Tap to click stops working (OS X 10.5.6)

I am getting exceedingly frustrated by the tap to click functionality stopping working on a frequent basis. When this occurs, deselecting and reselecting the option in System Preferences restores the functionality, but this usually lasts only a matter of minutes before needing repeating. Is there any word on a fix for this? I see some old threads talking about this, but with no official response or reason for hope.

It's another one of those intermittent bugs and will probably disappear with the next OS update. Since they don't announce what they fix and what they don't, it's really just a matter of waiting. Supposedly one more 10.5 update is expected before they release Snow Leopard later this year (10.6)
As to the number of people who use "tap to click" nobody really knows but I am going to venture a guess that it is very few. People are used to feeling the physical click of the touchpad and tapping goes counter-intuitive to the general kinesthetic "feel" people are used to.
I enabled "tap to click" and use it only when I need total silence in the room -- otherwise, I always press to click.

Similar Messages

Multi gesture and tap-to-click stopped working on Logitech touchpad

I have a Logitech TK820 that has been working great until I did a upgrade for about one week ago. Now multi gesture stopped working completely and also tap-to-click doesnt work.
Does anyone have any clue on what I can do to get it working again.
Thanks

hi,
thanks for your reply. i haven't had time to deal with this issue since i wrote about it in october.
i found the 'properties' window for the touchpad mouse but there is no reset button. i continue to have this issue and it is becoming more frequent although i have not been able to identify what triggers the sudden shut down of the tap-to-click function.
but something new has cropped up: when the tap-to-click stops working, the next time i tap the touchpad, the pointer goes to the Start button! this happens every time. i don't know that anything is different?
any further pointers (forgive the pun) would be most welcome!
--David

Tap to Click stops working on startup

Every time I start my MacBook Air the tap to click stops working. I can deselect and reselect the option from my preferences, but come on... who wants to do that every time you start your computer.
Is there any fix that anybody knows about? Even if there isn't, I still love you MacBook!

Try logging into another User account and test it from there. You may have a corrupt preference plist file in your main User Library--specifically System Preferences.
HD > User > Library > Preferences > com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Check out the new remodeled MacOSG website! 24-hour Apple-related news & support.
 MacOSG: An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast  Follow us on Twitter: MacOSG

2011 MBP click and tap to click stops working at random

I've got a two weeks old MBP 13" it's working perfectly fine most of the time, but I've noticed that sometimes (could be related to waking from sleep) "left clicking" or tap to click with the trackpad stops working.
Everything else works, swiping, secondary clicking and what not.
One way to make the regular clicking work again is by rebooting the computer. Sometimes though, this isn't enough, it might even take two reboots.
Then there are some situations when I'm up late working, and the trackpad fails on me and I'll just close the lid and go to bed, the next morning it might work just fine again.
Has anyone had these same problems with the new MBP? Should I try and get it replaced since it's a brand new computer?

Try logging into another User account and test it from there. You may have a corrupt preference plist file in your main User Library--specifically System Preferences.
HD > User > Library > Preferences > com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Check out the new remodeled MacOSG website! 24-hour Apple-related news & support.
 MacOSG: An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast  Follow us on Twitter: MacOSG

HT4331 My "tap to click" stopped working

I've tried all the solutes (trashing preferences, new account, restarting bluetooth). Nothing works. HELP!!

I'm guessing you're talking about the Magic Trackpad. If your profile is correct, you need to upgrade to a later version of Snow Leopard as trackpad support started with 10.6.4 and later.
Regards,
Captfred

Toupad Tapping and Scrolling stopped working after Windows 10 Upgrade

Hi, I upgraded my OC to Windows 10 today, after the upgrade tapping and scrolling stopped working on the synaptics touchpad. the toucpad only finctions as a pointer now. for taps/Clicks i always have to use the buttons below the touchpad. It was working fine before the upgrade, the earlier OS was Windows 7 I have checked for driver updates but i get a message that the drvier is up to date.I have check the device setting and confirmed that tapping and scrolling is enabled.I have also done a device reset. Nothing solved the problem, i also did not find a relevant answer on the forums.Also, the same problem did not happen with my other HP laptop (Notebook PC) which was also upgraded to windows 10 recently. Does anyone have a solution? Regards,Siddharth.

