Independent troubleshooting, compatibility, and privacy reference for Respondus LockDown Browser on macOS. Maintained by LDBypass Editorial — not affiliated with Respondus.
If this repo helped, ⭐ it so other students can find it.
LockDown Browser is the most-deployed proctoring tool in US higher education (~1,500 universities). On macOS it has known issues with every annual OS update — Sequoia 15, Tahoe 26 — and its TCC permission requirements (camera, microphone, screen recording, accessibility) trip up most students at least once.
This reference indexes the 99-page troubleshooting and privacy hub at ldbypass.com/lockdown-browser-mac into a GitHub-readable form. Each section is a tight summary with a link to the full article.
The clip below shows LDBypass — an invisible AI overlay that renders to a private off-screen surface, excluded from CGWindowList, ScreenCaptureKit, and CGDisplayStream. Result: a transparent window that holds ChatGPT or Claude on top of LockDown Browser without appearing in any screen capture, recording, or proctor feed.
https://github.com/privateai0/lockdown-browser-mac/raw/main/assets/demo.mp4
Looking for a download? LDBypass for macOS (overlay, free 1h trial) · GhostVM 1.0.2 (full isolated guest)
| Topic | Summary | Full article |
|---|---|---|
| Won't open / freezes | 8 distinct symptoms (stuck loading, freeze, crash, black screen, force-quit, keeps closing, quit unexpectedly, unresponsive during exam) — symptom ladder + per-symptom fixes | → wont-open |
| Error codes | -7, -21, -101, -105, -106, -111, -118, A4 — meaning + step-by-step fix per code | → errors |
| Permissions | Camera, microphone, screen recording, accessibility, full disk access — TCC explained for Sequoia/Tahoe + reset procedure | → permissions |
| Compatibility | macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14, Ventura 13 × M1/M2/M3/M4/Intel — what's supported, what's broken, annual update playbook | → compatibility |
| Privacy & data | What LDB sees · what Respondus Monitor records · retention policy · lawsuits timeline · university bans | → privacy |
| Installation | LMS-specific paths: Canvas, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, Moodle · Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon · admin password handling | → install |
| Performance impact | CPU, RAM, battery benchmarks across M1-M4 — what's normal, what's not | → performance |
| Uninstall | Complete removal including leftover Library files · clean reinstall · post-exam cleanup | → uninstall |
| Exam flow | Pre-exam checklist · what happens if internet drops mid-exam · why copy/paste & screenshots are blocked | → exam-flow |
| Hardware | External monitors · USB webcams · AirPods · Bluetooth headphones · Sidecar/iPad mirror | → hardware |
| Conflicts | Grammarly, Zoom, Dropbox, Malwarebytes, Little Snitch, VPNs, Citrix, Parallels — known interactions | → conflicts |
| Comparisons | LDB vs Honorlock, Proctorio, Examplify, Proctortrack, Respondus Monitor (no-monitor mode) | → compare |
Drawn from public Respondus documentation, our own reproducible testing, and community reports:
- Requires Camera + Microphone (TCC entitlements) for Respondus Monitor mode
- Requires Screen Recording (TCC) — used for proctor video, not just live monitoring
- Requires Accessibility in some configurations (window/keyboard event interception)
- Disables
Cmd+Tab,Cmd+H,Cmd+Q, screenshots, and clipboard during the exam - Detects external displays via
CGGetActiveDisplayListand refuses to start with multiple monitors - Watches for VM signatures (Parallels, VMware, UTM) and refuses to launch
- Reports session telemetry to
*.respondus.comover HTTPS
For the full breakdown including macOS API references, see docs/what-it-does-on-mac.md.
| Code | Meaning | First-line fix |
|---|---|---|
| -7 | Network/server timeout | Check *.respondus.com not blocked by VPN/firewall · disable Little Snitch rule |
| -21 | Webcam not initialized | Reset Camera permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security |
| -101 | Generic launch failure | Quit conflicting apps (Zoom, Grammarly, Dropbox) · restart Mac |
| -105 | Resource conflict | External display detected — disconnect HDMI/USB-C monitor |
| -106 | Codec / display | Update GPU driver via macOS update · check Sequoia 15.x specifically |
| -111 | TCC permission missing | Re-grant Screen Recording + restart LDB |
| -118 | Process integrity | Anti-virus quarantined LDB binaries — exclude /Applications/LockDown Browser.app |
| A4 | Authentication / token | Re-launch from your LMS (Canvas/Blackboard/etc.) — don't open standalone |
| macOS | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | Intel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tahoe 26 | Mostly OK · TCC reset needed | OK | OK | OK | Unsupported (Apple Silicon required for some features) |
| Sequoia 15 | OK | OK | OK | OK | OK |
| Sonoma 14 | OK | OK | OK | N/A | OK |
| Ventura 13 | OK · LDB ≥2.0.9.1 | OK | N/A | N/A | OK |
→ Detailed matrix with LDB version × LMS
LockDown Browser + Respondus Monitor (the proctoring add-on) collect:
- Camera video of your face throughout the exam
- Microphone audio, continuously
- Screen recording of every pixel on your primary display
- Browser session metadata: keystroke timing, mouse movement, focus events
- Hardware fingerprint: CPU, RAM, MAC address, system_profiler output
- Network metadata: IP, ISP, geolocation
Recordings are uploaded to AWS-hosted Respondus storage with retention policies set by your university (typically 90 days to permanent). Your school administrators can replay any session.
→ Full privacy breakdown · lawsuits timeline · university ban list
Respondus's official knowledge base is shallow on macOS-specific issues. University IT pages are siloed and don't link to each other. Stack Exchange has scattered answers without an editorial layer. We're filling that gap with an authoritative, version-controlled, regularly-updated reference.
We're privacy-first. Our position is documented in our methodology and AI policy. We test on physical M1, M2, M3, and M4 hardware on every macOS release.
- Live troubleshooting hub: ldbypass.com/lockdown-browser-mac (99 articles, updated continuously)
- Discord community: discord.gg/u2B5yREyBp — students and IT admins helping each other in real time
- Privacy research repo: macos-screen-privacy (companion analysis)
- Compatibility matrix repo: proctoring-compatibility-2026 (cross-vendor comparison)
If you spot an outdated fact, an error code that's missing, or a new macOS-version-specific issue, open an issue. We re-test on every macOS point release.
MIT — content and code free to fork, cite, and republish with attribution.
