Left-click not working on trackpad or mouse

I had a very similar problem today and it was a real silly mistake.

I have an external trackpad that I use occationally. I had taken that trackpad and put it underneath another item, in cleaning the clutter from my desk. As I had not turned it off, at some point the object on top must have pressed it enough to "click". This caused left clicks not to register (but right clicks worked), as well as some odd problems not being able to navigate completely via keyboard.

I hope this helps someone who has this problem, because it's really simple and not obvious. I never really looked beyond what was connected and it is wireless. Note: if you need to do something with a Magic Trackpad which may cause it to play games like this, you can hold the power button for 3-4 seconds and it will power down. Then, just hit the power button again to power up.

So if you have a wireless mouse or trackpad somewhere in the house, go find it. Alternately, take your laptop away from your house and see if the symptoms change.

If you are in the vicinity of a previously connected bluetooth input device, find it and turn it off, or remove it from your bluetooth pairings. Same thing happened to me, and a couple of days troubleshooting, I found that I had my bluetooth mouse in my computer bag. It was on, connected, and depressed in the bag, which interrupted the function of the trackpad.

I had this same problem until I figured out it was my fault. I got to work and opened my laptop but the trackpad wouldn't left click. I used the keyboard to restart and the trackpad worked for 30 minutes or so, then the left click stopped working again.

After cursing for a bit I realized the magic mouse in my backpack was on and the left click was being depressed.

If you're having this issue check to make sure you don't have a mouse on somewhere.

With apologies to those of you who have a hardware problem, I want to echo Joe's "doh!" moment, and propose that as a very first precaution, you turn off bluetooth. If it is a bluetooth device interfering, your trackpad and click should start working right away.

I rarely use my wireless mouse and kind of forgot about it. Found it buried under a clipboard which was ... DOH! ... locking down the mouseclick.

Embarassed by the time I wasted on this one!

Terry

Lol. I also have a magic trackpad but the problem was slightly different. I guess it must have been a bit dirty which was triggering the click. I use the tap to click option so the pressure you need to exert to click it is very slight. All I had to do was wipe down both trackpads with a soft cloth and some eyeglass cleaner (diluted rubbing alcohol basically) and they are both working fine now. Honestly people just try cleaning your trackpad first. It might be as simple as that

For the record this is happening to my MacBook Air as well. ("13-inch, Mid 2012")

Restarting has fixed the problem. However, this is **** anoying...

~n

I just solve problem - it is hardware based , defective trackpad, so exchange internal trackpad and you are done.

is probably due to a 'stuck' control key.

Go to System Preference -> keyboard -> modifier keys to disable the control key

diagnostics were fine

What type of diagnostics did you do to check a battery? What does System Profile say about the health of your battery?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1248Intel-based Apple Portables: Troubleshooting unresponsive trackpad issues

I have a similar problem with both my mouse and my trackpad. In my case the left click is replaced by a right click, so that a right click results whether I do a left click or a right click. This happens almost every session.

I've complained to Apple on numerous occasions. It happened first when I just had the mouse, so I went to the expense of buying one of Apple's overpriced trackpads, thinking that the problem was with the mouse.But because it happens on both devices at the same time, the problem can't be with the mouse or the trackpad. Instead it must be an Imac problem.

Apple refuses to investigate. They say I must lug the Imac down to the nearest Apple store and have their tecs look at it.

I am having the exact same problems and it happened in the exact same way. It started highlighting everything and then shortly after my left clicking stopped working. I have worked all day trying to restore it with no luck, it just keeps getting worse and worse.

Here is everthing I've tried:

1. Resetting NVRAM (just shuts down after long load)

2. Target disk mode (unable to open it as removable harddrive, but ran disk utility, it says unable to repair. but does recognize there is a problem)

2. Resetting SMC (just shuts down after long load)

3. Command + R (starts up, but without the mouse left click function I am unable to start the installation process. Tabbing to highlight and then pressing enter to start the install does not work. Even when you tab to highlight continue and press enter.)

I think there maybe a problem with my harddrive now

I am fresh out of ideas "any help" anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Stevie

Well it gets worse I have a total of four mac. Now a second mac less then one month old is doing the same thing now.

The hard drive problems that I'm having is

In target mode I tried to run disk utility from another computer it says there is a problem and disk utility was unable to fix it.

This thread has just saved me a whole lot of investigation, thank you so much.

I restarted my MAC Book because the track pad wasn’t working, the mouse cursor worked but nothing could be selected. In the end I restarted the MAC and lost 1 hours worth of work, I then noticed that moving the cursor and the right mouse button worked but no left mouse button.

It wasn’t until I read this thread that I realised my Magic Mouse was in my case and my Dalmatian was sitting on it...two and two were added together and I dug my mouse out of the bag to find I hadn’t turned it off and my dog had been laying on the left mouse button.

Thanks everyone for writing this thread.

Now a second mac less then one month old is doing the same thing now.

Please read the warranty paperwork that came w/your computer.

You have 14 days to return the computer w/no questions asked. Plus you have 90 days of FREE phone tech support on top of your standard 1 year warranty unless you also purchased AppleCare which gives you an additional 2 years of coverage plus FREE phone support.

Strongly suggest that you take FULL advantage of the above before it runs out. Let Apple deal w/the problems.

I just fixed the problem with the left click. I read briefly a recommendation that worked for me. Here is my experience.

Both my Apple magic mouse and my Microsoft mouse stopped working. Both are wifi. The left click was totally unresponsive on both mice. The right click was inconsistant, but I was able to somewhat maneuver it around, but not enough to work with. I noticed the track pad did work......strange.

The recommendation worked for me. It stated to turn off the unit. When it comes back on press the shift key until the rotating round circle will come up (not the beach ball). Eventually, under the rotating circle a strip will appear that starts to fill. Upon completion of the fill the computer will go black and come back on with a note that asks if you want to close or open the unit. Click open. Then, my desktop came back normally. Both my mouses work now. Everything seems to work like it should.

I am assuming that it is the upgrades. I hate those upgrades.