, Hello and thanks for posting on the HP support forums. What you will need to do is the run the Windows Update Fixer tool. Here is a link to help you with that. Make sure you run all updates including optional. Fix Microsoft Windows Update Issues If that fails to work the only other option is to roll your system back to the original supported operating system that came with your notebook. Thanks again for the post and have a great day.

Mouse Clicks stop working randomly

So far I have noticed several times on my Quad Core 27 inch imac that the mouse clicks stop working. This is with two different mice, plugged in together, so I know it's not mouse or driver related. It happens to both of them whenever it does happen.
The only correlation I can make is that it usually happens when I am on a website. I might even have noticed a correlation with "flash based" modules and components on websites, but this could be speculation at this point.
Apple, I love you, but having to hard restart my $2000 computer because the mouse is inoperable is unacceptable. Figure this out. There is no excuse for this. PC's don't do this. I've never had a computer do this in my entire life and words cannot describe how frustrating it is, especially when you are in the middle of trying to get some work done...
-Matt

Try hitting the escape key on the keyboard (ESC). I've noticed that some property sheets, dialogs, and context menus can get 'lost' if you change focus to another program intentionally or accidentally, or if an application 'steals focus' (fairly rare in OS X). You may have to Command + Tab between applications to find where things are 'hung up'. Flash seems especially bad about hanging after a right click tries to call up a context menu.

Left click stops working after sleep

Hi,
I have a MBA 2013 with a magic mouse that I use when at my office desk. If I close the lid or allow my MBA to go to sleep and then take it away from my desk to another office or room (beyond the distance of bluetooth), when I open my the lid my left-click stops working. Cursor can be moved and right click works but I can't left click anything.
If I then move back within the bluetooth range of the Magic Mouse I am also able to move the cursor and use right click, but again, the left click doesn't work on the Magic mouse either.
This is ridiculously frustrating as I regularly pick my laptop up and leave the office/house for meetings without first disconnecting my Magic Mouse cleanly (i.e. turning the mouse off whilst the MBA is in operation).
The ONLY solution to this issue when it happens is to reboot the MBA. This alone can take a couple of attempts as there is obviosuly no left-click so I have to manually CTRL-Q each app that stops me from rebooting (i.e. unsaved work, applications that sometimes need a force quit etc).
I have only noticed this issue since upgrading to Mavericks. I have tried different batteries in mouse etc, but I'm assuming that this is more of a software issue than a hardware one.
Any ideas?

Wish I could be more help but I don't have Mavericks to experiment with. I read a few comments by posting 'Mavericks and the Magic Mouse' into Google but there are so many references. And nothing positive as far as I can see. Hopefully we shall find someone else step in.

Mouse Clicking Stops Working

Hi everyone,
Suddenly, for no discernible reason, mouse-clicking stops working. The cursor moves around on the screen, but clicking produces no results. This has happened multiple times [in Safari 3.0.4, iCal 3.0, iTunes 7.4.2; Photoshop CS2 (v 9.0.2)]. Restarting is the only solution I've found.
I use a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse combo. Thinking the Logitech driver might be the culprit, I swapped in the original keyboard and mouse that came with the computer. Same results: at times, clicking the cursor does nothing.
Any ideas?

I experienced this issue as well.
The only patch I am aware of is the following:
- Press the OPTION key, 5 times in a row (this will trigger an option in the Universal Access pane of the System Preferences that allows you to use your keyboard as a mouse). You'll hear a sound warning.
- Press the OPTION key, 5 times in a row AGAIN to revert to the previous status.
Your mouse should now be able to click again.

