Erratic touchpad

I have a 2012 13'' macbook pro. Last night my touchpad started acting very erratically. It would move, click, highlight, and perform multitouch gestures on its own. This behavior is present even when I using windows in boot camp. I am suspecting that maybe the battery is swelling since the bottom cover is very slightly bulged. My macbook is almost always in sleep mode instead of being off and is plugged into a power source whenever possible. Can this be the case? my macbook is still relatively "new". Ive owned it for 8 months.

There are several possible causes for this issue. Take each of the following steps until it's resolved.
1. Follow the instructions in this support article.
2. Open the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences and check for unknown or forgotten input devices. Disconnect any USB input devices that you aren't using.
3. Boot in safe mode and test, preferably without launching any third-party applications. If you don't have the problem in safe mode, but it comes back when you reboot as usual, stop here and post your results. If you can't boot in safe mode, do the same. If you booted in safe mode and there was no change, go on to the next step.
4. Reset the System Management Controller.
5. If you're using a Bluetooth trackpad, investigate potential sources of interference, including USB 3 devices.
6. A swollen battery in a MacBook Pro or Air can impinge on the trackpad from below and cause erratic behavior. If you have trouble clicking the trackpad, this is likely the reason. The battery must be replaced.
7. There's a report that a (possibly defective) Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter can cause the built in trackpad of a MacBook to behave erratically. If you're using such an adapter, disconnect it and test.
8. There's also a report of erratic cursor movements caused by an external display that was connected but not turned on.
9. If none of the above applies, or if you have another reason to think your computer is being remotely controlled, remove it from the network by turning off Wi-Fi (or your Wi-Fi access point), disconnecting from a Bluetooth network link, and unplugging the Ethernet cable or USB modem, whichever is applicable. If the cursor movements stop at once, you should suspect an intrusion.
10. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

Similar Messages

Still trying to fix erratic touchpad problems

i downloaded "touchfreeze" to see if it would take care of the erratic actions of cursor and tap on my g580. It does help some. I have only had to start retyping this post one time. YAAAA!
Seriously, this is an awful problem to have on a computer. Not being able to type without stuff getting swiped, moved and pages opened.
It is by no means fixed, but it is better.
Evidently it is the tap function that causes the problem. the cursor can move around while you type; but it can't select while doing so (obviously).
If anyone has found better solution let me know.
i don't use the touchpad. But i have tried to disable it with no luck, remove the driver no luck. etc., etcl,.
Now it has swiped three or four different times just to do this post.

This time i removed the elan driver and reinstalled from lenovo site and now it is working better. The elan tab under mouse settings now has a different tap (ultranav)??? Don't know what is up with that but it is better right now. As a matter of fact it hasn't messed up my typing on time while doing this!!!!!
OOOps, no, it still has issues, but getting better. I still can't belive there isn't more reported issues with this.
Now it doesn't give me the option to "disable toucpad when usb mouse enabled". Even though i would have to go in and make that setting every time i turned on the computer, it would at least disable it.
I don't know, but i sure am not ashamed to keep posting about the issue being it is so critical to
the functioning of the computer.

Erratic touchpad on g7 model running Windows 8

I purchased a new g7 2275dx on Dec. 13. Since the first use, the touchpad has been erratic. Often when moving the cursor, it will freeze in place. I either have to turn the touchpad off and then on again, or do a right-click and clear that menu to resume. I have downloaded the driver updates from HP's website. Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated!

Hi Whammy52,
Take a look at this page and let me know if it helps to resolve your issue.
Good luck!
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MSI GT60 0NC Erratic Touchpad

I just purchased a GT60 laptop and there was an immediate issue with the touchpad. The cursor moves very erratically, often jumping from one place to another. Control is very limited. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the touchpad drivers including the latest synaptic drivers to no avail. I've run the laptop under safe mode and the problem persists. I've also done a full system restore and there has been no solution. I would greatly appreciate some advice as I am getting very discouraged with my new purchase, I'm starting to believe it is a hardware issue.

