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Disable the Press-and-Hold Accent Popup on macOS

Make held keys repeat like on a PC instead of showing the diacritics chooser, using ApplePressAndHoldEnabled.

macOSmacosTerminaldefaultskeyboardMedium risk
Run `defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false`, then restart the affected app.

01Command

Command
$ defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false && echo 'Restart the app you want it applied to.'

02What it does

By default macOS replaces key repeat with a popup of accented alternatives when you hold a letter key, which is great for French or German text but annoying in code editors, games and Terminal. Setting ApplePressAndHoldEnabled to false globally restores classic key repeat. The change takes effect per app after a restart, so relaunch the app (or the whole Mac) afterwards.

03Risk

RiskMedium risk
!Warning: If you regularly type accented characters, disabling this popup removes that convenient picker.

04Undo

Undo
$ defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true

05Sources

  • macOS defaults - read, write and delete macOS user defaults
    SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Shows `defaults write domain key -bool true/false` as the standard way to write boolean preference keys into NSGlobalDomain or per-app domains.
  • macOS setup dotfiles (.macos)
    mathiasbynens/dotfiles (GitHub) · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Contains the exact line 'defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false' with a comment about the press-and-hold character popup.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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