Sometimes unable to toggle Alfred

[Ariamis]

Hi, hoping you can help with this. I'm finding that sometimes Alfred doesn't pop up the input bar when I invoke it with ⌘+space. When that's not working, I can also click the icon and click "Toggle Alfred", which also does nothing. Quitting Alfred and starting it again sometimes restores functionality and sometimes doesn't.

 

I've read Using Cmd + Space as Alfred hotkey already, followed all the steps, but no changes were required.

It works brilliantly the rest of the time, just has these little episodes.

 

What you were doing when the issue happened

Using it during work (Firefox, PyCharm, nothing that may mess up global state like launching a game).

I have two macOS users - home and work - and this only seems to happen on the work account, which is not an administrator.

The home account is usually not logged in but sometimes is. The issue occurs regardless.

 

Whether you were able to replicate it a second time by performing the same action (Update any third-party apps and restart your Mac if relevant)

It's inconsistent but happens a few times a week. Restarting the Mac does consistently fix it, but kind of a hassle.

 

Include any screenshots that might help us

Can't think of any, but feel free to ask :) I'd also be happy to provide ?diagnostics.

 

Include the Alfred version & build number you are using

4.6.1 [1274].

It also has full disk access and accessibility access and is configured for ⌘+space.

 

Include your macOS version

12.0.1.

 

Include the version number of any third-party apps relevant to your issue

No idea if any of these are relevant, but these are also running:

Rectangle 0.49

Unsplash Wallpapers 1.4.5

BetterTouchTool 3.624 (fairly minimal config, nothing bound to ⌘+space)

AlDente 2.2

 

I also tried using ShortcutDetective and it's always detecting Alfred as receiving the shortcut (eg never Spotlight), even though Alfred then doesn't show up.

 

Guessing it may be an issue with Alfred not opening properly rather than a keyboard shortcut issue, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[Vero]

@Ariamis Welcome to the forum.

 

Could you please take a look at Console next time this occurs and see whether you're seeing the message referred to in the post below?

 

 

This only seems to affect a handful of Alfred users on Monterey, so if your issue is the same, please let me know and I'll close this thread, so that we can keep any updates on the topic in a single thread.

 

Cheers,
Vero

 

[Ariamis]

Hi Vero, thanks for your response. Long time Powerpack user, first time poster

 

I'm not seeing "Denying Alfred the right to be in front", but am seeing a pair of these, verbatim, when I hit the hotkey:

 

default	11:19:40.139045+1000	Alfred	Item (<private>) was removed because there is not enough space. minWidth=389.000000
default	11:19:40.139357+1000	Alfred	Item (<private>) was removed because there is not enough space. minWidth=389.000000

 

If Alfred is having a moment then it'll just be those two. If he's working fine, then there will be many more lines, but they'll still include those two.

[Vero]

@Ariamis This particular message isn't problematic, so could you keep an eye for any other error messages if it happens again?

 

Beyond that, do you use multiple monitors on and off? I'm thinking of an issue we haven't seen in quite a few macOS major versions, but occasionally macOS would lose resolution of what your screens arrangement was and would show Alfred off-screen. It's unlikely to be this, but if you use multiple monitors, it may be worth seeing if it happens after changing setup.

 

Another thing you could try (which I realise isn't great for someone who's developed Cmd + Space muscle memory) would be to change your hotkey combo for a while and see if the issue ever occurs with another combo. That would help narrow down whether it *is* something interfering with the combo.

 

It's all I can think of for now, so let me know if any other information comes to light in your setup on your work profile.

[Ariamis]

Thanks Vero, I'll keep an eye out. I reckon you're onto something with the multiple monitors - the work profile is usually docked with two monitors, and home profile is usually the laptop screen only - so will keep experimenting.

 

I'll also switch to a new hotkey, at least until it happens a few times with the new key.