Ok so I’m in a major bind here and would really appreciate some help! I’m on an Intel Mac still running Mac OS Ventura, because it seemed safer than Sonoma.
I switched on the Mac today for the first time in a few days. Once it boots up, it’s saying “One Drive has no windows”.
From that point, I literally can’t do anything on the computer. Literally every three or four seconds, VoiceOver focus is grabbed away from whatever I’m doing, and VoiceOver says “One Drive”. It returns to the desktop or finder, then after another three or four seconds, grabs focus away aghain and says “One Drive”.
In other words I can’t spend more than three or four seconds in any window or location. I can’t do anything at all.
I can’t even use the Force Quit window for long enough to shut down the One Drive process. To switch off the laptop, I have to press and hold the power button, because I can’t stay in the Apple Menu long enough to get to the Shut Down option. Clearly this means I also can’t uninstall the One Drive app.
I tried booting into safe mode by holding down the Shift key while booting up, but it seems I have no VoiceOver speech in this mode so can’t use it. I guess the Intel Macs didn’t support it?
Is there anything I can do to get out of this?
Thanks,
Dave
By Dave Nason, 10 May, 2024
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
This might work...
If you call a volunteer from BeMyEyes, then turn off Voiceover, would they then be able to guide you in uninstalling the app using shortcuts?
Try this
Try to see list of applications that are active by pressing VO+fn+F1 and then dismiss the OneDrive window using VO+CMD+Space. Another thing to try is to use VO+N to check if there is any active notification on the screen that covers large portion of the screen. Also use VO+CMD+Space to list available actions.
Hotkeys to shutdown, Restart, etc
Hi there,
You can alternatively restart/shut own/sleep/etc your Mac by pressing Control or the FN key plus the Power button. It will give you the dialog just as if you went to the Apple menu and chose Shut down.
Regarding OneDrive, I would strongly encourage you to uninstall and reinstall the app after successfully rebooting your Mac. Go to your Applications directory by pressing Command plus Shift plus 'A' from your desktop, then deleting OneDrive from the list of applications. May want to restart the Mac a second time to ensure changes are saved.
HTH.
Appreciate the responses. …
Appreciate the responses.
@Maldalain and @Brian, all fine ideas but unfortunately I can’t do any of them. I was not kidding when I said I can’t do anything. I can’t keep focus on any menu, window or item long enough to do any of these things. It’s nuts.
@Brad, perhaps, though I may need the mouse rather than the keyboard if I can’t find another way out of this.
Cheers,
Dave
When you boot in safe mode,…
When you boot in safe mode, are you able to get past the volume selection screen and then to the log in screen? Will VoiceOver start in the log in screen?
I hate to say it, but you may need sighted help to get out of this quandary.
If and when you do get this solved, I'd not only uninstall One Drive, I'd turn off all of the startup services Microsoft has on your Mac.
Prevent login items from opening
Have you tried focusing on the Login button, routing the mouse pointer to it with VO-Command-F5, holding down the Shift key, and clicking the mouse? This, according to [Apple Support,](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/open-items-automatically-when-you-log-in-mh15189/14.0/mac/14.0) should prevent login items from opening, essentially a waterdown version of safe mode. I don't have an Intel-based Mac to test this on, but as audio is a system component rather than a login item, and you're technically not starting up in safe mode, I'd imagine you'd be able to use VoiceOver after logging in this way.
HTH
Thanks Kevin and Tyler. I…
Thanks Kevin and Tyler.
I can log in, but when in safe mode, there's no speech at all. Seeing AI just helped me to confirm that I was indeed logged in.
Tyler, your suggestion doesn't seem to work for me unfortunately as I have File Vault enabled, so on the log in screen, I just have VoiceOver say Username, which I type, then Password, which I type. I can't actually navigate the log in screen.
I think I may indeed need to get sighted help at this point. In the meantime, thank goodness for Boot Camp as I'm currently logged in on the Windows partition!
As for getting rid of One Drive, if this is indeed a problem that could reoccur I may have to. That is disappointing though. Only last year I cancelled my Dropbox+ subscription costing me €10 a month, as I get the storage I need, plus access to Office apps, with Microsoft 365 for €7 a month.
Dave
Have you tried logging out…
Have you tried logging out by pressing Command-Shift-Q, and then immediately pressing Return before OneDrive can grab focus away from the dialog? That should bring you to the login window, which should be navigable with VoiceOver, as the disk is already unlocked at this point.