TheHelmut
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: Trackpad not behaving correctly

Hi I have a Macbook Pro 13" mid-2012 that's been having some problems.

 

The trackpad is all over the place. It does not respond well to cursor movement and when I'm not touching the trackpad the mouse is all over the place, even opening folders and doing weird stuff.

 

I've heard that sometimes the battery can swell up and cause interference with the trackpad so I removed the battery and tried powering the macbook up without it. The problem is still there.

 

However, when I boot it in safe mode, with no battery, the trackpad works perfectly.

 

Any suggestion as to what my next step could be?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 12:34 PM

Close
TheHelmut

Q: Trackpad not behaving correctly

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by sterling r,Helpful

    sterling r sterling r Oct 3, 2016 3:56 PM in response to TheHelmut
    Community Specialists
    Oct 3, 2016 3:56 PM in response to TheHelmut
    Hey there TheHelmut,

    I see that you have followed some good troubleshooting steps for addressing this issue, and have come to the conclusion that safe mode resolves the issue. It is suggested in the following article that this may be due to third-party program interaction:

    Start your Mac in Safe Mode

    If none of the above resolves the issue, you can start in Safe Mode to rule out third-party software as a cause.

    If your pointer is jumpy when you use a trackpad, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse - Apple Support

    Do you know of any third-party programs that you may have installed around the time you started noticing the issue? Let us know what you find.

    Cheers.

  • by TheHelmut,

    TheHelmut TheHelmut Oct 3, 2016 4:12 PM in response to sterling r
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 3, 2016 4:12 PM in response to sterling r

    Hi! Thanks for the reply.

     

    I don't really remember what apps i had installed before this started happening but I've deleted a few from the Applications folder that I'm not using anymore and the problem is still there. Yesterday I popped the battery back in and tried resetting the smc as well.

    The trackpad worked like a charm after that for about 24 hours until it started going crazy again.

    Still, when I boot up in safe mode, it works perfectly.

    Since I'm not sure about which app could be causing the problem, I'm thinking I should maybe just take a backup of my important files and do a clean install of Sierra.

    Do you think that would solve my problem or should I try something else first?

  • by irina_w,

    irina_w irina_w Oct 5, 2016 12:26 PM in response to TheHelmut
    Community Specialists
    Oct 5, 2016 12:26 PM in response to TheHelmut
    Hey TheHelmut ,

    Before you go all the way to a new install of Sierra, let's try to replicate this behavior in a new user:
     

    How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support

    This will help narrow the scope of the issue and help us decide the next steps.

    Regards.