Cesco70
Level 1 (8 points)
Notebooks

Q: How to avoid accidental use of the Trackpad with El Capitan

I have a Macbook installed with El Capitan.

 

I constantly use it to type documents, however I also regularly have to battle with the trackpad being accidentally hit by a part of my hand thus moving the cursor elsewhere with the result that I end up writing elsewhere!

 

This is really frustrating and does limit my typing capabilities as I constantly have to ensure that I have not, erroneously, hit the trackpad!

 

I have tried to see if there are any solutions but, other than using an external apple keyboard, I cant find any other solution to avoid hitting this trackpad erronously!

 

Is there any setting I can avail of to render the trackpad less sensitive and thus avoid this  inconvenience?

 

Thanks.

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on May 8, 2016 2:45 AM

by Lanny,Solvedanswer
Lanny Lanny
Level 5 (7,900 points)
Desktops
A:

Try turning off some of the trackpad features that only require a single touch.

 

Screen Shot 2016-05-08 at 10.48.58 AM.jpg

Posted on May 8, 2016 12:32 PM

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Cesco70

Q: How to avoid accidental use of the Trackpad with El Capitan

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  • by W. Richard Glendon,Helpful

    W. Richard Glendon W. Richard Glendon May 8, 2016 3:32 AM in response to Cesco70
    Level 4 (1,131 points)
    May 8, 2016 3:32 AM in response to Cesco70

    I don't know if you would want to do this but you could use an external mouse or trackpad and check the "Ignore built-in trackpad..." option in apple Menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad. See below:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-08 at 6.18.13 AM.png

     

    dick glendon

  • by Cesco70,

    Cesco70 Cesco70 May 8, 2016 3:38 AM in response to W. Richard Glendon
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 8, 2016 3:38 AM in response to W. Richard Glendon

    Thanks Dick for your advice.

     

    I was contemplating it, to be honest, however I was hoping that Apple, being all that innovative and advanced, would have found a simple solution for this basic obvious problem, which solution which did not entail me having to purchase and carry around a separate trackpad, thus defeating the whole idea of having a laptop!!!


    Meanwhile, I am making use of an external keyboard but, I guess, Ill soon be going off to buy and external trackpad!!


    Thanks once again for your advice, however!

     

  • by Lanny,Solvedanswer

    Lanny Lanny May 8, 2016 12:32 PM in response to Cesco70
    Level 5 (7,900 points)
    Desktops
    May 8, 2016 12:32 PM in response to Cesco70

    Try turning off some of the trackpad features that only require a single touch.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-08 at 10.48.58 AM.jpg

  • by Cesco70,

    Cesco70 Cesco70 May 8, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Lanny
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    May 8, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Lanny

    Lanny,

     

    great idea!!

     

    It actually did solve my problem! Its true that one has to click to use the trackpad, but at least I am saved the hasstle of constantly having accidental touches!

     

    Thanks again, Boss!