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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

Top-ranking reply

Steven Arnold

Level 1

4 points

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.

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