Macbook air touchpad not clicking. It makes an audible click when you press it on the right but not the left

wait so if I understand this clearly you rapped the actual unibody casing of the MBA on the left side to get it working? I m happy it did not get damaged. So the remedy seems to be either smc restart or hitting the body?

Yup. It's a hardware failure of some sort. The knocking on the bottom of the casing only helps for a little bit though. Not a permanent solution. I think the only real way is to open up and clean it or replace the touchpad.

I tried doing the different restart options and nothing worked.

Then I plugged in an external wired mouse and had the same issue. I could move the pointer but the click function didn't work.

Remembered my bluetooth mouse was still turned on in my backpack. Turned off the bluetooth mouse and both the trackpad and the external mouse click functions started working.

Before you do anything make sure you don't have a paired, bluetooth mouse in range of your comptuer.

I just had the same problem: trackpad clicking on the right, not the left. Put it on it's side - left and right - and clicked vigourously everywhere on the trackpad, and that seems to have solved the problem. It's clearly some dust or something that got stuck between the trackpad and stopped it from clicking. So pleased it works again!

When you try this method, start clicking from the side that works towards the other side. There should be a point where the clicking stops. Keep clicking around this point, almost like massaging the problem away.

SMC reset helped with it not clicking on the left, but scrolling is jittery and I can't scroll a text entry form within a webpage - it scrolls the page too. Edges of trackpad are not responsive to taps. but the "Genius" at the Apple store said that is normal. Seems to me I used to be able to tap all the way to the edge.

Hello guys.

Bumping this. As of today i bought a new 15" retina macbook pro. I experienced that the left side of my trackpad was much more shallow than the right, resulting in "soft" and inaudible clicks on the left side unlike the right side's loud and deeper clicks. As previously pointed out this is a hardware failure from the macbook trackpad failing when the macbook is deformed (bent).

To resolve this problem I kicked up an intensive program so that the computer heated up (I imagine that it helped at least) and then proceeded to bend the computer in different ways while clicking on the trackpad to find the sweet spot where both sides of the trackpad were equally "clicky". After some 5 minutes of light bending the computer kept to it's new shape.

I imagine that this could be something that needs to be repeated if it gets bent again incase the problem is in fact not dirt as confirmed in other mentioned cases. I hope this isn't too much of a repost and that it at leasthelped someone out there! 🙂

Thanks so much for this tip. What a relief. I've just replaced my old macbook air when the other half spilled water all over it, so to have had to write off another just after one month would have been a real pain.

Similar symptoms to a two month old 13" MacBook Air. Symptom: pointer moves across the screen as I use the trackpad, clicking sound and feel is full, but the clicking does nothing in the system. I can't click anything on the screen, can't open or close anything. So, ...huh. SMC reset works temporarily, but same symptoms comes back Nothing spilled. Crumbs? --Gosh, maybe. Bent frame or such? But then WHY would an SMC reset temporarily fix the problem, as it does in my case? If the problem was physical (pad inhibited by crumbs or bent), then PRAM or SMC shouldn't have an effect. Anyway, I just hate my experience on my two month old MacBook Air right now. I know, give it to Apple, and let them have at it. But, ...dang, the problem can be temporarily fixed, so, ...what to those that really know about main boards, firmware, or the like think about this?

This is the actual answer: Sorry its years late but people may still be reading this.

There is a small grub screw in the centre of the track pad.

It has become loose. Just tighten it a little...

Using the proper torx screwdriver remove the back cover of the macbook air, disconnect the battery and remove the battery. Clean the trackpad from the rear and notice the torx grub screw in its own in the centre front. It pushes the trackpad out. Adjust it so the trackpad is flush to the casing on the front. Be careful and gentle but you can do it! This will let the trackpad start clicking again.

It's a shame to APPLE... such a small thing the great designers of Apple missed and become BUMMERS!!! It's a hardware design issue that the dust is going around the trackpad and the trackpad gets stuck to the bottom. Simple workaround as given in one of the replies above to use a stick paper (or normal paper edges) to clean it out slowly and patiantly all around the touch pad.

Still can't believe it Apple can make mistakes like these :-)

So I had this question too because instead of clicking on the left side, it made like a dull click that was super unsatisfying. I tried the whole "knocking on its side" thing, but that didn't work. So I took a post it and just shoved it in the crack between the trackpad and the rest of the computer on the left side. Move the post it up and down that side, and most likely there will be something sticky in there, so just move the post it around that part (you may need to do this a couple times) until you can fit the post it around that bottom left corner. At first, the trackpad was the same, but when I woke up it was clicking perfectly.

Note: you may have to do this again as necessary

I don't think so at all, I'd be a little surprised if it's a hardware problem. Also check you System Preferences - Expose & Spaces - click the Expose tab to look at the settings you have set up.

Hi Jonathan, I'm late to the party, but care to share what was going on and what fixed it?

Try close the app then reopen it.