Hey folks, quick question. Is there any way to stop users from turning off Location Services on macOS? I need to make sure it stays enabled for compliance reasons, but I can’t find a straightforward option in the settings. Any ideas?
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Replies (5)
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Participant
1 day ago
Jan 20, 2026
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Oh man, I’ve run into that too. Apple’s pretty locked down when it comes to system-level stuff like Location Services. I don’t think there’s a checkbox or MDM profile that just says “don’t let users toggle this.” Would be nice though!
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Participant
1 day ago
Jan 20, 2026
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From what I know, Apple doesn’t expose that restriction in their configuration profiles. They’re strict about privacy controls, so they don’t want admins forcing location tracking. You might be able to script something that re-enables it if it gets turned off, but it’s not bulletproof.
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Hexnode Expert
1 day ago
Jan 20, 2026
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Thank you for raising this question and for the input shared so far. Apple does not provide a native restriction to prevent users from disabling Location Services on macOS. This limitation is part of their privacy framework.
As a workaround, administrators can deploy a custom script that checks the status of Location Services and re-enables it if it is found to be disabled. While this does not fully prevent users from changing the setting, it helps maintain compliance by ensuring the service is restored automatically.
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Participant
1 day ago
Jan 20, 2026
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Yeah, scripting is probably the only way forward. I’ve seen admins use launch daemons that check the status every few minutes and flip it back on if needed. It’s not elegant, but it works in environments where you just need “always on.”
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Participant
23 hours ago
Jan 20, 2026
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Haha, reminds me of the old days when we’d hack together scripts to keep printers alive. Same vibe here..Apple says “nope,” and admins say “well, we’ll figure something out.” Just be careful though, users might get annoyed if their Mac keeps undoing their changes!
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