T-400 Right Click stopped working.

I have a Lenovo T-400 laptop Thinkpad and the right click stopping working on both keys....top one and the lower one.
Any ideas are welcome. I had a local computer store look at it...he took it apart and cleaned the keyboard and touch pad but it still does not work.

just those two keys ,all the other keys work? you can run a test on the keyborad from the thinkvantage toolbox
Thinkpad R61 7733-1GU
Thinkpad X61T 7762-54U
Thinkpad X60T 6363-4GU
Did a member help you today? Thank them with a Kudo!
If a post answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"!
Regards,
GMAC

Clicker stopped working

I have a and I bought it around March of 2005. My clicker stopped working, but I can still listen to songs, go to the next, pause, play, skip, forward, turn off/on etc. perfectly. I just got this problem last night(checked this morning and still didn't work), so if I go to the apple store could they help me with my problem? thanks for the help
20gb 4th Gen Ipod Windows 2000

I'm having the same problem once I upgraded to 3.0. I can use the clicker to answer a call or start playing music from itunes but it won't skip songs or hang up calls. Not really sure what to do as google won't return any results.

Clicks stop working after opening iPhoto or App Store

Everything works fine until I open iPhoto or the App Store (could happen with other apps, but these two for sure) then "clicks" stop working, My cursor moves and some items highlight, but nothing will "click"... I can't select photos, can't click on Download button, can't click to All Events, etc. Tasks can be accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. In App Store, I can't even highlight to try to click. Once these apps are opened, mouse clicks no longer work in other apps.
I've tried switching from Magic Trackpad to a Logitech Nano mouse; same thing happens.
Using Mac Pro & Mavericks. Any ideas?
Thanks!

1. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It changes nothing, for better or worse, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
2. If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before doing anything else. The backup is necessary on general principle, not because of anything in the test procedure. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
3. Below are instructions to run a UNIX shell script, a type of program. All it does is to gather information about the state of your computer. That information goes nowhere unless you choose to share it on this page. However, you should be cautious about running any kind of program (not just a shell script) at the request of a stranger on a public message board. If you have doubts, search this site for other discussions in which this procedure has been followed without any report of ill effects. If you can't satisfy yourself that the instructions are safe, don't follow them.
Here's a summary of what you need to do, if you choose to proceed: Copy a line of text from this web page into the window of another application. Wait for the script to run. It usually takes a couple of minutes. Then paste the results, which will have been copied automatically, back into a reply on this page. The sequence is: copy, paste, wait, paste again. Details follow.
4. You may have started the computer in "safe" mode. Preferably, these steps should be taken in “normal” mode. If the system is now in safe mode and works well enough in normal mode to run the test, restart as usual. If you can only test in safe mode, do that.
5. If you have more than one user, and the one affected by the problem is not an administrator, then please run the test twice: once while logged in as the affected user, and once as an administrator. The results may be different. The user that is created automatically on a new computer when you start it for the first time is an administrator. If you can't log in as an administrator, test as the affected user. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this section doesn’t apply.
6. The script is a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, though you may not see all of it in your browser, and you can then copy it. If you try to select the line by dragging across the part you can see, you won't get all of it.
Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it:
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin; clear; Fb='%s\n\t(%s)\n'; Fm='\n%s\n\n%s\n'; Fr='\nRAM details\n%s\n'; Fs='\n%s: %s\n'; Fu='user %s%%, system %s%%'; PB="/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c Print"; A () { [[ a -eq 0 ]]; }; M () { find -L "$d" -type f | while read f; do file -b "$f" | egrep -lq XML\|exec && echo $f; done; }; Pc () { o=`grep -v '^ *#' "$2"`; Pm "$1"; }; Pm () { [[ "$o" ]] && o=`sed '/^ *$/d; s/^ */ /' <<< "$o"` && printf "$Fm" "$1" "$o"; }; Pp () { o=`$PB "$2" | awk -F'= ' \/$3'/{print $2}'`; Pm "$1"; }; Ps () { o=`echo $o`; [[ ! "$o" =~ ^0?$ ]] && printf "$Fs" "$1" "$o"; }; R () { o=; [[ r -eq 0 ]]; }; SP () { system_profiler SP${1}DataType; }; id | grep -qw '80(admin)'; a=$?; A && sudo true; r=$?; t=`date +%s`; clear; { A || echo $'No admin access\n'; A && ! R && echo $'No root access\n'; SP Software | sed '8!d;s/^ *//'; o=`SP Hardware | awk '/Mem/{print $2}'`; o=$((o<4?o:0)); Ps "Total RAM (GB)"; o=`SP Memory | sed '1,5d; /[my].*:/d'`; [[ "$o" =~ s:\ [^O]|x([^08]||0[^2]8[^0]) ]] && printf "$Fr" "$o"; o=`SP Diagnostics | sed '5,6!d'`; [[ "$o" =~ Pass ]] || Pm "POST"; for b in Thunderbolt USB; do o=`SP $b | sed -En '1d; /:$/{s/ *:$//;x;s/\n//p;}; /^ *V.* [0N].* /{s/ 0x.... //;s/[()]//g;s/$.*: $$.*$/ $\2$/;H;}; /Apple|SCSM/{s/.//g;h;}'`; Pm $b; done; o=`pmset -g therm | sed 's/^.*C/C/'`; [[ "$o" =~ No\ th|pms ]] && o=; Pm "Thermal conditions"; o=`pmset -g sysload | grep -v :`; [[ "$o" =~ =\ [^GO] ]] || o=; Pm "System load advisory"; o=`nvram boot-args | awk '{$1=""; print}'`; Ps "boot-args"; d=(/ ""); D=(System User); E=; for i in 0 1; do o=`cd ${d[$i]}L*/L*/Dia* || continue; ls | while read f; do [[ "$f" =~ h$ ]] && grep -lq "^Thread c" "$f" && e=" *" || e=; awk -F_ '!/ag$/{$NF=a[split($NF,a,".")]; print $0 "'"$e"'"}' <<< "$f"; done | tail`; Pm "${D[$i]} diagnostics"; done; [[ "$o" =~ \*$ ]] && printf $'\n* Code injection\n'; o=`syslog -F bsd -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|last value [1-9]|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|pagin|SATA W|ssert|timed? ?o' | tail -n25 | awk '/:/{$4=""; $5=""};1'`; Pm "Kernel messages"; o=`df -m / | awk 'NR==2 {print $4}'`; o=$((o<5120?o:0)); Ps "Free space (MiB)"; o=$(($(vm_stat | awk '/eo/{sub("\\.",""); print $2}')/256)); o=$((o>=1024?o:0)); Ps "Pageouts (MiB)"; s=( `sar -u 1 10 | sed '$!d'` ); [[ s[4] -lt 85 ]] && o=`printf "$Fu" ${s[1]} ${s[3]}` || o=; Ps "Total CPU usage" && { s=(`ps acrx -o comm,ruid,%cpu | sed '2!d'`); o=${s[2]}%; Ps "CPU usage by process \"$s\" with UID ${s[1]}"; }; s=(`top -R -l1 -n1 -o prt -stats command,uid,prt | sed '$!d'`); s[2]=${s[2]%[+-]}; o=$((s[2]>=25000?s[2]:0)); Ps "Mach ports used by process \"$s\" with UID ${s[1]}"; o=`kextstat -kl | grep -v com\\.apple | cut -c53- | cut -d\< -f1`; Pm "Loaded extrinsic kernel extensions"; R && o=`sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|calendarse|cups|dove|isc|ntp|post[fg]|x)/{print $3}'`; Pm "Extrinsic system jobs"; o=`launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|org\.