I had the same issue, and managed to resolve it by removing the shortcuts for input sources Select The Apple on top Left > Select System Preferences > Select Keyboard Select the Shortcuts Tab > Input Sources > deselect both options (You shall see both use "Space" as part of the shortcut) Select Spotlight > Deselect both options here as well (Once again you shall note that Space is part of the ShortCut) It appears that you have selected any shortcut where the space bar is a part of the shortcut, the space bar does not always work as a spacebar. I had this issue also in my VM-Ware Fusion app, and once I had applied the above changes, the Space bar worked in the VMware as well. I hope this helps you.