I use MacBook Pro 15' with OS X 10.6.3. Today, I found that I cannot do left clicking after I switched user accounts from one to another.
Whenever I click my mouse or one fingered click on trackpad, context menu for the area is poped up. Simply, I cannot click or double click anything. And same time, my keyboard is malfunctioning too. When I type anything, nothing is appeared in the monitor or some other letters those I did not typed are appeared.
It's more set up to be a media control device than a clicker, it doesn't work well as a clicker at all. I haven't been able to find a small bluetooth clicker to replace the ease of the Apple IR Remote with the Retina MacBook Pro. Windows (On a Mac): If you're running Windows on your killer Mac hardware, then you've probably noticed that the trackpad isn't quite as smooth and feature-filled as it is in OS X.
When I log in with other user account, I have no problem in the environment. But When I log out and log in again with a certain account, that is my main account, the same trouble is still exist.
I did bellows: - Rebooted more than several times. Reinstalled OS X. Push and hold Cmd + alt + r + p while booting. (several times. But could not separated my battery because it is not allowed.) Nothing above could solve the problem yet. Any ideas or Advices? Click to expand.I disabled magic mouse and am using trackpad only.
Using magic mouse did not show any difference to me. The problem is no more account specific. My another account shows me same problem now. But when I restarted my MacBook Pro, it seems ok in the account, but time to time it shows the problem and if the problem occurs once, it keeps me out of control until I reboot it. It seems like someone is keeping to hold ctl key in my keyboard. I tried ctl + click but there was no change. When the problem start to occur, I can do nothing but reboot.
As you wrote, I feel like some other program is stealing my input to mac and it begins with some condition. But I don't know what it is and how it can be started. This situation started to happen just yesterday and as far as I remember I did nothing unusual except switching a user account once. I am considering to visit genius bar today, but I don't want to remain my mac to them more than a week. It's horrible especially this week!
I just started having similar issues with my MacBook 10.6.3 (older model with seperate trackpad button) and I haven't figured out a fix. I also restarted a lot and repaired permissions and repaired the hard disk from the install disc. Messing with system preferences didn't help. I also only have one user account. My trackpad doesn't allow button or touch clicking. When using a USB (haven't tried BT yet) mouse it only allows right clicking. It sometimes, after a restart, will function normally with a USB mouse but when I move the cursor with the trackpad the problem reappears.
The keyboard appears to still function normally. I will try to schedule a genius visit if i can't figure this out but I fear they will just say the logic board needs replacement and that will be $500+ for a 4 year old OOW computer.
I might as well spring for a MBP which might not be a bad idea with the back-to-school, iPod giveaway/free printer deal coming soon. Any other thoughts? Edatmpa you are a genius!!! Ok, edatmpa totally solved my problem. For some puzzling reason today, my left click started to not work. As you can imagine, this make your computer useless.
I got a magic mouse with my imac, but don't like to use it so I have a normal kensington mouse. Somehow, my magic mouse ended up in the vicinity of my computer (probably my kids) and caused my left click to not work.
It was shoved behind my printer so maybe it was being clicked.and canceled my kensington. So make sure that you don't have your magic mouse and another mouse connected at the same time. I may never have figured out this solution.thanks edatmpa!!!! I just started having similar issues with my MacBook 10.6.3 (older model with seperate trackpad button) and I haven't figured out a fix. I also restarted a lot and repaired permissions and repaired the hard disk from the install disc.
Messing with system preferences didn't help. I also only have one user account. My trackpad doesn't allow button or touch clicking. When using a USB (haven't tried BT yet) mouse it only allows right clicking. It sometimes, after a restart, will function normally with a USB mouse but when I move the cursor with the trackpad the problem reappears. The keyboard appears to still function normally.
I will try to schedule a genius visit if i can't figure this out but I fear they will just say the logic board needs replacement and that will be $500+ for a 4 year old OOW computer. I might as well spring for a MBP which might not be a bad idea with the back-to-school, iPod giveaway/free printer deal coming soon.
