Fix Crazy/Jumping Cursor on a MacBook (Pro)
A couple of days ago, my baby managed to take a jab at my laptop (several actually), and hit the both keyboard and the trackpad. I don’t know how, but this managed to get the cursor to jump all over the screen, some clicks triggered, some virtual screens swapped… Wonderful!
TL;DR: Plug in a mouse, disable the trackpad when a mouse is plugged in, play with the mouse for awhile, remove the mouse and uncheck the option. Voila!
I thought it’s just a fluke and restarting would fix the problem. Well… it didn’t, so I went through the whole iteration of getting mad:
- Forums – forums say everything from throw away your laptop and get a new one (good excuse to update my 2009 MBP by the way!), to reset PRAM to scavenge ebay for a replacement
- Google – One solution was to unscrew a magic screw – So I went and dismantled my MBP, cleaned it up and unscrewed the screw. No change.
- Reset the trackpad somehow — Woo-hoo!
My Solution
- Go to System Preferences > Accesibility > Mouse & Trackpad
- Check “Ignore built-in trackpad […]”
- Play around for a bit with your mouse, say 15 seconds
- Come back to the preferences tab and uncheck that box.
The dialog should look something like this:
So… the computer got confused/decalibrated for a while and the only way to reset is to disable/re-enable the trackpad. The only way to do it is to use an external device 🙂
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OMG, I have to say, this is the best solution out there of fixing the “dancing” cursor! I’ve been stressed out with it, almost gave up. So, yea, totally recommending your site to anyone I know, if they have any problems on their MBP. Thank you very much =)
Thank you very much. I use the “ignore trackpad when mouse is present” setting. When using my computer without the mouse the trackpad started acting cray-cray. I rebooted, but still crazy. Found this page. I unselected “ignore trackpad when mouse is present” and then reselected it. This fixed the problem for a couple minutes, but it doesn’t stick. What does seem to work is just unselecting “ignore trackpad when mouse is present”.
Why mess with the hardware when you can fix it with the software? Your solution worked perfectly – simple, fast,, no tools, no problems. When I need help with something like this I look for this kind of approach first before I start in with a screwdriver.
Thanks for posting your helpful advice.
THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I have been so frustrated all weekend long! Tried this today and it worked!!! Finally, I an get back to work!!!
Thank you very much for this simple and perfect fix.
It helped me restore my workweek, sanity, and religion all at the same time.
[…] 07:59 PM You could try this "fix" and see if it works as it has for several users: Fix Crazy/Jumping Cursor on a MacBook (Pro) | Laur IVAN Also, I'm sure there's no loose dangling jewelry or cuffs etc. attacking the trackpad unnoticed?? […]
Did not work for me.
Did you still get the jumping cursor after re-enabling the touchpad? Then imo it’s a hardware issue 🙁
Worked! Sweet stuff! Thanks!
OMG… luckily i found u and solve my problems! Thank you and love you very much!
I have had this a few times with huge amounts of stress and annoyance, and it seems to co-incide with the mac being in a cold and sometimes humid/damp environment. The British weather is notoriously damp and cold at the best of times, especially in winter and I have discovered this issue is often bad if I am working in my shed/studio which is in the garden and thus prone to slight damp. It also occurs if I have just washed my hands and they aren’t absolutely perfectly dry, or if I have some foreign substance such as moisturiser residue on them. Besides scrupulous cleansing of the offending digits, I use with much success my daughter’s compact hair dryer to blow around and under the track pad to dry up and tiny moisture droplets. Just in case nothing else works, I thought I would add my remedy!
Thank you so much for this! I was tearing my hair out trying to solve this issue. Well Done! You saved me a trip to the dreaded Apple Mothership of Hopelessness.
the other option that worked for me was to deselect some of the trackpad functions in the system preferences, there was obviously some problem after the update which caused that function to wobble… all ok now….
Wow, thank you! It’s only been 5 minutes since I tried your fix; but, it’s working! Fingers crossed that it stays working. It was a three day nightmare that was getting worse by the minute.
Anselette
SUCH A LIFESAVER!!! I was dreading the possible news that I needed a new trackpad or worse! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
omg i can fix it.. i was giving up but now its working,, i have to say thank you so much
This is great it’s just worked for me!! Massive relief!
Thanks
Ant
I ended up booking a genius bar to hear the guy saying the same thing.
Why don’t you get a job there? 😉
This is awesome – great fix – Thanks
Yay!!!
Thx Laur, you’ve restored my sanity 🙂
It worked! I tried a lot of suggestions to no avail. I don’t know how long it took for my trackpad to work without my cursor jumping all over the place. I followed your instructions , but the trackpad didn’t work after 15 seconds of using the mouse, so I kept the mouse on throughout today and after I disconnected the mouse and I moved my finger on the trackpad, out of habit, and my trackpad worked! No more erratic cursor behavior.
This seems to have worked for me…for now. I have no doubt the issue will return, but for now i’m very happy to have found your post. Thanks!
Thanks,that very useful method.
All working
disabled the trackpad. works for now. been driving me crazy for the last few weeks. thanks for the fix.. hope it stays
Use a hair dryer to warm it up
Interesting solution. Does it hold up well?
My 2011 MBP developed this problem in 2013. I leaned this procedure then. On my computer, this procedure works sometimes and is not permanent. The problem al;ways disappears when the “ignore trackpad when mouse is present” checkbox is checked, and usually the problem comes back the moment it is unchecked, regardless of the time between checking and unchecking. Sometimes it has been a few seconds, sometimes 30 seconds and other times, I’ll run the mouse for months without unchecking the ignore trackpad box.
I don’t know which bothers me more, degrading my computer from wonderful (when it works) trackpad, or Apple’s silence on what they know about the problem. It must that culture of secrecy they have.
Finally, a solution that really works! Thank you so much!!
Thank you!!!!