Quote from: Tiger on 16-August-13, 06:29:08
purchased my first MSI GT60 for business vs gaming due to many of the great features in June 2012 ... exchanged computers a few months later - not functioning properly.
Right now, I am very frustrated with MSI, after doing a lot of research into purchasing this "deluxe" laptop, I am regretting this selection and fed up for the wasted time - which I would like to charge back to MSI for lost productivity.
Not long into the 2nd MSI GT60 started to experience:
a) cursor bouncing around - I don't have time to play "let's find the cursor" and once you find it, play "let's find what words/sentences it changed when it hopped elsewhere on the page".
b) slowness!!! ??? how on earth with 12 G RAM, a brand spanking new i7 processor and 1 T hd - which had NO DATA transferred and stored on it (using external back up and 30 G usb) was it slow????
c) " S bar stopped loading and working
d) intel turbo booster stopped working
e) my on screen keyboard stopped working
f) mouse touch pad nor an external mouse was intermittently working ... when it felt like it, it would come around
g) moving from WORD to EXCEL, the pages would temporarily freeze
h) oddly I couldn't edit documents in WORD that I copied into, so I could highlight and color code.
i) I tried to back up my Outlook emails - system could not find the .pst folder!
I took it in for a 1 year service check - what should have been guaranteed 5 business days turned into 9 days - not impressed.
They had to re-install Windows 7 and "apparently kept it to see if it would act up, of course a phone call would have been nice, except it didn't happen, not impressed.
NOW the cursor has some kind of dial that suddenly pops up AND TOTALLY FREEZES on the page ... no cando anything until "it" decides when the game has caused "enough" frustration. This too is intermittent. All is fine and you're working away and suddenly full tilt stop!
and it just did the NEXT thing that is driving me over the deep end ... the cursor suddenly CHANGES FONT SIZES .... ALWAYS SMALLER to TINIEST and this is where it stops - barely legible on the page and I can't find where the friggin' size thing is to change it or TURN IT OFF!
I have called the Tech twice now for the same problem and I have only had it back barely 3 weeks and I didn't even call him immediately when it started to happen!!
Today I was over the top when he told me to disable the mouse pad and see if that works ... it's a lap top .... if the mouse pad doesn't function, there's a problem.
To have these problems in the first year - it is DEFECTIVE!! and once again the voodoo Font Monster has taken over and I can barely see this script!
Frustration and fed up!
My blood pressure is boiling beyond e
Sorry you had such a bad experience, but I highly doubt all this was caused by hardware.
Did you bother doing anything to try and troubleshoot the problem? Was the CPU overheating? Did you look at the temperatures?
A number of the problems you seem to indicate, really point more towards there being a very bad virus or trojan installed on it. That laptop shouldn't slow down that much, and even my GT70 (which has been flawless) works great and its nearly the exact same laptop.
I really think the problem is not as you suggest.
Lastly, the simple fact that a single user is having a problem like this, and it's not widespread, really is indicative of it being something due to the user and not due to the design/manufacture of the laptop, unless it's a heat problem with the CPU.

Erratic touchpad MBP 2012

Several posts on pressing the right and left corner and hearing a "click"; however, this has not worked for me.
Is there (or is there not) a known problem with the MBP 2012 with the touchpad having erractic moves? It moves all over the screen and I am unable to control what the mouse does.
Thanks

It is better to take the computer to the Apple store to have the computer checked out.
Best.

What do you do to fix an erratic touchpad?

It often doesn't respond to 1 or 2 finger touches. Other times, it grabs everything on the screen and won't let go. It is becoming increasingly difficult to use this laptop! HELP?!!

I'm not sure if this helps, but can you take a look at the "Finger position while tracking" section in this article. HT3211

Alternative power adapters for the X220

As posted in other threads, there are problems using the "native" Lenovo power adapters with the X220:
- The 65W adapter does not supply enough power, which causes reduced performance.
- The 90W adapter is big and heavy.
- The Ultraslim 90W adapter causes erratic touchpad behaviour.
bender957 recommended the FSP NB L90 90W adapter that, according to his experience, does not suffer from any of the issues listed above.
Unfortunately, that post and others discussing that adapter were removed from the thread they were posted to as off topic, so I created this one to host the discussion.

