MacBook Trackpad Not Working? 10 Fixes to Try

A trackpad that ignores clicks, jumps around, or goes completely dead feels like a hardware failure — but most of the time it's a setting, a stuck process, or a corrupted preference file. Work through these fixes in order; they're sequenced from thirty-second checks to the diagnostics that tell you whether a repair is really needed.

First: the settings that turn trackpads off

1. Check the "ignore trackpad" switch. macOS can disable the built-in trackpad whenever a mouse is connected. Open System Settings → Accessibility → Pointer Control and make sure Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present is off. A forgotten Bluetooth mouse sitting paired in a drawer can keep this triggered — which is why a trackpad "dies" the day after you tried a mouse.

2. Disconnect every pointing device. Unplug USB mice and receivers, and turn off Bluetooth mice in System Settings → Bluetooth. Then test the trackpad alone.

3. Review click settings. In System Settings → Trackpad: if clicks don't register, try turning Tap to click on (a failing click mechanism still tracks taps); if Force Click behaves strangely, toggle Force Click and haptic feedback off and retest. If the pointer moves but clicking is dead, tap to click is your workaround while you fix the rest.

4. Clean the surface — and your hands. Moisture, lotion, or a film of grime genuinely breaks tracking. Wipe the trackpad with a slightly damp lint-free cloth and dry it. Remove any palm-rest film or a case edge that presses the trackpad's border.

Software resets

5. Restart. Unglamorous, effective — it clears the driver state that causes ghost clicks and frozen pointers. Use → Restart; if the trackpad can't click, press Ctrl + F2 to reach the menu bar by keyboard, or hold the power button.

6. Update macOS. System Settings → General → Software Update. Trackpad firmware and driver fixes ship inside macOS updates; erratic-cursor bugs have been fixed by point releases more than once.

7. Reset the trackpad preference files. Corrupted preferences cause the weirder symptoms — gestures half-working, settings that won't stick. Back them up first, then delete:

# back up current trackpad settings
defaults export com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad ~/Desktop/trackpad-backup.plist
# reset trackpad preferences, then restart the Mac
defaults delete com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad
# undo: restore the backup and restart
defaults import com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad ~/Desktop/trackpad-backup.plist

8. SMC reset — Intel Macs only. On Intel MacBooks with the T2 chip, shut down, then hold Ctrl + Option + right Shift for 7 seconds, add the power button for 7 more, release, and power on. Apple silicon Macs have no SMC reset — a shutdown (not just restart), 30 seconds off, then power-on does the equivalent housekeeping.

Rule hardware in or out

9. Test in Safe Mode or another account. Safe Mode loads no third-party input software: on Apple silicon, shut down, hold the power button until options appear, select your disk holding Shift; on Intel, restart holding Shift. If the trackpad works there, a login item or input-remapping utility is your culprit — remove recently added ones.

10. Run Apple Diagnostics. Shut down, then: on Apple silicon, hold the power button until startup options appear and press Cmd + D; on Intel, power on holding D. A trackpad fault reports a reference code — bring that code to Apple Support. A clean pass means the hardware is fine and something in your software stack (step 9) is interfering. One physical cause worth knowing: a swollen battery presses the trackpad from below, making clicks stiff or constant — if the trackpad also sits proud of the chassis, stop and get it inspected.