Cursor problems Sonoma 14.5

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Level 1

4 points

Cursor problems Sonoma 14.5

My cursor behaves oddly after upgrade to a new Mac and Sonoma 14.5. It's most prominent (and annoying) in Pages, but happens in other programs and web pages as well. The cursor flickers and shifts rapidly between pointer and text cursor in a way that makes it difficult to select the right place in the text. Also, sometimes it doesn't react when I try to select a text section. It never had this issue with my previous Mac and OS. Is this a bug or a settings problem, and can it be resolved?

Thanks.

Posted on Aug 11, 2024 9:25 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 11, 2024 10:13 AM in response to Cat_or_bat

Visit System Settings > Appearance panel and set the Accent color to Blue. That will change the blinking insertion indicator in Pages v14.1 to blue which makes it more identifiable.

When you move your pointer outside of Pages it changes from a faint insertion beam icon over document content to a black pointer which is retained in Pages until you click again anywhere in the Pages document. Initially clicking on a thumbnail in Pages will not change the pointer back to an insertion beam, it must be the document body.

I am using Pages v14.1 on Sonoma 14.6.1.

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Answer 2

Cat_or_bat Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 11, 2024 10:39 AM in response to VikingOSX

So, assuming I understand what you're saying, that doesn't happen for me. If I click somewhere in the document body (the text) in Pages, that place is marked by the blinking vertical bar (the "insertion indicator"?) -- nothing unusual there -- but the problem is that the cursor switches directly back to the pointer even if I leave it over the text. When I move the cursor just slightly, over the text, the pointer turns temporarily into a text cursor (the H-beam shaped icon), but as soon as a stop moving the cursor it switches back to a pointer (black arrow). It's extremely annoying, and like I said: it behaves this way in other programs as well, like Safari: when I move the cursor over text, it sometimes temporarily flickers to a text cursor, but then turns into a pointer instead.

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Answer 3

Aug 11, 2024 2:39 PM in response to Cat_or_bat

My pointer in Pages remains as a text cursor as long as I have clicked on the document; the pointer is over the Pages document and the pointer focus has not been redirected outside of the open document window.

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Answer 4

Aug 12, 2024 6:22 AM in response to Cat_or_bat

Cat_or_bat wrote:

Thanks, that's interesting. Any ideas as to what could be wrong in my case, and how to fix it?

No idea. Are you using an Apple Magic Mouse II as I am, or a third-party pointing device?

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Answer 5

Cat_or_bat Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 12, 2024 8:50 AM in response to VikingOSX

Just the built-in touchpad. I do believe I have pinpointed the issue, though: the problem seems to arise when I have Photoshop running, and otherwise not. So, if I close PS, I'm fine. Still a bit annyoing but possible to live with :) Thank you so much for trying to help!

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Answer 6

Cat_or_bat Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 12, 2024 4:03 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks, that's interesting. Any ideas as to what could be wrong in my case, and how to fix it?

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Answer 7

Aug 12, 2024 9:14 AM in response to Cat_or_bat

You are welcome.

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