Mac Sound Volume Sporadically Goes to 100%… and Stays There

I’ve had a weird problem that I can’t reproduce at will, but it keeps happening.

I’ll be using my Mac when suddenly the volume indicator goes to 100% … and stays there. The indicator remains on-screen.

Trying to change the volume with the volume up/down buttons on my Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID does nothing.

It’s almost as if someone is holding down the “Volume Up” button (F12).

I wonder if this is the actual physical keyboard or a software problem… or how to tell.

I’ve changed the System Preference to treat F keys as regular keys

and told Keyboard Maestro to tell me when someone presses F12, so if (when) it happens again, maybe I’ll see the notification.

I’ve disconnected all other Bluetooth keyboards to make sure it’s not a keyboard with a dying battery somewhere with the F12 being pressed down. In fact, I’ve just turned Bluetooth off entirely (I use my Magic Keyboard and Mouse wired anyway).

Has anyone seen this happening? It’s really weird.

When it happens, pressing F11 to lower the volume doesn’t work either. I have to change my “Output” sound preference and then change it back for the volume buttons to work again.

If I had to guess, I think my Magic Keyboard with Touch ID is malfunctioning. But everything else is working fine with the keyboard, and I can’t re-create it on-demand, so I’m not sure what to do to troubleshoot it.

:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: Could be a variation on the old “next door neighbor using a cloned remote to change your TV channels” trick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTnEyRLMvqk

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HA! I don’t think so. We’re fortunate not to have any neighbors that close!

Does this change the actual audio output volume or just the indicator?

Just might be a poltergeist. Feliz Día de los Muertos!

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Is that related to Apple Music with Spatial sound? I believe there is a known issue related to volume.

No, I found that there were FOUR GB worth of downloaded songs I definitely did not download onto my iPad Air. They were primarily rock songs that might interest someone about 7 years older than me. It was very strange. But I go out of my way NOT to download much Apple Music.

Similarly, I apparently caught someone who I thought was a friend accessing my Netflix. (Same day.) Had he only asked me… There are all sorts of violent movies on my list now and frankly it is a pain to get rid of them. I do not like violent movies unless they are an internal part of the plot… you know, not violence for the heck of it. Two thirds of the movies on my list were not put there by me.

I look up what they are about perhaps and there is no way I’d select that sort of movie. It is just not my interests AT ALL.

I even asked him about it and he lied to me. Claimed he used his mother’s account which does not jive with what he had told me earlier. Do I know this for sure? No. I just have my suspicions. I went ahead, changed the password and now he is angry at me. Coincidental, maybe. And Netflix is not even that important to me. But I got angry. And more than anything I am hurt because Netflix just is not important to me. And I considered him a friend.

So what is really going on with Apple Music? My guess is it isn’t a poltergeist after all.

There’s your answer, right there.

The volume goes to 100% and the indicator does to (and stays at 100%

Use the Netflix website and you can edit/delete/hide “your" viewing history:

I believe you can also see where your account has been used, and sign out of any devices that are in use. You should do that if you think someone has access to your account, as changing the password may not be enough.

Tj

p.s. - that being said, Netflix etc has nothing to do with the original issue mentioned in this thread, so if you need further help, it might be best to start a new discussion/thread on the forum.

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Thanks, TJ! As of right now I’m all signed out!