Wacom Tablet Driver Compatibility with Mac OS 10.15 Catalina

If you've recently updated your Mac OS, from Mojave 10.14, to Catalina 10.15, you might be having some issues with your tablet either not connecting or Pen issues. Usually whenever a new OS comes out, it can take some time to mesh with Wacom’s Drivers, as each is being updated proceeding the launch. And if you went through upgrading from 10.13 to 10.14, you might remember some of the same issues. Fortunately, that fix for Mojave is very similar to the process we'll show you here for Catalina. 

Our first step is to find out if the new OS supports your tablet. Unfortunately, as time goes by, older tablets lose support for new systems and people sometimes jump the gun without checking if their OS upgrade will phase out their tablet.

All tablets from the Bamboo (CTH/L-470/670) generation, and prior, are no longer supported. Therefore the ‘One By Wacom’ (CTL-471/671), and beyond, is supported with the latest Wacom Driver (6.3.37). Even backdating your Wacom Driver to an older version wont work on Catalina.

Check the full list below from Wacom’s Release Notes for all Tablets/Cintiqs that are Compatible with Catalina.
 

If you own one of the listed tablets and you’re still having issues, we recommend completely wiping your old Drivers and Preferences. Installing the new driver on top of the old driver, without wiping first, can sometimes cause conflicts.

1. First, reset the tablet settings and User Preferences:

• Go to Applications > Wacom folder > Wacom File Utility.
• Click the BACK UP button and save this file anywhere in your computer.
• Click ALL USERS
• Click the REMOVE button below ALL USERS.
• Restart the computer.

2. Next, follow the uninstall steps from this walkthrough.

3. Finally, If you haven’t already, download and now install the latest Wacom Driver.

Note: Adding permissions must be done within the first 30 minutes of installing the driver. If the driver was installed outside of the time window, please uninstall and reinstall the driver.

4. Whether you were prompted for permissions or not, you might need to check these settings if the Pen is not working. 

• Go to the Apple menu, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy.
• Go to the Privacy tab, select Accessibility then click on the lock at the bottom left to make changes.
• On the list shown, make sure any Wacom component listed has a checkmark.
• You can also check other programs, like Photoshop, to ensure they work correctly with the tablet. Visit Adobe support guide for more information on adding their programs, if missing.

Next, Scroll down to "Input Monitoring" and checkmark WacomTabletDriver and Firmware Updater.

Next, Scroll down to Files and Folders, Locate Wacom Desktop Center and turn on any checkmarks attached to Wacom Desktop Center.

If any Wacom component is listed here, and the pen or touch is still not working,"select" the Wacom items listed, and then click the "-" sign below the list to remove them. Next restart the computer and go to Step 4.

4. Further Troubleshooting:

If no Wacom components are listed, move the Security & Privacy preferences to the side, we will need to return here within a few steps.

• Click on the desktop and press Command+Shift+G, open Finder, or click Go on the Menu Bar and select Go to Folder
• Type: /Library/ PrivilegedHelperTools/ then press GO
• Locate the com.wacom.IOManger.app
• Making sure you are still allowed to make changes (lock is open), drag and drop the com.wacom.IOManger.app to the list under Accessibility in the Security & Privacy section. Ensure the new item is checked.
• If this item will not check there may be an issue with your Mac OS and you need to contact Apple Support.

• Next, open the Go menu once again and Type: /Library/Application Support/Tablet/ then press GO
• Now drag and drop the WacomTabletDriver and WacomTouchDriver from this folder on to the list under Input Monitoring in the Security & Privacy section.

• Close the preferences, restart your computer.
• Next Scroll down to Folders Permissions, Locate Wacom Desktop Center and turn on any checkmarks attached to Wacom Desktop Center.
• Next under Automation also in the privacy tab in the Security & Privacy. Any Wacom components here should also have checkmarks. If the Wacom Desktop Center is not listed, it means it hasn’t requested control from the OS yet. To add the Wacom Desktop Center to Automation, follow the steps below.
• Launch the Wacom Desktop Center
• Select your device and go to any of the settings (such as pen settings)
• A dialog will open, make sure to allow the app.
• Close the preferences, restart your computer.

• Go to the Privacy tab again, select Accessibility then click on the lock at the bottom of the preferences to make changes.
• Uncheck the com.Wacom.IOManager, then log out of the user.
• Login into the user again, open Accessibility and check the add the driver setting again.

Note: When you add an item in Input Monitoring a message will appear notifying you the application must quit before changes will work. Please do so, however, you must restart your computer after this as the tablet and driver will not work correctly until after the restart.

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