Contents
Why an update breaks it
macOS records privacy grants — Accessibility, Screen Recording, Input Monitoring — in a database usually called TCC. Each row ties a bundle identifier to a code signature and a path. The check that runs when an app tries to control your computer compares the live app against the stored row.
A major upgrade can migrate, rebuild or partially invalidate those rows. The System Settings list is drawn from the same table, so it happily shows a switch in the on position for a row that no longer satisfies the runtime check. The user sees permission granted; the app sees permission denied; nobody sees an error.
This is why the wave of "broken after upgrade" reports arrives every autumn, why it affects many utilities at once rather than one, and why reinstalling the app does not help — the new copy is checked against the same stale row.
If your clipboard manager, text expander or keyboard remapper also went quiet after the same upgrade, that is confirmatory rather than coincidental. The same reset works for all of them, substituting each app's own bundle identifier.
The fix, in the order that works
Two details make the difference between this working and not working: disable before removing, and restart before re-granting. Skipping either is why people report that the fix does not work for them.
- Quit the app from its menu bar menu.
- System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Switch the toggle off.
- With it off, select the row and remove it with the minus button.
- Restart the Mac. The permission daemon caches state; without a restart the removal frequently does not take effect.
- Launch the app. When it asks for Accessibility permission, accept the prompt.
- Do not pre-add it with the plus button before launching — let the app request it so the record is created against the running binary.
The terminal path does the same thing in one command and is worth knowing if you maintain several machines:
killall Rectangle 2>/dev/null
tccutil reset Accessibility com.knollsoft.Rectangle
sudo shutdown -r now # or just restart normally
# after reboot:
open -a Rectangle # accept the permission prompt<code>tccutil reset Accessibility com.knollsoft.Hookshot</code>. Running the free app's identifier on a Pro installation reports success and changes nothing.
If the app will not even launch
A smaller category of post-upgrade report: the app appears to launch but never shows a menu bar icon, does not appear in Force Quit, and yet the Finder refuses to move it to the Trash because it is "open". That combination means a process exists in a broken state.
# find and kill any stuck instance
pgrep -lf Rectangle
killall -9 Rectangle
# clear the quarantine attribute, which upgrades sometimes reapply
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Rectangle.app
# launch and watch for errors
open -a RectangleIf it still will not start, download a fresh copy from the official site rather than relying on the in-app updater, and drag it into Applications replacing the existing copy. A partially applied automatic update is the usual explanation for this state.
New macOS features that change behaviour
Not everything after an upgrade is a permission fault. Recent releases introduced system features that genuinely change how windows behave, and these get reported as bugs:
| Feature | What changes | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Native window tiling | macOS claims drag-to-edge gestures, so snapping feels doubled or inconsistent | Pick one owner for drag gestures; disable snap areas in one of the two |
| Stage Manager | Reserves a strip on the left; maximised windows no longer reach the edge | Set the reserved width explicitly, or turn Stage Manager off |
| Tiled window margins | System tiling adds its own gaps | Configure gaps in one tool only |
| Login item management | macOS may silently disable a login item after an upgrade | Re-enable launch at login in the app's settings |
Both the Stage Manager reservation and the native tiling overlap have dedicated guides, since both have configuration answers rather than just workarounds.
Reducing the damage next time
- Export your configuration before upgrading. The settings pane writes a JSON file with every shortcut. Restoring from it takes seconds; rebuilding by hand does not.
- Do not upgrade on day one if this machine is how you earn a living. Point-one releases exist for a reason.
- Expect to re-grant Accessibility. Treat it as part of the upgrade checklist rather than as a fault.
- Check the issue tracker before troubleshooting. For a genuinely new regression, the thread will already exist within a day or two of the release.
Get the current build
Rectangle is free and open source. Everything documented here works in the standard build.
Download from rectangleapp.comQuestions
Will reinstalling fix it?
Usually not, and doing it first wastes time. The stale permission row is the problem and a new copy inherits it.
Do I really need to restart the Mac?
Yes, in practice. The removal often does not take effect without it, which is the single most common reason the fix appears to fail.
Why did other utilities break at the same time?
They rely on the same privacy database. The same reset works for each, using their own bundle identifiers.
Is there a way to prevent this?
No. Plan for it instead: export your configuration before upgrading and expect to re-grant the permission.