a feature that projects or controls a Mac device onto a different system that are on the same network. Screen sharing can be done locally or remotely.
Disable Apps from Accessing the Display
If you have granted display control access to an application, such as a video conferencing or an online classroom app, then disabling them from the Accessibility menu can help fix the issue.
If you believe that the application is potentially a malware, you may instead uninstall it completely from the system.
To uninstall, simply drag the application to the Trash can or uninstall them from theFinderFile manager.
Stop AirPlay
Note:This fix is applicable when connected to Wi-Fi only.
Another reason for the “Your screen is being observed” alert to appear is when you have recently used Airdrop to mirror your Mac to a different device. To solve this, users will need to turn off the AirPlay feature to stop the message from appearing.
Alternatively, on the menu bar, click on the AirPlay icon (shown as a monitor display) and then select Turn AirPlay Off to stop the functionality.
Update MacOS
This is a general fix. By updating the operating system on your device, MacOS can strengthen the security and privacy of your device. The OS caninstill certain restrictions and permissionsthat makes it harder for applications from gaining automatic access to hardware and software features of the system.