Any other thoughts? Right click solved or rather my own stupidity solved I had the same problem.
Left and right clicks registering as right clicks. It turned out to be something quite silly. I had a bluetooth keyboard that I didn't realise was connected. It was sitting somewhere in my house ina pile of things.
Something was depressing the ctrl key causing all clicks to register as right clicks. While this is unlikely to be a common cause of the problem, it may suggest that the fault some of you are having is with your ctrl key being activated by accident. Perhaps it is stuck down because of dirt on the keyboard or something.
Just a thought. Click to expand.This happened to me for the first time tonight. I just got home from a weekend away and I could not left-click with the trackpad or an external mouse. I searched for a solution after trying several things myself. When I read this, I thought to myself that I don't have a BT mouse that is on or that I have used with this Macbook Air for many months. I was able to work with the bluetooth menu with right-click on the trackpad and to my surprise, saw a BT mouse connected with 65% battery life.
I then remembered having pulled my Magic Mouse out of my notebook bag when I was packing for the trip. I looked and wow, the mouse was on. This mouse has been on and in that notebook bag for several months. I am amazed that the battery is still at 65%. I turned the mouse off and my left-click issue is resolved. It's amazing to me that this is a known issue for years and has not been resolved. I should be able to use my left click whether a bluetooth mouse is connected or not.
Thank you to @edatmpa for posting the solution. It still helps four years later. Macbooks If this issue is occurring for you on a macbook and you only have the trackpad input (no external mice or trackpads), it could be that your laptops battery is expanding and pushing up on the trackpad from below. This kind of expansion can be caused by excessive heat or age, most batteries tend not to live past 2 years, let alone 3.
To test for this check to see if you can depress the trackpad. The lower left and right corners depress between 1-3mm. If your right button still works you can test it with the other corner, if not test it at a mac store to compare. The batteries are kind of expensive, but if you buy the Apple ones and take care of it, they are easily the longest lasting laptop batteries I have encountered. Source: Ex Retail and Service employee for a computer store.
Hi All, Just been looking through the forum as I had a problem where I was unable to left click with my Magic Trackpad and I keep finding references to multiple Bluetooth devices etc. My problem only affected certain applications, for example Contacts or iMessage (Apple Applications) but didn't affect the Virtual Machines I have running in Virtualbox. After lots of searching through settings and unplugging every USB device and moving all Bluetooth devices away (or turning them off) I noticed that Inking had become enabled, I switched this off and hey presto my left click began to work again.
Hope this helps anyone who is still having issues.
I’m sure most Mac users know Command-C means copy and Command-V means paste, but there’s a host of other useful shortcuts that make a Mac user’s life much easier. I’ve assembled this short collection to illustrate this truth: Command-W Closes the active window you are currently in. Use Option-Command-W to close all currently active app windows. Further reading: Command-Y A lot of people use QuickLook to preview items they're looking for. To use QuickLook, select an item in Finder, press the Space bar and a preview will appear. There’s also a keyboard shortcut — select an item (you can even use the Up and Down arrows to navigate to it in Finder view) and then press Command-Y. Command – Comma (,) This is one of the least-known keyboard commands on a Mac, but it’s super useful.
It works like this: You are working in an app, and you want to open the application’s Preferences. You can navigate to the Menu bar if you like and scroll through to access the Preferences.
Or you can simply press Command-, (comma) to get to them in the fastest possible time. Command-M Press this combination to minimize the front app window to Dock, or press Command-Option-M to minimize all the windows belonging to the front app. Command and Option If you can’t see your desktop for all the open applications, just hold Command and Option down and click anywhere on your desktop.
You may just want to get to all the open windows for a specific app, in which case hold down the same keys and click on any available window for that app. Command-Shift-A Select this combination when in Finder/Desktop view to get to your Applications folder, or replace the A with U to open your Utilities folder in a new Finder window (or D for Desktop, H for Home or I to access iCloud Drive).
