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How to force a reset on Magic Trackpad

Hi,

I have owned a Magic Trackpad for a few months and it works great. I left for vacation and I left it in a shared project room at work and somebody else paired the device while I wasn't here (somehow). This person is in a different state and now that I tried to use it, it has his name in it and although I am able to pair it, only cursor movements work (and they are sort of erratic) and the multi touch gestures do not work at all. I've searched the forums and nobody seems to have had this problem before. Any ideas on how to reset the Magic Trackpad to its factory settings so that I may pair it again. What is interesting is how that person was able to pair the device when it was already paired to my MacBook Pro and now I can't do the same thing. I've tried removing the device, changing the name, updating the services, etc. through the Bluetooth preferences pane. I feel like I need a hardware or low-level solution.

MacBook Pro 15'' Unibody (2009)
Snow Leopard

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro Unibody 15'', Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jan 14, 2011 7:20 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 28, 2017 12:16 AM

Here's the real answer. First, turn the trackpad off. Do this by holding down the power button for five seconds; watch the light turn green, then turn off. If the green light starts flashing, then let up on the power for a second, then hold again until it turns off.


Then press the power button again and continue until the green light starts blinking -- and CONTINUE to hold the power button, causing the green light to continue to flash. Meanwhile, go to the Bluetooth preference pane (hopefully you already did this), and observe the new device appear in the panel. Click "Pair". You should be continuously holding the power button on the trackpad during this process.


Once the dialog indicates the device is paired, you can let up.

34 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 28, 2017 12:16 AM in response to coqui_pregunton

Here's the real answer. First, turn the trackpad off. Do this by holding down the power button for five seconds; watch the light turn green, then turn off. If the green light starts flashing, then let up on the power for a second, then hold again until it turns off.


Then press the power button again and continue until the green light starts blinking -- and CONTINUE to hold the power button, causing the green light to continue to flash. Meanwhile, go to the Bluetooth preference pane (hopefully you already did this), and observe the new device appear in the panel. Click "Pair". You should be continuously holding the power button on the trackpad during this process.


Once the dialog indicates the device is paired, you can let up.

Dec 14, 2011 8:46 AM in response to norg_props

Just to say I RESOLVED MY ISSUE


- the replacement batteries (both sets) were too flat to work in the Trackpad.

They lost their charge whilst sitting idle for months.


Sure, they could power the single light flash, but not, apparently, a more informative warning.


So if you are unable to detect your Trackpad, blame your batteries first.


Even a simple rapid triple flash warning with the green power light would have diagnosed this unambiguously.

Perhaps a firmware update could address this.

Jul 13, 2012 10:22 AM in response to coqui_pregunton

Another problem that commonly happens:


The Magic Trackpad might be paired to a previous Mac that is still in the same room and turned on.


If that's the case, you should first remove the Magic Trackpad from the previous Mac's Bluetooth System Preferences.


But if you can't do that for some reason, there's another trick:


1. Hold down the power button on the Magic Trackpad for 5 seconds until it turns off.


2. Hold down the power button on the Magic Trackpad for another 5 seconds until the light starts flashing... BUT KEEP THE BUTTON HELD DOWN WHILE YOU TRY TO ADD IT TO YOUR NEW MAC. The act of you keeping the button held down will prevent the Magic Trackpad from falling back on communicating with the previous Mac.

Jun 14, 2011 6:20 PM in response to Keltis

If you hold down the button for on the side of the Magic Trackpad for ~5 seconds, one of two things will happen.


1.) The light will come on and then go off

2.) The light will come on and then blink.


In the case of number 1, you've turned the trackpad off. In the case of number 2, if you continue to hold down the button the light will continue to blink and it will become discoverable in your Bluetooth setup assistant. If you continue to hold down the button through the entire wizard, you should be able to reestablish connectivity.


This is what finally worked for me.

Feb 6, 2011 2:43 PM in response to coqui_pregunton

I read somewhere that resetting to factory settings is achieved by pressing the ON button for 5 sec. I did not manage to make it work any way and I have found no other info on resetting (other than that one and your posted question). Although I guess that after so many days you may have found the way, I just tell you that I solved my problem (which was no pairing of trackpad after format and restoring one of the office iMac's) by *removing it from the list of the bluetooth devices*. Check if it will work with you in case you can do so. Also, let me know what the resetting "secret" is.

Thanks anyway.

Dec 13, 2011 3:57 PM in response to fairgo4all

Also tried the above, with no luck.


Mine was working fine until the batteries ran out.....

...then it wouldn't behave again when I put new ones in.

I tried removing it from the Bluetooth devices and now it never gets re-detected.


There's no obvious way of getting it to that initial flashing light stage where it has been reset and is 'trying' to pair up again.

This is clearly what's required....


...so to re-iterate the OP : can anyone please explain how to reset the trackpad?

Sep 28, 2011 9:19 AM in response to psyberknaut

I also experienced the same problems as coqui_pregunton, but resetting the magic track pad did not help. I had to go to the "Bluetooth" section of "System Preferences" and remove the trackpad from the list of bluetooth devices by clicking the "-" button. Once it was removed, I added the magic track pad back by clicking the "+" button and following the instructions. Now everything seems to be working great. Just offering this up as an alternative solution.

Nov 1, 2012 3:37 AM in response to coqui_pregunton

I'm using 10.8.2, and what finally worked for me was holding the trackpad button down all during the setup process. I used the Trackpad control panel (not the Bluetooth control panel), and clicked on the button labeled "Set Up Bluetooth Trackpad...". The Trackpad light went off once during this, but I kept holding the button down/re-clicked the Trackpad button quickly and it finally connected.


Prior to this, I also deleted a previous connected in the Bluetooth System Preferences panel. Having two control panels to work with the Trackpad is confusing.

How to force a reset on Magic Trackpad

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