A little over a week ago we had onsite Microsoft training for Azure Fundamentals, followed by a proctored exam through Pearson Vue. We are a Mac shop and as part of the exam, you had to run the Microsoft Secure Browser which would lock down your computer to prevent switching apps, desktops, or anything else that could allow for cheating.
After the exam (I passed with flying colors), I noticed that some of my Mac Gestures were not working. I did not realize how dependent I was on Mission Control (the three-finger swipe up) until it was broken. All of the three and four-finger gestures were affected in some way.
I spent more time than I would like to admit working through what it was and surprisingly came across absolutely nothing online (the catalyst for writing this post). The eventual fix is as follows. I can only hope that it saves someone else the needless time I spent.
First I used App Cleaner to identify some files to remove. I do not think this is a requirement, but after how much the Secure Browser broke my computer, I wanted all traces removed.
The offender is the following file
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist
Replacing this with one from another user, restoring from a backup, or just deleting it and restarting should all accomplish getting the gestures back up and working again.