“Hey Siri,” not working on the Mac? And you are someone who can not live without a voice assistant? And you use it to control your smart devices and get news updates? If yes, then your first reaction must be Siri-ously?

If you’re having trouble getting Siri to work on your Mac, you’re not alone. A lot of people have been reporting this issue recently. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to try and fix it. In this article, we’ll walk you through some of the most common solutions. We’ll also show you how to troubleshoot if “Hey Siri” is not responding on macOS.

But before we get into how to troubleshoot Siri not working on Mac, make sure your Mac is running macOS Sierra or later, as Siri is not supported on older versions of macOS. Now let us take a detailed look at these troubleshooting steps.

1. Restart your MacBook

The basic step to fix Siri not working on Macbook or any other issue for that matter is rebooting your Mac. When you restart your device, all running processes will also be restarted. So if Siri is down, a quick restart should fix the problem.

If restarting your Mac doesn’t fix Siri, then move on to the next step.

2. Siri is disabled on your Mac

If Siri on Mac does not work even after restarting, it’s likely disabled in the settings. But how can you enable it to have brainstorming conversations with Siri again? Well, that’s what we are here to find out.

Steps to enable Siri on Mac

1. Drag the cursor towards the Apple logo in the taskbar and select System Preferences from the drop-down list.
   
2. Here, click on the Siri icon next to mission control.
   
3. Now, simply enable the “Enable Ask Siri” option, and you are good to go.
   
4. Additionally, if you want to use the Hey Siri functionality, enable the “Listen for Hey Siri” option and follow the on-screen instruction for setting up your voice with Siri.

3. Resync Siri on iCloud

Apple is known for seamlessly syncing services across the Apple ecosystem, and Siri’s integration with iCloud is a perfect example. Using Siri on all Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch effortless, Siri data is synced with iCloud.

However, when a sync error occurs, it can be a double-edged sword that causes Siri not to work on Mac. But you can resync Siri with iCloud, which might fix the problem; let us look.

Steps to resync Siri on iCloud

1. Drag the cursor towards the Apple logo in the menu bar and select System Preferences from the drop-down list.
   
2. Here, click on the Apple ID option and hit iCloud.
3. Now scroll down in the apps pane on the right side till you see the Siri option.
   
4. Once you see the Siri logo, uncheck and recheck the dialog box and restart your Mac.

4. Check your Internet connection

If Siri does not work on Mac, even though you have tried all the troubleshooting steps above, you should check your Internet connection once.

Sometimes the problem can be only with the internet connection, not with Siri itself. However, if your Internet connection is working and Siri still does not work on Macbook, then try the following troubleshooting steps on the list.

5. Check Mic

Another way to fix Siri not working on Mac is to check the microphone once. There could be a problem with the mic settings on the Mac, or in the worst case, the microphone on the Mac could be damaged at the hardware level. Siri may not work in either case because access to the microphone is critical to its functionality.

Steps to check Mic on Mac

1. Drag the cursor towards the Apple logo in the menu bar and select System Preferences from the drop-down list.
   
2. Select the Sound option and switch to the input tab.
   
3. Now, start talking or singing your favourite song(Mic will not judge you) and see if there are any fluctuations under the input volume.
   
4. If there are no changes in the input level, try connecting an external Microphone or your Airpods and check for the changes. If you see any changes, something is wrong with the inbuilt Mic on your Mac as the extermal mic is working fine.

6. Remove all restrictions and set Siri free

Another thing you can try to fix Siri not working on Mac is playing with parental control settings.

With the new Screen Time feature, you may have unknowingly restricted Siri’s use, causing it to stop working on your Macbook. Let us look at how you can remove these restrictions and free Siri.

1. Drag the cursor towards the Apple logo in the menu bar and select System Preferences from the drop-down list.
   
2. Here click on Screen Time and navigate to the Content and Privacy tab.
   
3. Switch to the Apps tab and check the Siri & Dictation option under Allow, and you are good to go.
   

7. Delete Siri’s Property List Files

If none of the fixes till now helped you troubleshoot Siri not working on macOS, you can try deleting the Property List files (or plist files as they are popularly known) that macOS stores Siri’s configurations in.

First, open Finder and head to your user Library folder. Then, open the “Preferences” folder and finally, locate and delete all the plist files related to Siri over there. Even better? Back them up in a different folder (just in case).

After doing this, restart your computer and try invoking Siri again.

Fix Siri not working on Mac Conveniently

If you follow the troubleshooting steps above, Siri should run smoother than ever and make working on your Mac a breeze without any glitches.

Let us know if you found this article helpful and successfully fixed Siri on Macbook.

FAQs about Siri not responding on macOS