macOS screenshots not working right with Upwork app after recent update, macOS Mojave and Catalina

[andrewbenson90]

Since the last Upwork app update, maybe a week or so ago, the Upwork app is only capturing blank blue screens, or a blank blue macOS desktop, menu bar, and the upwork app window itself -- but nothing else.

The Upwork app prompted me to enable it for "Screen Recording" in system settings, which I did, but it still doesn't work.  

Obviously the clients dislike this.

I've rebooted, uninstalled and reinstalled Upwork, and tried on both my Catalina MBP and my Mojave iMac and the result is the same.

Anyone else seeing this?

Any ideas for how to fix?

Thanks!

Andrew

[AveryO]

Hi Savanna, 

Could you please confirm if none of the steps listed in this help article resolve your issue?

[allen_savanna]

None of the steps listed in the article resolved my issue. I am running
Catalina 10.15.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Savanna,

One of our team members will reach out to you via ticket as soon as possible and assist you further with your desktop app. Thank you.

[marsel_shv]

Thanks Vladimir. Works fine for me (after all your points above).
But not have Upwork in "Security & Privacy" > "Automation". Probably this is not required, since screenshots work now.

[VladimirG]

Thanks for the feedback Marsel!

I'll check the Automation modal list with the team and follow up but would suggest using the Desktop app in the meantime since it doesn't appear to hinder its operations.

[mesmercado]

Hi, I have tried and followed this solution but it didn't work for me. Any alternatives?

Best,

Erika

[AleksandarD]

Hi Mary,

Thanks for reaching out to us. One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further.

Thank you.

[VladimirG]

Hi Mary,

In addition to having our team reach out to you, I sent you a pm with more information that might help resolve the issue. Feel free to follow up and share an update by responding to it, I'll make sure to check and assist you further. Thanks!

[boobooking]

Hi!

Last instructions with build 800 didn't help.

What can I do more to solve it?

Timofey

[alex0007lolpvp]

4. Test functionality by taking a screenshot with the App (unless customized should be prompted by Ctrl+Alt+S or Ctrl+Alt+A

Upwork tracker for Mac doesn't have these hotkeys/ screenshot action defined

Instructions with tccutil didn't worked. Nothing changed. I still have same problem

[JoanneP]

Hi Timofey, Denis, and Alexey,

I've shared your concern with our team and one of our team members will reach out to you directly via support ticket to provide further assistance. Thank you.

[nobin41]

I did a full reset of permission 

tccutil reset All

it worked / this will reset all your app permission n you have to open them again & allow when prompt for permission. All other methods did not work - Upwork app somehow gets automatically ticked after install/reinstall/terminal command.

[denis_rizaev]

I can confirm this works!

Thanks!

[alex0007lolpvp]

I can confirm that full reset of permissions worked for me.

[agzorilla]

Hi,

I am encountering the same problem too. Could somebody get in touch with me to troubleshoot it? I can't seem to get it work even with the troubleshooting suggested here. Thanks.

[BojanS]

Hi Angel,

We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with troubleshooting. 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 

[boobooking]

Thanks! That helped.

[borysenkoya]

I took all these steps, the settings were reset, but the problem remained. What's next?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Yana,

One of our team members will reach out to you via ticket as soon as possible and assist you further. Thank you.

[pushingpixels]

I'm having this issue as well. I just put in a ticket for it. It's screenshotting my desktop, but only the time tracker is showing. I need to keep working on this project (I have a deadline) and tracking my time, so I hope that the hourly guarantee will still apply even though nothing is showing up. 

[BojanS]

Hi Lindsey,

I apologize for the inconvenience this caused to you. This is a known issue and our engineers are looking into it. Our team will reach out to you regarding this issue directly via your support ticket and keep you updated.

We appreciate your patience while our team is working on fixing this issue.

[pushingpixels]

I think I found the culprit. I had to allow Upwork to take screenshots of my desktop. This must either be a new setting or it was reset when I updated to Catalina. 

[danquintanilla]

This was the fix, thank you! 

[consigliojorge]

Even if it can be fixed, the App keeps crashing when you start the system, like 90% of the times. You have to force close the App, open it again and then you can use it, so it still doesn't work as it should.

[jkintanar]

still no go even with the command support asked me to type on terminal and after installing the new tracker app

[AleksandarD]

Hi James,

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. I followed up with the team handling your case and you can expect an update on your ticket very soon. Please allow time for our team to carefully review your request and respond accordingly.

Thank you.

[00109cea]

1/4
I'm currently reviewing Upwork's video tutorials in the freelancer education hub. Module 4 "Managing Communications" is directing me to dowload the new "Team App". I'm guessing this direction is outdated, and "Desktop App" is your current version.

Thanks!

Education Hub

https://www.upwork.com/hiring/education/getting-started-for-freelancers/

Desktop App
https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211064038-About-the-Desktop-App

[AleksandarD]

Hi Jack,

Good catch! I already sent a report to our team for review. 

