Accidental trackpad input

[davidlv]

I have been having trouble with accidental trackpad input on my Macbook Pro mid-2009, and I can't find any way to deal with it in the trackpad preference pane. I seem to remember that there was a way to turn on "ignore accidental input" but I can't find it now. Anyone seen that in Snow Leopard 10.6.2?

 

[EndlessMac]

What kind of accidental trackpad input are you talking about? There are a lot of gestures you can do on the trackpad. My guess is that your problem is the Tap to Click feature. I've always hated this feature on both Mac and Windows and I always turn them off when using a laptop. Sometimes simply touching your trackpad can activate this features making it harder for me to rest my finger on the trackpad.

 

[August West]

There used to be an option to disable trackpad input but it went away late 10.5 or 10.6. I wish they would bring it back as I'm always inadvertently moving the cursor while I'm typing and I almost never us the trackpad.

You could put an enhancement request at http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html to bring this feature back. I did and if they get enough requests it might happen.

 

[FSMBP]

It's on mine and I'm on Snow Leopard. Apparently Apple took it away on multi-touch trackpad Macs.

Also, they took away "Ignore Trackpad if Mouse is Present" which was a good feature when I had my mouse and typed on my MacBook Pro and would swipe my finger accidentally across the trackpad.

 

[alphaod]

Said option was removed after the introduction of multitouch trackpads.

 

[davidlv]

Thanks. I will disable the Tap to CLick feature and see how things go. I was constantly having the text I was typing jump around due to my thumbs or hand brushing the trackpad when typing in Excel or Word. Thanks again for the response!

 

[jshelton]

I was constantly having the text I was typing jump around due to my thumbs or hand brushing the trackpad when typing in Excel or Word.

I do the same thing. The trackpad is too stiff and loud when clicked though, so I just leave Tap To Click ON and raise my hands up a little. You get used to it.

 

[Ploki]

funny, how people have different hands & habbits, it hasnt bothered me ONCE! i never once in my life accidentally brushed the trackpad.
i also like to use it for swiping even with i have external mouse.

 

[melman101]

There used to be an option to disable trackpad input but it went away late 10.5 or 10.6. I wish they would bring it back as I'm always inadvertently moving the cursor while I'm typing and I almost never us the trackpad.

You could put an enhancement request at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ichat.html to bring this feature back. I did and if they get enough requests it might happen.

Why would you send trackpad feedback to the iChat team? I think you meant to send this link. http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

Have a great day all.

 

[August West]

Why would you send trackpad feedback to the iChat team?

Oops. Sorry about that. I fix my OP to reflect the correct link.

 

[harperjones99]

I can totally understand how unnerving this can be...I downloaded an app called Better Touch Tool as I love multi touch and wanted more options. The only setting it added that I thought would be useful for me is 3 finger tapping...I set this to open Finder but I found myself opening finder every time I put 3 fingers down to do a 3 finger swipe. It wasn't worth the hassle. I have found myself noticeably changing how I place my hands to work around the pad to prevent accidentally moving something.

 

[EndlessMac]

The trackpad is too stiff...

Have you tried clicking on the bottom area of the trackpad as if there were still buttons there? The new trackpads are like springboards and it seems the hinge is at the top. It gets harder to press the higher I go up the trackpad so the bottom area is the easiest for me to press. It makes sense because I would have more leverage at the bottom if it is a springboard. I guess I still have the old habit of pressing at the bottom as if there are still buttons but I continue to do this because the trackpad is less stiff to click at the bottom.