Screen Recording Permission Required

Why does Window Tidy require this permission?

If you wish to use the Window Capture facility in Window Tidy you will also need to grant access to Screen Recording, which allows Window Tidy to capture the contents of a window to an image. This is the only thing Window Tidy uses this permission for and if you don't use this facility in Window Tidy you do not need to grant permission. If you choose not to grant permission Window Tidy will silently fail when you attempt to capture a window.

How do I give Window Tidy permission?

When you first start Window Tidy you should be presented with the following dialog asking you to provide permission (please note that this is a screenshot from our app Mosaic, however the dialog you see would be identical apart from the app name should be "Window Tidy"):

To grant permission you should use the following steps:

• Click Open System Preferences
• When the System Preferences window opens it will display the Screen Recording section
• Click padlock icon and enter your Admin Password to allow you to make changes
• Ensure Window Tidy is ticked in the Screen Recording list
• When prompted choose to Quit Window Tidy
• Re-open Window Tidy from the Applications Folder

What if I don't see this dialog, or I have previously clicked "Deny"?

If you haven't seen / noticed the questions above when running Window Tidy, or you saw them and clicked "Deny" before realising they are required, you can still give permission to Window Tidy by following the instructions below:

• Click the Apple icon on the status menu
• Select System Preferences... from the drop down menu
• Click the Security & Privacy icon
• Click the Privacy tab
• In the list scroll to and select Screen Recording
• Window Tidy should be listed one the right. Ensure the checkbox next to Window Tidy is ticked, and if it is already ticked, first untick it and then retick it to force macOS to update the setting

Please note the screenshot below is for our app Mosaic, you need to ensure "Window Tidy" is checked in the list of apps rather than "Mosaic".

What do I do if Window Tidy is not listed in the Screen Recording preferences?

macOS only gives an app a single chance to request permissions, if it has been removed for any reason the system will not add it again automatically. In this case to add Window Tidy again you would need to reset the permissions for apps, and the system will prompt you for Window Tidy and other apps to provide permissions again. If you have not yet attempted to use the Window Capture functionality in Window Tidy then Window Tidy will not have requested permissions, if this is the case drag any window to the Window Capture extra to trigger this and you should be either prompted to provide permission, or Window Tidy should appear in the Screen Recording section of the Privacy options. If Window Tidy is still not displayed you can reset the system permissions to force macOS to detect Window Tidy again.

To reset permissions so that Window Tidy is detected again:

• Quit Window Tidy if it is running
• Open Spotlight by clicking the magnifying glass icon or pressing CMD + SPACE
• Type "Terminal" and double click the Terminal application when you see it listed in Spotlight
• In the terminal window type "tccutil reset All" and press enter
• Re-open Window Tidy from the Applications folder
• When Window Tidy opens you should be asked for permission for Window Tidy to use Input Monitoring again and Window Tidy should also appear in the relevant sections of the System Preferences after it has requested permissions.