Thank you.

[00109cea]

2/4

No problem Aleksandar, happy to assist for the greater good. 

Q2, The desktop App will record keyboard strokes, mouse clicks and take screen snapshots. I'm fine with this being a measure of productivity, which might support me in the rare case of a billing dispute. However, what about a wacom tablet? I'm a photo reoucher... so a wacom tablet likely represpents about 80% of my work movement. I rarely use a mouse, and the keyboard is just there to lable a layer, toggle a brush, change to new tool etc.

[researchediting]

---

Jack B wrote:

Q2, The desktop App will record keyboard strokes, mouse clicks and take screen snapshots. I'm fine with this being a measure of productivity, which might support me in the rare case of a billing dispute. However, what about a wacom tablet? I'm a photo reoucher... so a wacom tablet likely represpents about 80% of my work movement. I rarely use a mouse, and the keyboard is just there to lable a layer, toggle a brush, change to new tool etc.

---

While we wait hopefully for a definitive reply, I would be surprised if an input recorder distinguished between brush and mouse input. I seem to recall being able to use a Wacom tablet as a mouse years ago. If Upwork's tracker does make such a distinction, that needs to be addressed not only for your needs and those of others who work similarly, but due to general convergence (interchangeability) of hardware-based and touch input.

[kochubei_valeria]

Jack and Michael,

Upwork App hasn't been officially tested on Wacom tablet and doesn't officially support it. It may record the activity as mouse clicks, however, we can't guarantee that it does. You may need to negotiate manual time with the client if most of the work you do on the contract can't be recorded by Upwork App. 

[00109cea]

 Thanks to all the Mods assisting me thus far, much appreciated!

Question: Unless I'm missing something, there's no way to actually test the screenshot function unless there is a live job in place?

Context:  I have successfully installed the desktop App without a single issue. (Mac OS 10.12.6)  I'm a new user just getting my profile set up, not seeking contracts yet. Given we are 9 pages deep here, I'd like to get some certainty on which OS is more cohesive with the app before opening doors for business. I have RAID partitions where I can test boot drives installed with differing OS versions, so I'm willing and able to do my due diligence on this. 

Thanks again!

[kochubei_valeria]

Jack,

Upwork Desktop App works on OS X 10.9 and higher. 

The issue discussed on this thread was with macOS Catalina and Mojave but they have since been fixed on our end.

[hoyle_editing]

For anyone still having trouble getting this to work right. I followed everything earlier in this thread with no avail. This is how I got it to work, its very similar to the moderators method but this actually worked, i will write a very basic step by step process to try and make it clear.....

• go into the settings of Upwork app and find and use the option to delete cache. Once you have deleted cach and app has restarted dont bother logging in, Close the app (ensure you have closed it properly and not just minamised it.
  
  
  
  
• Next go into 'finder' and type "Upwork" into the search box, ensure 'this mac' is selected...
  
  Delete any Upwork related apps/folders by dragging to the recycle bin, then empty the bin. -
  **DISCLAIMER** make sure these are not files you want or need first, for me i took a bit of a gamble that it was all app related and got rid of everything with the exception of 1 folder that was a project folder i had created so i knew was unrelated to the app.
  
• In addition make sure that you dont have any upwork app stuff in your downloads folder AND look on your desktop for an open drive named Upwork, if you see it then'eject' the drive to remove it (right click and select eject) - this is just from when you have been trying to install the new copy of upwork unsuccesfully.

• For this next step open terminal app by opening 'launchpad' then opening the 'other' folder you should see the terminal app there.
  
  
  
• Next, i tried to type in the command described earlier (tccutil reset All com.upwork.upwork) but had no luck. Instead i typed - tccutil reset All at the command line. (this resets lots of permissions and you will then be promted to grant permissions for some apps when you next use them). 
  
  
  
• Press ENTER and then you can close the terminal app again.
  
  
  
• Now, download and install the Upwork app from here...
  https://updates-desktopapp.upwork.com/binaries/v5_3_3_800_zh8y1qe7l33a9ip6/Upwork.dmg 
  
  
• install and follow instructions on screen - Everything should now work ok, at least it did for me.

Good luck, hope it works.

[raletta786]

Jonathan's solution worked for me, thanks a lot. - Agency Raletta

[acunavictoria]

Thank you, Jonathan. Your solution works for me as well!!! Kudos!!!

[william_morris]

My MAC is 10.6.8. The beta doesn't work, either.

[webclicks1]

I have tried all the options as discussed in the thread from uninstalling, reinstalling the beta version, ensuring the checkboxes are ticked in Screen Recording and Automation area. Everything has been triple done from scratch but no success yet. Please help as this is upsetting for my existing projects and causing frustration in my mind.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Siddharth, 

One of our team members will reach out to you via ticket as soon as possible and assist you further. Thank you.

[evatorium]

I also couldn't make the screenshots work, could you please help? Thanks