How to Grant Accessibility Permissions to Charm on Mac

If Charm is not correcting spelling or grammar, the most likely cause is a missing Accessibility permission. Charm needs this permission to read and modify text in any Mac app. To fix it, open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility, and toggle Charm to ON. Correction starts immediately - no restart required. This resolves 85% of "Charm not working" reports.

Step-by-step: granting Accessibility permission to Charm

Follow these steps exactly. The whole process takes under a minute.

1. When Charm launches for the first time, it shows a setup prompt asking for Accessibility permission. Click "Open Settings" in that prompt. macOS will take you directly to the right panel. If you dismissed the prompt or already have Charm installed, continue with step 2.
2. Open System Settings. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and choose System Settings.
3. Navigate to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility. In the sidebar, click Privacy and Security. Scroll down to find the Accessibility row and click it.
4. Find Charm in the list and toggle it ON. Locate Charm in the app list and click the toggle next to it so it turns on (green or blue, depending on your macOS version).
5. Authenticate if prompted. macOS may ask you to enter your login password or use Touch ID to confirm the change. Complete that step.
6. That is it. Charm starts correcting immediately. Switch to any app, type something, and you should see corrections appear with a brief cyan glow.

If Charm doesn't appear in the Accessibility list

Sometimes Charm will not appear in the Accessibility list automatically - especially if the first-launch setup prompt was dismissed or if the app was moved after installation.

To add Charm manually:

1. Open System Settings and go to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility.
2. Click the + button at the bottom of the app list.
3. A file picker opens. Navigate to your Applications folder.
4. Select Charm and click Open.
5. Charm now appears in the list. Toggle it ON.

If you cannot find Charm in Applications, it may be in a subfolder or may need to be re-downloaded. Check your Downloads folder or re-install from the original download link.

If the toggle keeps reverting or not staying on

Occasionally macOS has a permission cache issue where an Accessibility toggle appears to enable but then resets to off. This is a macOS quirk, not a Charm bug. Here is how to fix it:

Option 1: toggle off, wait, toggle back on. Turn the Charm toggle off, wait five seconds, then turn it back on. This clears the cache entry in most cases.

Option 2: remove Charm and re-add it. Select Charm in the Accessibility list, click the minus (-) button to remove it, then click the plus (+) button to add it again from your Applications folder. Re-enable the toggle. This forces macOS to create a clean permission entry.

Option 3: restart your Mac. A full restart clears the TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control) permission cache entirely. After restarting, open System Settings, go back to Accessibility, and toggle Charm on again.

If none of these work, the issue is almost certainly a corrupted TCC database entry. Contact Charm support and include your macOS version.

Is it safe to give Charm Accessibility permission?

Yes - and it is worth understanding exactly what this permission does and does not do.

What Accessibility permission allows: an app with this permission can observe UI elements on screen and interact with them - reading text fields, clicking buttons, injecting text. macOS requires this level of access for any app that modifies content across the system.

What Charm actually does with it: Charm uses the Accessibility API to detect what you are typing in real time and to inject the corrected version. That is the entire scope of its usage. Charm does not read passwords, capture screenshots, or interact with UI elements outside of text fields where you are actively typing.

Your text never leaves your Mac. Charm processes everything on-device using local models and Apple's native text processing frameworks. The Accessibility permission is about operating across apps locally - it is not a channel for sending data anywhere. There is no Charm server that receives your keystrokes.

Why this permission specifically? macOS provides a native spelling API called NSSpellChecker, but it only works in apps that explicitly support it - typically native AppKit apps. Many modern apps are built on Electron (Slack, VS Code, Notion, Discord) and do not use NSSpellChecker. The Accessibility API is the only way to correct text in Electron apps and to provide uniform correction across every app on your Mac. Without it, Charm would only work in a subset of applications.

Charm has Accessibility permission alongside other trusted apps like TextExpander, Rocket Typist, and Alfred - tools millions of Mac users rely on every day.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Charm need Accessibility permission?

Charm needs Accessibility permission to read and modify text in any Mac app. macOS's NSSpellChecker API only works in native apps. Charm uses the Accessibility API to also correct text in Electron apps like Slack and VS Code, giving it coverage across every application on your Mac. Without this permission, Charm cannot detect what you are typing or inject corrections.

How do I grant Accessibility permission to Charm?

Open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, then select Accessibility. Find Charm in the list and toggle the switch next to it to ON. If macOS prompts you, enter your password or use Touch ID. Charm starts correcting immediately - no restart required.

Is Charm safe with Accessibility permission?

Yes. Charm processes all text entirely on-device. The Accessibility permission lets Charm observe and interact with text fields on your Mac, but your text never leaves your device. Charm does not transmit keystrokes to any server. On-device processing is a core design principle of Charm.

How do I check if Charm has the right permission?

Open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility. Check that Charm appears in the list with its toggle switched ON. To verify it is working, open any app, type a word with a deliberate typo, and watch for Charm to correct it with a brief cyan glow.