Custom configuration profile to skip Touch ID setup on macOS devices

While logging into the user account for the first time on a macOS device, the Setup Assistant walks you through a series of steps required to start using the device. Recent MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models have an additional Touch ID setup window as part of their Setup Assistant that prompts users to add a fingerprint, which can then later be used as an authentication mechanism for unlocking the Mac and making purchases with Apple Pay, the iTunes Store, the App Store, and Apple Books. Sometimes, organizations don’t want their employees to set up Touch ID as it becomes harder for them to remove the authentication once the employee leaves the company. In such cases, IT administrators can use a custom configuration profile to skip the Touch ID setup, which can be remotely deployed to multiple enrolled macOS devices using Hexnode’s Deploy Custom Configuration feature.

Configuration profile to skip Touch ID setup window

The SkipTouchIDSetup key in the device management profile can have boolean values, true or false, to skip or not skip the Touch ID setup window. By default, the key value is false.

What happens at the device end?

Once the policy and custom configuration are associated, the Touch ID pop-up window is disabled in the Setup Assistant screen for all accounts on the device.