text cursor jumps around but still types where it was

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text cursor jumps around but still types where it was

I've seen plenty of "My text cursor jumps around" questions, but in all of them, people mentioned being bothered as they inadvertently started typing elsewhere. That's not my issue: my Mac will still type where it was typing, the cursor will just jump upwards (no change in horizontal coordinate) for a key or two (this only happens during and is brought back by keystrokes, backspace included).

This happened through all the OSs I used and only in TextEdit and Notes (IIRC).

Any idea what this could be?

The note I'm writing at the moment makes this happen way more often than I've ever seen it occur.

MacBook

Posted on Apr 4, 2020 6:44 AM

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Answer 1

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HWTech

Level 9

61,460 points

Apr 4, 2020 5:58 PM in response to AppleCendrum

Check to see if maybe the battery is beginning to swell. Do you see the Trackpad starting to push upwards? Do you see the Bottom Case starting to separate around the edges or the laptop isn't sitting flat on a table anymore?

Sometimes the Trackpad can jump around if the Trackpad surface is damp.

Check to make sure you don't have an external mouse or trackpad connected that might be causing the issue.

Pay close attention that you are not accidentally brushing the Trackpad with your palm or fingers. I find myself doing this on the laptops with the huge Trackpads even when I'm trying to be extremely careful.

Try an SMC reset and a PRAM reset.

See if the same thing happens while booted into Safe Mode.

Try running the Apple Diagnostics.

Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if the cursor still keeps moving on its own.

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text cursor jumps around but still types where it was

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