The SNA 95 has arrived. It's about the same size as the new 90W Dell adapters, so maybe not as small as I was hoping. The Dell adapters struggle to put out 90W without getting dangerously hot though.
The output voltage is 19.5V with no load, so only 0.5V below the rated input voltage of the x220. I've yet to encounter a laptop that can't deal with ±1V. I just can't see anyway they could design a DC-DC converter so badly that it could only take 20V.

Really need help deciding if to keep laptop ...

Last Saturday I purchased a Flex 2 15 (59425111). I have until next Saturday to return it for a full refund if not satisfied.
It is to replace an Asus U50F whose hard disk died. (I did order a new hard disk.)
I really like the features of the Flex that my Asus didn't have: Haswell processor; Touch Screen; 6GB RAM; a 3.0 USB; Bluetooth; Backlit keyboard; being able to use it in laptop, stand, tent positions; the fact that it is thin, yet has a DVD. It really runs fast and smooth.
On the other hand, I still am trying to get used to the finicky and sometimes erratic touchpad. I've read about issues with network connection instability ... keyboard backlight not working ... and critiques about the low contrast screen; the bending of the keyboard as you type; the speakers; the plastic body. Also, it has no VGA port. I don't seem to have a problem with the screen, the keyboard, or others, but worry about the backlight and most certainly about the wifi instability.
Then, there's the final consideration ... I purchased this laptop from OfficeMax on sale for only $429.00. Compared to the prices I've seen for it and considering some of the features, I think it is a really good deal.
Can anyone share their experience, comments or opinions? Please ... and thanks!

I noticed this on mine too and assumed it was normal.
I may be wrong though.
really? alright well at least im not alone... man i wish i got the black now

Touchpad touchscreen problems (erratic behavior/not responding correctly/etc) temporary solution.

I bought a HP Touchpad about a month or two after it came out. It worked pretty much as you'd expect it to until some time ago. I started getting a problem where the screen would go crazy and not respond correctly to my touch inputs. Web pages would jump all over the place, cards would zoom out, etc, in other words, they would behave erratically. After some testing I noticed that certain areas of the touchscreen would NOT respond at all to inputs while others would make the screen go crazy like I mentioned previously. I looked for information on the web to see if other people where having the same problem and found reports of the same behavior. Unfortunately there where no solutions offered. At that point I tried turning on and off the Touchpad which did not resolve the problem. My next step was to try to reinstall the OS with WebOS Doctor, but I read a post where the user reported similar behavior and reinstalling with WebOS Doctor didn't fix the problem. Needless to say I was bummed out since I figured it was a hardware problem with the touchscreen. After more testing I found a temporary solution to the problem which seems to suggest that the probem could be software. The solution when you get the problem is to hold down the power button and the home button at the same time and keep them pressed until the screen shuts down and the touchpad restarts. Once the OS comes back up it works like it is supposed to until you get the next episode of screen epilepsy. At that point you need to do the procedure again and it will fix the problem temporarily. Usually the fix lasts for a few days in my case. The fix also solves other problems I have with the touchpad. Problems like, videos not playing fluidly or freezing every few seconds although the sound plays fine (youtube), sound gets messed up (sounds are played in a robot like pitch), and others. If anybody has questions or other suggestions let me know, I will answer the as best as I can.
Post relates to: HP TouchPad (WiFi)

I think the YouTube and sound problems are separate from the other erratic behaviour. Recently my touchpad won't play YouTube videos beyond certain points, starting a few seconds in possibly due to the advertising pop-ups - I can skip forwards, but that means I miss crucial parts. My sound also goes 'robot-like' until a reboot, which is incredibly annoying! Your touchscreen problems may be specific to your device - try going to Device Info / Diagnostics and see if that tells you anything.

Touchpad works erratically after clicking

I bought a Satellite L40-A just a few weeks ago, and I haven't encountered problems until just last week. I've noticed that my touchpad works erratically (does not move the cursor as expected when used, the synaptics icon on the system tray shows that it is sometimes detecting a touch even if I'm not touching it) after using one of the touchpad buttons. The erratic behavior goes away after I put the laptop on sleep and then wake it back up again.
I've tried updating my synaptics drivers to v17.0.8.21, which I downloaded from here. However, the problem still exists.
Is this a software or a hardware problem? Does anyone know how to solve this?
Thanks.