(x|openbsd)|\.[0-9]+$/{print $3}'`; Pm "Extrinsic agents"; o=`for d in {/,}L*/Lau*; do M; done | grep -v com\.apple\.CSConfig | while read f; do ID=$($PB\ :Label "$f") || ID="No job label"; printf "$Fb" "$f" "$ID"; done`; Pm "launchd items"; o=`for d in /{S*/,}L*/Star*; do M; done`; Pm "Startup items"; o=`find -L /S*/L*/E* {/,}L*/{A*d,Compon,Ex,In,Keyb,Mail/B,P*P,Qu*T,Scripti,Servi,Spo}* -type d -name Contents -prune | while read d; do ID=$($PB\ :CFBundleIdentifier "$d/Info.plist") || ID="No bundle ID"; [[ "$ID" =~ ^com\.apple\.[^x]|Accusys|ArcMSR|ATTO|HDPro|HighPoint|driver\.stex|hp-fax|\.hpio|JMicron|microsoft\.MDI|print|SoftRAID ]] || printf "$Fb" "${d%/Contents}" "$ID"; done`; Pm "Extrinsic loadable bundles"; o=`find -L /u*/{,*/}lib -type f | while read f; do file -b "$f" | grep -qw shared && ! codesign -v "$f" && echo $f; done`; Pm "Unsigned shared libraries"; o=`for e in DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH; do launchctl getenv $e; done`; Pm "Environment"; o=`find -L {,/u*/lo*}/e*/periodic -type f -mtime -10d`; Pm "Modified periodic scripts"; o=`scutil --proxy | grep Prox`; Pm "Proxies"; o=`scutil --dns | awk '/r\[0\] /{if ($NF !~ /^1(0|72\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])|92\.168)\./) print $NF; exit}'`; Ps "DNS"; R && o=`sudo profiles -P | grep : | wc -l`; Ps "Profiles"; f=auto_master; [[ `md5 -q /etc/$f` =~ ^b166 ]] || Pc $f /etc/$f; for f in fstab sysctl.conf crontab launchd.conf; do Pc $f /etc/$f; done; Pc "hosts" <(grep -v 'host *$' /etc/hosts); Pc "User launchd" ~/.launchd*; R && Pc "Root crontab" <(sudo crontab -l); Pc "User crontab" <(crontab -l); R && o=`sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook`; Pm "Login hook"; Pp "Global login items" /L*/P*/loginw* Path; Pp "User login items" L*/P*/*loginit* Name; Pp "Safari extensions" L*/Saf*/*/E*.plist Bundle | sed -E 's/(\..*$|-[1-9])//g'; o=`find ~ $TMPDIR.. $ -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 $ | wc -l`; Ps "Restricted user files"; cd; o=`SP Fonts | egrep "Valid: N|Duplicate: Y" | wc -l`; Ps "Font problems"; o=`find L*/{Con,Pref}* -type f ! -size 0 -name *.plist | while read f; do plutil -s "$f" >&- || echo $f; done`; Pm "Bad plists"; d=(Desktop L*/Keyc*); n=(20 7); for i in 0 1; do o=`find "${d[$i]}" -type f -maxdepth 1 | wc -l`; o=$((o<=n[$i]?0:o)); Ps "${d[$i]##*/} file count"; done; o=$((`date +%s`-t)); Ps "Elapsed time (s)"; } 2>/dev/null | pbcopy; exit 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
7. Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign ($) or a percent sign (%). If you get the percent sign, enter
exec bash
in the window and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.
Click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). The text you pasted should vanish immediately. If it doesn't, press the return key.
If you're logged in as an administrator, you'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You will not see the usual dots in place of typed characters. Make sure caps lock is off. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you make three failed attempts to enter the password, the test will run anyway, but it will produce less information. In most cases, the difference is not important. If you don't know your password, or if you prefer not to enter it, just press return three times at the password prompt.
If you're not logged in as an administrator, you won't be prompted for a password. The test will still run. It just won't do anything that requires administrator privileges.
The test may take a few minutes to run, depending on how many files you have and the speed of the computer. A computer that's abnormally slow may take longer to run the test. While it's running, there will be nothing in the Terminal window and no indication of progress. Wait for the line "[Process completed]" to appear. If you don't see it within half an hour or so, the test probably won't complete in a reasonable time. In that case, close the Terminal window and report your results. No harm will be done.
8. When the test is complete, quit Terminal. The results will have been copied to the Clipboard automatically. They are not shown in the Terminal window. Please don't copy anything from there. All you have to do is start a reply to this comment and then paste by pressing command-V again.
If any private information, such as your name or email address, appears in the results, anonymize it before posting. Usually that won't be necessary.
When you post the results, you might see the message, "You have included content in your post that is not permitted." It means that the forum software has misidentified something in the post as a violation of the rules. If it happens, please post the test results on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.
Note: This is a public forum, and others may give you advice based on the results of the test. They speak only for themselves, and I don't necessarily agree with them.
Copyright © 2014 Linc Davis. As the sole author of this work, I reserve all rights to it except as provided in the Terms of Use of Apple Support Communities ("ASC"). Readers of ASC may copy it for their own personal use. Neither the whole nor any part may be redistributed.

