How to Change Trackpad Tracking Speed on Mac

Tracking speed decides how far the pointer travels for an inch of finger movement. Too slow and you're re-swiping across the trackpad to cross the screen; too fast and you overshoot every button. The slider takes ten seconds to set — and if its maximum still isn't enough for a big external display, Terminal can go further.

The slider

1. Open System Settings → Trackpad.
2. On the Point & Click tab, drag the Tracking speed slider between Slow and Fast.
3. Test as you go — the change applies instantly, no confirmation needed.

Identical on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia. A good calibration test: put a finger at the trackpad's left edge and sweep to the right edge in one comfortable motion. You want the pointer to cross most of the screen in that single sweep — without losing the ability to land on a menu bar icon precisely. Most people end up two or three notches right of center.

Note that macOS still applies acceleration on top of whatever you choose: slow finger movements move the pointer proportionally less, fast flicks proportionally more. That's why the same setting can feel precise up close and quick across the screen.

Faster than the slider allows

The slider's top setting corresponds to a scaling value of 3. The underlying preference accepts higher numbers, which helps on large or multiple displays:

# see your current value (the slider writes this)
defaults read -g com.apple.trackpad.scaling

# set a speed beyond the UI maximum (3 = slider max; try 4 or 5)
defaults write -g com.apple.trackpad.scaling 4.5

# undo — remove the override and return to the default
defaults delete -g com.apple.trackpad.scaling

Log out and back in (or restart) for the new value to take effect. Two caveats: values much above 5 make precise clicking genuinely hard, and opening the Tracking speed slider afterwards will clamp the value back into the normal range the moment you touch it — so pick one method and stick with it. After a defaults delete, revisit the slider to set a normal speed again.

Scrolling speed is a separate setting

Tracking speed doesn't touch how fast two-finger scrolling moves the page — that has its own slider, in a less obvious place:

1. Open System Settings → Accessibility → Pointer Control.
2. Click Trackpad Options…
3. Adjust the Scrolling speed slider.

If your complaint is “the pointer is fine but web pages scroll like molasses” (or the opposite), this is the slider you wanted. The same Pointer Control pane hides other useful trackpad extras, including drag settings.

If the pointer still feels wrong

• Jumpy or laggy pointer at any speed usually isn't the speed setting — moisture on the trackpad, a palm brushing it while typing, or (on desktops) a Bluetooth connection issue are likelier causes.
• A mouse and trackpad both connected keep separate speed settings — the Mouse pane has its own tracking slider, so tune each device where it lives.
• Force Click sensitivity (how hard a click feels) is separate too: the Click firmness control sits on the same Point & Click tab.
• External Magic Trackpad? It shares this same Trackpad pane and slider with the built-in one — there's one trackpad speed, not one per device.
• Multiple users — tracking speed is a per-user preference, so your setting won't surprise anyone else who logs into the Mac, and theirs won't undo yours.

Tune the whole trackpad while you're here

Speed is one axis; what your fingers trigger is the other. See every Mac trackpad gesture explained to make the rest of the glass work as well as the pointer does.