wblackburn
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: My trackpad is going crazy, cursor moves on its own

My trackpad shows no visible change, however my cursur moves on its own, clicks on things, drags icons, and at other times refuses to move.  Sometimes for a moment it will work, but then it is back again.  I highly suspect malware.  My computer worked fine, there is no sign of hardware damage and I reset my Pram.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010), Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 8:48 AM

by Linc Davis,Apple recommended
Linc Davis Linc Davis
Level 10 (207,995 points)
Applications
A:

Portables and Magic Trackpad: Jumpy or erratic trackpad operation

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 9:13 AM

Close
wblackburn

Q: My trackpad is going crazy, cursor moves on its own

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 3 of 4 last Next

  • by pdthago,

    pdthago pdthago May 6, 2014 7:12 PM in response to Pinoncely
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2014 7:12 PM in response to Pinoncely

    Had my 2011 MBPS 13" upgraded to OS Mavericks. Had problem with uncontrolled mouse cursor. Followed tips to clean up language. Removed English, changed to Spanish, restarted, removed Spanish, added English, restarted. Works well for now.

  • by bianca839,

    bianca839 bianca839 Aug 8, 2014 1:53 AM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 1:53 AM in response to wblackburn

    Hello!

    I have the same problem with my Macbook Pro late 2011. I tried everything everyone says here and I hope and think I have the right solution... I gave tge trackpad a light hit and since then it seems to behave... But I still have a question... what is the problem with the trackpads?

    Thanks!

  • by qumungis,

    qumungis qumungis Dec 18, 2014 6:39 PM in response to Apple666
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 18, 2014 6:39 PM in response to Apple666

    Apple666--YOU, my friend, are a genius. The firm knuckle-strike worked like a charm, the very first time!!!

  • by bkinsey16,

    bkinsey16 bkinsey16 Jan 9, 2015 8:29 AM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 9, 2015 8:29 AM in response to wblackburn

    Solved it!


    After failed attempts at resetting PRAM and SMC settings, i found an answer on a thread.

     

    I switched my language preferences from english to french back to english (the language you choose is irrelevant), restarted the computer after each switch and the mouse has been working perfectly fine since.

  • by ATG2035,

    ATG2035 ATG2035 Feb 5, 2015 10:01 PM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2015 10:01 PM in response to wblackburn

    ...before you go thinking virus or being hacked or some third party software just get a cotton bud / cotton tip and clean firmly around the inner edges of the trackpad. Problem Solved for me - would appear that the slight build up of dirt / grime is enough to make the trackpad go nuts.

  • by nancygerald,

    nancygerald nancygerald Apr 22, 2015 5:23 AM in response to Apple666
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 22, 2015 5:23 AM in response to Apple666

    You know, this really worked!!!  WOW! Thanks ever so much. nancy

  • by agodfrin,

    agodfrin agodfrin Aug 2, 2015 6:35 AM in response to Patrick140897
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 2, 2015 6:35 AM in response to Patrick140897

    "Give the trackpad a light hit"

     

    Surprisingly - that worked for me ...

     

    I started having the non-responsive trackpad just today as I was working. No particular reason for that to start happening ... No spilled food or liquid, trackpad clean as a whistle. Tried a restart, tried the SMC reset trick.

     

    But the light hit somehow did it.

  • by knagarajan,

    knagarajan knagarajan Sep 12, 2015 2:27 PM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 2:27 PM in response to wblackburn

    Yep having the same problem on a 2013 Sept MBP. But the light "hit" to the track pad every now and then seems to be working like recent posts seem to say..

  • by Paul Conaway,

    Paul Conaway Paul Conaway Sep 12, 2015 3:06 PM in response to knagarajan
    Level 3 (925 points)
    iPod
    Sep 12, 2015 3:06 PM in response to knagarajan

    This can also be a sign that your trackpad hardware is starting to fail. It is possible to disable the trackpad when you have another mouse or trackpad actively linked to your computer. I had this happen myself and took it into my Apple store and they found out that the trackpad mechanism was bad.

  • by rdsmith4,

    rdsmith4 rdsmith4 Sep 12, 2015 3:48 PM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 3:48 PM in response to wblackburn

    turn off all features of the trackpad except the essentials. I had the same trouble and this helped. I only had the problem with my 15.4 in MacBook Pro.

  • by creativeprogramming,

    creativeprogramming creativeprogramming Oct 3, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Patrick140897
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 3, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Patrick140897

    The hit soultion worked to me.  Macbook pro 17' retina 2012. My worst 3000€ expense.

  • by Kelto1,

    Kelto1 Kelto1 Nov 2, 2015 4:32 AM in response to creativeprogramming
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 2, 2015 4:32 AM in response to creativeprogramming

    I woke to find this problem, so , I removed the batteries in the trackpad and re-installed them and all is back to normal sensitivity and speed. My batteries had 82% life left.

  • by fduvall,

    fduvall fduvall Jan 20, 2016 4:53 AM in response to Pinoncely
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 4:53 AM in response to Pinoncely

    Wow - Tried the PRAM reset, cleaned my trackpad thoroughly, rapped it with my knuckles but changing the OS language seemed to do the trick! Not sure why, but happy to find a solution...

     

    Thanks to Pinoncely!

  • by mandoskier,

    mandoskier mandoskier Feb 5, 2016 12:18 PM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2016 12:18 PM in response to wblackburn

    I tried over a dozen different suggestions to solve my iMac’s wonky-biserk cursor problem but had no success. The source of the problem was simply that the my four year old trackpad had gone “bad”. The cursor problem was non-existent when I replaced the trackpad with a mouse or controlled my iMac with my Macbook under Screen Sharing. If you’ve got cursor problems save troubleshooting time by switching out the trackpad with a mouse first.

  • by curt19,

    curt19 curt19 Jun 13, 2016 4:00 PM in response to wblackburn
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Jun 13, 2016 4:00 PM in response to wblackburn

    what do i do

first Previous Page 3 of 4 last Next