Command-Space The combination that can change your life, Command-Space invokes Spotlight, just depress these keys and start typing your query. (I guess you know about Command-tab already?) Command-L The fastest way to make a search or navigate to a Website in Safari, Command-L instantly selects the address bar: start typing your query, and select the appropriate choice using the up/down arrows on the keyboard. Command-Tab Open application switcher, keeping Command pressed, use Tab to navigate to the app you hope to use. Command-Option-D Show or hide the Dock from within most apps.
Fn-left arrow (or right arrow) Jump directly to the top or bottom of a web page using the Function key and the right (to the bottom of the page) or left (to the top of the page) arrows on the keyboard. You can achieve a similar result using Command-Up or Command-Down. A third way is to use Control-Tab and Control-Shift-Tab. Command-left/right arrows Hit Command and the left arrow to go back a page in the browser window.
Hit Command right to go forward again. Tab nav Navigate between multiple tabs using the Command-Shift- or Command-Shift- characters. Command-Shift- The easiest way to see all your open tabs in one Safari window.
Option-Shift-Volume Press Option-Shift and volume up/down to increase or decrease the volume on your Mac in small increments. You can also use Option-Shift to change display brightness in small amounts. Fn twice Press the function (fn) key twice to launch Dictation on your Mac, start speaking, and press fn once you’ve finished. Here are some other ideas on. Option-File In Safari, pressing the Option key while selecting the File menu lets you access the ‘Close all other Tabs’ command. Try the other Safari menu items with Option depressed to find other commands you.
Option-Brightness Up (or down) Use this command to quickly launch Displays preferences. Or press Option with the Mission Control or Volume (up/down) buttons to access preferences for Mission Control and Sounds. Command – Backtick ` This is one of the least well-known keyboard commands on a Mac, but it’s super useful. Use this combination to move between open windows in your currently active app. It's so useful you'll wonder why you hadn't used it before.
Touch Bar tip No. 1 If you use a MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar, you can press Shift-Command-6 to grab an image of what is on your Touch Bar. Want to grab an image to place into the document you're typing in? Just tap Control-Shift-Command-6 and the picture will be saved to your Clipboard for pasting it in. Touch Bar tip No.
2 This MacBook Pro Touch Bar tip is particularly useful if you find that you often accidentally tap the Siri button: You can change where that button is located so you're less likely to tap it by accident. Open Keyboard Preferences and choose Customize Control Strip. Look at the Touch Bar, and you’ll see the icons are slightly agitated. Move your cursor to the bottom of your screen and keep moving (as if you're moving it off the screen); you should see one of the items in your Touch bar highlighted. Now move your cursor to highlight the Siri button and then drag and drop that button a space or two to the left. (This is also an excellent way to become familiar with how you can edit other items in your Touch Bar.) Touch Bar tip No. 3 Do you use the function keys regularly in some apps?
You can get to them, of course, by pressing the ‘fn’ character. But it's also possible to set up the Touch Bar so it always shows the function keys in those apps.
To do this, open Keyboard System Preferences, select Function Keys, and tap +. You can then select the app(s). Don’t worry if you want to use a regular Control Strip command when you're using one of the apps — just press Fn to get back to that view. Safari tips There are lots of keyboard tips for the Safari browser:. Command + I: Open new message with content of a page. Command + Shift + I: Open new message containing only the URL of a page.
Spacebar: To move your window down one screen. Shift+Spacebar: To move your window up one screen.
Command + Y: Open/close the History window. Command + Shift + T This web browser tip can sometimes be a lifesaver.
Command + Shift + T will open your last closed tab, which can be a lifesaver if you are researching something and close a window without saving the URL. You can also take a look at Apple’s own extensive collection of for more great ideas. If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple? Or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.