That doesn't appear to be a US model, and this is the forums for Toshiba USA. You may want to contact Toshiba in your region.
- Peter

Trackpad/Touchpad acting erratically

I recently purchased a MBP in the end of July. Recently the trackpad/touchpad (whatever you want to call it) has been acting erratically. The mouse will move all over the screen, click on what it wants, right-click on what it wants, zoom in/out on what it wants, and has even been making tons of new folders on my desktop because of it's ability to left and right click randomly. When I try and move the mouse by using the trackpad, it simply freaks out and will not move the direction that I want it to. Any insight onto what the deal is? This started happening a few days after a software update.

This describes my current situation perfectly. I have tried:
rebooted with no luck.
Closed all apps and opened them again one at a time to see if that helps.
turned off wifi and back on.
plugged in wireless usb mouse to not use trackpad, still does it.
I had to turn off all the functions of the trackpad (gestures, etc.) to keep it from switching screens but it's still jumping around. it removed things from my app bar, it sent emails before I was finished and created new folders on my desktop.
Is there something within the macbook that is pushing up against it internally? Haven't been able to find any solutions for this yet.

Touchpad in XP very erratic

I have XP running in bootcamp on my macbook, and everything works well except that the touchpad is really erratic, it jitters around the screen making any kind of fine mouse control impossible (I'm a photoshop user) and just normal stuff like web navigation very difficult.
Does anyone know what's going on here and if there's a way to fix it? I also use a usb wireless mouse without problems in XP and the touchpad is fine in OSX>
TIA.

try using the latest bootcamp software (make the drivers for xp/vista) and try to adjust it in the control panel
using vista without any problem so far (except time which is corrected when connected to the internet)

W540 touchpad - erratic behavior in Windows 8.1

This is not a rant about the touchpad design - I'm actually not too bothered by it.
I'm having major issues using the touchpad even with the latest W540 drivers on Win 8.1. I have v18.0.7.57 which is the latest available as per Lenovo's downloads site. The cursor movement locks up for several seconds, then starts highlighting text I haven't selected, scrolls when I'm not using 2 fingers etc. Overall, it's very annoying. I have disable 'tap to click' and this helps a bit, but I still have the locking issues. Also, 'Synaptics touchpad 64 bit enhancements' is one of the top CPU consumers on the system, especially during the lockups - I can't imagine why an app that handles input should be consuming so much CPU!
I have uninstalled, reinstalled (rinse, repeat) several times and haven't found any improvement.

Hi W540_tp,
Thank you for the reply!
Please check with downloading the driver from the given link. It’s directly from Synaptic driver’s page.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Hemanth Kumar
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Erratic synaptics touchpad

i just bought this laptop in the later part of january.and now i am encountering probs with it.my touchpad works perfect for the first one or two hours of startup.after that it starts to do crazy thing on its own.i uninstalled the driver and redownloaded and installed.sadly not a single change.i uninstalled synaptics driver and tried to use with microsoft driver no use.still have that problem.currently using an external mouse.i am sick of it.its been only a month and already i have problems.anyone any idea please??
P.S: i have warrenty i can give it to them and they will take about two or three weeks. but i can't live without my laptop with all the assignments and notes.am an engineering student.
cheers and thanks

Hi @bryanrox ,
Please call our technical support at 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link to get the support number for your region. They will be happy to assist you immediately.
Thanks.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
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Touchpad Erratic HP G72

The touchpad scrolls when you don't want it to, The cursor jumps. Sometimes it won't highlight and if you tap it too quickly it locks up completely and you have to RESTART the computer. I can't believe this nonsense. Can someone help before I bring it back to the store?
Help appreciated
Karline :-)

I have the same problem with the cursor jumping and now, half of the time, the mouspad won't move the cursor more that an inch.
For the jumping, restarting seems to help. It's inconvenient, and embarrassing in front of my employer when he is teaching me stuff, but somehow it fixes it. Just goes to show it's not the hardware.

Erratic touchpad

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