Right Click stopped working on my Magic Mouse. It works on Wife's MacBook

I have a Mid-2011 21.5 iMac, 2.5 GHz., 12 GB Memory, Yosemite 10.10.1.
The Right Click stopped working on my Magic Mouse. I have tried disabling and re-enabling it in System Preferences without Success. I have tried to enable the Secondary Click to 'Click on left side' just to see if I could get the secondary click to work. All of the other functions work.
I tested it on my Wife's MacBook and it is fully functional.
Can anyone help?
Thank you In advance.

Thank you for replying Old Toad. I was able to follow your instructions but nothing changed. My Bluetooth Mouse driver was a bit different, it include .plist
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist
com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist
com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist

G580 Touchpad Click stopped working

Hi I have problem with built in touchpad on G580. It worked OK for two days then the click stopped working. I can move the mouse pointer but clicking has no effect, I tried a plug in USB mouse and that clicked OK.
After a few days it started working again. Then after two weeks stopped again. I went for a system restore and went back a month and all was ok again - so looks like a driver issue
Click stopped working again so I reinstalled Windows 8 Touchpad driver - didnt fix problem
Tried to do a system restore but going bacl one day didnt fix it and attempt to restore older than that failed.
Any ideas, really annoying
Rob

hi rob_s_smith,
Welcome to the Lenovo Forums.
Do you get the same problem if you're running in battery power?
If you don't, and the Touchpad is working ok when it's working on the battery then the touchpad board is probably getting grounded when it's connected to the charger - see this thread as it's similar to the problem.
If problem perist on battery and AC power then you may need to contact lenovo for service as the touchpad is showing an imminent failure.
Hope this helps
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"! This will help the rest of the Community with similar issues identify the verified solution and benefit from it.
Follow @LenovoForums on Twitter!

Magic Trackpad's One Finger "Tap to Click" Not Working in Login Window?

Magic Trackpad's *One Finger* "Tap to Click" Not Working in Login Window:
All of my iMac's accounts have *One Finger* "Tap to Click" turned on (checked) in System Preferences. However, in the Login Window where the user decides which account to login to, the Magic Trackpad's clicking ability does not work even though moving the arrow does work. How do I turn on the Magic Trackpad's ability to click in the Login Window?

After accidentally pressing down on the Magic Trackpad, I realized the trackpad has tactile feedback, that is, it is a big button that can be pressed down and pop back up like old computer mice. Though this will allow the trackpad to select the account I want to open in the Login Window, it still doesn't explain why "tap to click" isn't working in the Login Window. Nevertheless, my question can be considered as answered.

Tap to click stops working (OS X 10.5.6)

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for