Any idea why I am unable to scroll up and down in Safari and in other applications using the laptop's trackpad? I have to move the pointer on top of a scroll bar, click and hold with one finger, then scroll with another finger. Looking to scroll pages without dragging the scroll bar.
I have already checked the Trackpad settings in System Preferences.
Thanks.
MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
2-finger scrolling did not work on my wife's laptop. I was testing the problem in a long Word document.
In this case the problem was in System Preferences:Accessibility.
In Accessibility, Trackpad items "Scrolling" was only enabled with a (sorry I forgot what it said) extra key. Turned that off. And turned on "Enertia". Works like a charm without even a reboot or restart of Word.
Haven't tested it in browsers (she's busy playing with in in Word) but it fixed Word and I bet it fixed browsers too.
And found this fix elsewhere, cannot take any credit.
2-finger scrolling did not work on my wife's laptop. I was testing the problem in a long Word document.
In this case the problem was in System Preferences:Accessibility.
In Accessibility, Trackpad items "Scrolling" was only enabled with a (sorry I forgot what it said) extra key. Turned that off. And turned on "Enertia". Works like a charm without even a reboot or restart of Word.
Haven't tested it in browsers (she's busy playing with in in Word) but it fixed Word and I bet it fixed browsers too.
And found this fix elsewhere, cannot take any credit.
PhilBoston's solution worked for me, too. In case you missed it... go to System Preferences --> Accessibility. Choose "Mouse & Trackpad" from the left column, and click on the "Trackpad Options..." button in the right window. Make sure that the box called "Scrolling" is checked. In my case this was not checked and I couldn't use two-finger scrolling in any window or application.
This is a bug and it's caused when you swipe between pages with two fingers.
How to fix:
Additional Information
If you own an Apple Magic Mouse, I would also disable the same gesture within the Mouse preferences pane.
n most cases, various multifingered gestures seem to work just fine, with only the two-finger scrolling not functioning properly.
This problem seems to happen only when people are migrating, and not with new hardware or when fresh system software is installed on the newer computers, which indicates the problem is a software setting and not a faulty trackpad. More than likely this is from the global preferences (which hold trackpad information) for the old computer being on the new one with a setting or some other format that is preventing the trackpad from working properly. Apple has made the global preferences file hidden by default, but you can use the terminal to enable the preference settings needed for two-finger scrolling.
Fix:
1. Use the Terminal to enable proper scrolling behavior.
If you have just transferred your software and data to a new MacBook or MacBook Pro and are having troubles with two-finger gestures, then entering the following command in the Terminal should re-enable it:
defaults write -g com.apple.trackpad.scrollBehavior 2
After entering this command, either restart the computer or log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.
I have the exact same issue with my 15" rMBP. With Chrome and Safari at random times the 2 finger scrolling will not work.
@tjk It's not that the trackpad senses my two fingers as one, it just doesn't respond to the 2 finger scroll at all. I can use all the other mulit finger gestures with no issue when this happens.
Restarting the browser fixes it for a small period of time but it happens again.
MChuong wrote:
I have the exact same issue with my 15" rMBP. With Chrome and Safari at random times the 2 finger scrolling will not work.
@tjk It's not that the trackpad senses my two fingers as one, it just doesn't respond to the 2 finger scroll at all. I can use all the other mulit finger gestures with no issue when this happens.
Restarting the browser fixes it for a small period of time but it happens again.
Thanks for getting us back on track. 😉 Beyond Sanjampet's links and my post, I have only one other thought, which is that it's an OS and/or trackpad compatibility issue. It's good you list your machine and the browser, but it would be better if everyone listed the OS they're running and the version of the apps in which they're experiencing the issue. In that way, it can help narrow things down to a specific OS, machine, or app. Also, please report the issue to Apple Feedback: http://www.apple.com/feedback/
I ran into this problem after migrating a user that had a Mid 2010 MacBook Pro to a brand new Retina MacBook Pro. I tried all the steps above to no avail. Finally I called Apple Support and they had me reset the System Management Controller (SMC). That fixed my issue immediately. The link below has those instructions.
Thank you. All better after restart.
I keep having this same problem as well in any of the browser windows. I can move my mouse around with one finger and I can swipe to dashboard using three fingers, but I cannot use two fingers for any scrolling or going back. If I quit the browser completely, or restart the entire laptop, it will work for a small, random amount of time. It is not happening in any other applications I have open...just the browsers.
I have the latest version of both Chrome (Version 31.0.1650.63) and Safari (Version 7.0 (9537.71)) installed. I feel like it would be a trackpad/app compatibility issue as well seeing how the gestures work fine on everything else other than the browsers.
MChuong wrote:
I feel like it would be a trackpad/app compatibility issue as well seeing how the gestures work fine on everything else other than the browsers.
Agreed. Unfortunately, that may mean waiting for Apple to come up with a fix in the next point update to Mav.
Hopefully its soon. A tad annoying when I'm in the middle of something and all of a sudden my trackpad stops working and I can't scroll. Don't really notice something small like that you use on a daily basis until its gone 😉
I recently upgraded to OS 10.9. When I did that I noticed that the scroll arrows were removed from the scroll bar. When that happened I needed to find a new way to scroll as I didn't like just grabbing the scroll bar up and down. I never used the 2 finger scroll prior to the upgrade so I don't know if it ever worked in the old operating system (10.6.8). All the other gestures seem to work, the two finger click works to use the RIGHT-CLICK function, the only thing that doesn't work is the two finger scroll up and down.
I've checked setting, I've reinstalled OS 10.9, I've troubleshooted for hours and can't get it to work.
I using the following:
MacBook 13-inch, Mid 2010
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Software OS X 10.9 (13A603)
Is this a software issue or a hardware issue? Any help on a fix would be greatly appreciated.
I'm having the exact same problem in Chrome (version 31.0.1650.63) and OSX 10.9.1. As others have reported, two-finger gestures in other applications and three- and four-finger gestures in any application all work fine.
If anyone has this issue with an extral Apple trackpad (maybe you're using a laptop docked to a monitor), I have found that disconnecting the trackpad from the laptops bluetooth connection restores vertical scrolling. But it's a recurring problem that Apple needs to fix.
Bluetooth/disconnect trackpad/press trackpad button on the side to restore.
Other solutions have also worked but again, they are temporary fixes but thank you to all that have offered some help.
Two-finger scroll not working on MacBook Pro
