Your Mac can browse the web just fine. Yet Chrome says “no cast devices found,” your music app can’t see your speakers, or a printer vanishes from the list. Nothing is wrong with your Wi-Fi.
The cause is often the Mac local network permission. Since macOS 15 Sequoia, each app needs your approval before it can talk to devices on your home network. If that approval is denied, missing, or lost, the app can’t see anything nearby. The fix is usually in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Local Network.
This guide shows where to look, how to test it in one minute, and what to do when the setting misbehaves.
What the Mac Local Network Permission Actually Does
Apple’s technical note on local network privacy explains the rule. It says the feature “puts people in control of which programs can interact with devices on their network.” The first time an app tries to reach your network, the system asks you to approve it. Then it records your answer.
So each app sits in one of three states: undetermined, allowed, or denied. A denied app gets blocked silently. It doesn’t always show an error that points to the permission. It just can’t find anything.
The same note lists what counts as local traffic. That includes sending multicast or broadcast messages, connecting to a device on your network, and browsing for Bonjour services. Those are exactly the tricks casting, speakers, and printers use to find each other.
Why Safari Works While Chrome Doesn’t
This detail explains a confusing pattern. Apple’s note says some things don’t need the permission at all. Traffic from Safari and WKWebView doesn’t require local network access. High-level services such as AirPlay and system printing don’t either.
Chrome, a music app, or a smart-home app isn’t in that group. They need your approval. That’s why AirPlay can see your TV while a third-party app on the same Mac sees nothing.
Fix 1: Check the Local Network List and Turn the App On
Apple’s guide to controlling local network access on Mac gives the path. Start there.
How to fix:
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security
- Scroll down and click Local Network
- Find the app that can’t see your devices, such as Chrome, and turn its switch on
- Quit the app completely with Command + Q, then reopen it
- Try the task again, such as casting or scanning for printers
Don’t just close the window. A fully quit app picks up the change more reliably.
Fix 2: Toggle the Permission Off and On
Sometimes the switch looks correct but the Mac local network permission isn’t working. Roon, a music software company, described this on its community forum. Its staff wrote that “both network devices and locally controlled CoreAudio devices disappear from Roon” when the permission is lost. Roon added that the permission “cannot currently be reset or repaired by Roon itself.” Their advice was “manually toggling Roon’s Local Network permission in macOS.”
The same trick is worth trying for any app.
How to fix:
- Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network
- Turn the app’s switch off, wait a few seconds, and turn it on again
- Quit and reopen the app
- If it still fails, restart the Mac and test again
Fix 3: Run a One-Minute Test in Terminal
This test tells you whether the Mac local network permission is the problem. It also saves you from changing router settings you didn’t need to touch.
Apple’s note says command-line tools run from Terminal are allowed automatically. So a network test in Terminal works even when an app is blocked.
How to check:
- Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities
- Run ping followed by your device’s IP address, for example ping 192.168.1.50, and press Control + C after a few replies
- To look for Chromecasts, run dns-sd -B _googlecast._tcp and watch for device names, then press Control + C
- If Terminal finds the device but your app doesn’t, the Mac local network permission is the likely cause
- If Terminal can’t find it either, the problem is your network, so see our guide on no cast devices found
Fix 4: Fix an App That Isn’t Listed at All
Sometimes the app never appears under Local Network. Apple’s note explains why: the system adds an app to the list only after it tries to reach the local network.
How to fix:
- Update macOS first. Apple says macOS 15.1 “fixed a number of local network privacy bugs,” and recommends retesting on 15.1 or later
- Make sure only one copy of the app is installed. Apple’s note warns that people “might see unexpected behavior” in Privacy & Security when they have several versions of the same app installed
- Open the app and do the action that needs your network, such as clicking the Cast button
- Look for the approval pop-up, and click Allow
- Check Local Network again to see whether the app is now listed
Apple’s note also mentions a bug where the alert doesn’t appear if a very short-lived process tries the network and exits right away. If you’re a developer, that detail matters. If you’re a regular user, updating the app is the best step.
Fix 5: Test With a New User Account
This sounds odd, but it comes straight from Apple. A new account gives you a clean Mac local network permission state to test with. The technical note says macOS keeps “separate local network privacy state for each user account.” It also says there is no way to reset an app’s Local Network permission to the undetermined state on macOS. Its suggested alternative is creating a new user account.
How to check:
- Open System Settings > Users & Groups and add a new standard user
- Log into that account and open the app
- If the permission pop-up appears and the app works, your original account’s permission data is the problem
- Delete the test account when you’re done
If this fixes it, you’ll know the issue is stuck state on your main account, not your network or the app.
Fix 6: Use the Per-App Reset as a Last Resort
The blog Eclectic Light explains the reset problem in its guide to managing privacy protection for network devices. It notes that “Apple doesn’t appear to provide a service name that can be used with tccutil” for Local Network. Its alternative is tccutil reset All plus the app’s bundle ID.
This is not a clean fix. It resets every privacy permission for that app, not just Local Network, and Apple’s own note says Local Network can’t be reset on its own. Treat it as a last step and expect to approve the app’s permissions again.
How to try it:
- Quit the app
- Find its bundle ID, which looks like com.google.Chrome for Chrome
- In Terminal, run tccutil reset All followed by the bundle ID
- Reopen the app and approve each permission request that appears
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t my Mac find devices on my network? An app may be blocked from your local network. Since macOS 15, each app needs approval under Privacy & Security > Local Network. A denied or missing approval makes devices invisible to that app.
Where is the Mac local network permission setting? Open System Settings, click Privacy & Security, and choose Local Network. Each app that has asked for access appears in the list with its own switch.
Why isn’t my app in the Local Network list? The system adds an app only after it tries to reach the local network. Open the app, do the action that needs your network, and watch for the approval pop-up. Updating macOS and removing duplicate copies of the app can also help.
Can I reset the Local Network permission on a Mac? Not directly. Apple’s technical note says macOS has no way to reset an app’s Local Network permission to the undetermined state. Testing with a new user account is Apple’s suggested workaround.
Do Terminal commands need Local Network permission? No. Apple says command-line tools run from Terminal or over SSH are allowed automatically. That makes Terminal a quick way to test whether your network works.
The Bottom Line
The Mac local network permission blocks apps from finding devices until you approve them. Check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network first, then toggle the app off and on. Use Terminal to test whether the network itself works, since Apple exempts it from the rule. If the app is missing from the list, update macOS and remove duplicate copies. A new user account is the only Apple-documented way to get a clean permission state. This is the same pattern as Sonos speakers disappearing from the app, where a setting outside the app quietly decides whether it can see your devices.