Keypause
Press one button.
Wipe your keyboard.
Done.
Keypause is a free Mac app that switches every key off for a minute or two while you clean your keyboard, then switches them back on. Wiping presses keys, and that can close windows, quit apps or send a message you haven't finished. Until now you either shut the Mac down or hoped for the best.
Download for Mac
or with Homebrew:
brew install --cask destucr/tap/keypause
- Free, MIT
- macOS 14+
- Apple silicon
What it does
- Turns every key off
- Letters, shortcuts, function keys and the media keys. Your mouse and trackpad keep working, so Unlock is always one click away.
- Starts from anywhere
- Press ⌃⌥⌘K, click the keycap in the menu bar, or run
keypause start 90in Terminal for 90 seconds. - Stays out of your way
- A small panel at the top of the screen shows the countdown. It doesn't take focus, so a video keeps playing while you clean, and the screen stays awake. On a MacBook with a notch the panel grows out of it.
- Always ends
- You pick 30 seconds to 10 minutes. When the timer runs out the keys come back on their own. Instead of a progress bar, the panel shows a night turning to sunrise, and a little keycap character wakes up.
- Keeps to itself
- It never reads, stores or sends what you type. The only network request is an optional update check, once a day at most, against this project's GitHub releases.