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How to disable the popup with Dictionary, Wikipedia and Apple Store

I am deeply troubled by a complicated problem I can hardly explain. When attempting to select text on my Macintosh computer, a popup appears that blocks which text is selected and prevents the selected text from being saved to the clipboard. Is there a way to change settings somewhere to put an end to this problem?


The pictures below are my best effort to show the problem in a way that makes it understandable.


Picture 1 shows and explains three examples of the problem

I have wrapped the popups I am trying to avoid in red. When they first appear, they are not wrapped in red. I added the red wrappers to make them easier to spot in the pictures.



Picture 2 shows Example 1 at a larger size, which I hope will be easier to read

I have wrapped the popup I am trying to avoid in red. When it first appeared, it was not wrapped in red. I added the red wrapper to make them easier to spot in the picture.



Picture 3 shows Example 2 at a larger size, which I hope will be easier to read

I have wrapped the popup I am trying to avoid in red. When it first appeared, it was not wrapped in red. I added the red wrapper to make them easier to spot in the picture.


Picture 4 shows Example 3 at a larger size, which I hope will be easier to read

I have wrapped the popup I am trying to avoid in red. When it first appeared, it was not wrapped in red. I added the red wrapper to make them easier to spot in the picture.

Mac Pro

Posted on Sep 10, 2023 12:16 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 7, 2023 8:18 AM

It turned out the problem is isolated to an instance if High Sierra I was running until I could reinstall Catalina. As soon as Catalina was installed, the problem disappeared


Other than that, I don't know the cause of fix to the problem.

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6 replies

Sep 11, 2023 3:48 AM in response to danallenhouston

You have Lookup and Data Detectors (three-fingers) disabled and what you are displaying can only be done by:


  1. Enabling Look Up and Data detectors (three-finger tap)
  2. Pressing ctrl+cmd+D when hovering over a word
  3. Two-finger tap (or ctrl+click) and select Lookup on the secondary menu


I would also suggest moving that Tracking speed to one click to the right of the middle setting. Otherwise, it gets too active.

Sep 10, 2023 8:16 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for taking a look at this question and offering your expertise..


I never use three fingers on my track pad.


Whoops, I just noticed a few three fingers gestures, I don't know if I use them. Disabling them now.


Here are images showing the settings of gestures for my trackpad:




Here are the three finger gesturesI just noticed check on:



I have turned off those gestures involving three fingers




In this example, just encounted since turning off the three finger gestures, the selected texts was selected with only one finger. and here is the same popup I am trying to avoid.


How to disable the popup with Dictionary, Wikipedia and Apple Store

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