Enable/Disable Trackpad on New MacBook
Update Aug 20th, 2011.
In Lion, you can still find it in Universal Access -> Mouse & Trackpad. Just one more click on Trackpad Options... as below.
Update Oct 7th, 2009.
The option appears in Universal Access -> Mouse & Trackpad. I remember that I have checked here before 10.6, this must be new in Snow Leopard. Anyway, it's much easier now.
Thanks to Mary pointed this out in comment.
I moved the OS X Leopard from the old MacBook to new MacBook and I found that the setting in the Trackpad was missing. I set to "Ignore trackpad when mouse is present" before. After moving the hard disk to new MacBook and reinstall the system without erasing old data, I could not change the setting anymore.
I searched the official MacBook forum and got the solution for that:
Open Terminal and input following command:
defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.ignoreTrackpadIfMousePresent 0
1: Disable Trackpad (Ignore)
0: Enable Trackpad
Log out and log in again then it will take effort.
Thanks brian_b provided the solution via Apple Support Discussion
January 28th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Wow! Thank you very much!
I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
Of course, I will add backlink?
Sincerely, Timur I. Alhimenkov
January 29th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Hi Timur, I'm glad that you thought the post is useful. Though I don't know Russian, you can take the post you like, with the backlink is ok.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:53 pm
hej Tkjune, thanx for the solution, i had the same probs as you. Do you know the Terminal input for horizontal scrolling? I disabled this too on my iBook and know can't enable it again.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Hello, faby
For I'm using MacBook aluminum, I'm not sure if it works in iBook. You may have a try as following:
defaults write -g com.apple.trackpad.scrollBehavior 2
0 Disable
1 Use two fingers to scroll
2 Allow horizontal scroll
Good luck!
February 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Great post, would you mind expanding on the topic a bit in the future?
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
So frustrated and angry - reminds me of my PC days. Did exactly what you said and STILL cannot disable this bloody trackpad - I HATE IT!!! I HAVE A MACBOOK PRO - what can I do?
June 27th, 2009 at 12:11 am
@august Are you using a aluminum macbook pro? I'm not sure if it's ok on macbook before 2008 Oct. I'm new to mac too...
October 7th, 2009 at 6:47 am
The disable trackpad button has been moved to System Preferences/Universal Access/Mouse & Trackpad!!!!!!
October 7th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
@Mary Thank you. It may be part of 10.6 updates? Actually, I checked Universal Access before 10.5.7, and it wasn't there. In that case, I could update this blog.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Having the trackpad mess me up all the time was maddening, as was not being able to find out how to turn it off. Thanks so much!!
November 6th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@Melissa Glad to hear that it's helpful for you.~
April 6th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Mary, you have saved me much frustration by telling me this. Here, I thought I'd checked everything! Good for you, Mary! /
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:16 am
Fantastic! I was fiddling with keyboard and trackpad options for hours, and the guys in my computer shop were clueless. Now one click in the Universal Access and problem solved.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Haha, true. This is a missing setting in 10.5.x
October 1st, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I want to thank you for a very informative post. I have been having issues with the trackpad on my MBP. I wanted to disable the trackpad until I could find a resolution to my problem. Your post really helped me out a lot. I would never have figured out where the option was to disable the trackpad! Thanks again!!
David
October 7th, 2010 at 10:24 am
@David Windsor glad to be of help:)
October 31st, 2010 at 10:48 am
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December 15th, 2010 at 4:52 am
"You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed."
Where else can I read about this?
December 29th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Tnx guys. Your awesome. Searched the whole web. And then You come with clear pictures, so cool. I can happily type now, without getting into anxiety about touching my mousepad. Tnx. Happy new year.
January 13th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Tkjune, I looked all over for this option and couldn't find it. Then I found your post and realized they moved it under Universal Access. I think it would have been OK to put it in under Trackpad, and Mouse sections as well. They put the mouse stuff under Trackpad so go figure
Anyways, thanks for the tip!
August 14th, 2011 at 2:09 am
Thank you for sharing this. My touchpad has been messed up for quite a while now, and I have been searching to block it for a while. Much obliged
August 14th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@A-Double Great to hear that it's been of help. And since Lion has come, have u upgraded?
October 10th, 2011 at 2:25 am
This tread saved my life, thank you very much! no more crazy cursor & automatic right clicking! BTW Apple needs to resolve this! Macs are too expensive for this kinda crap!
October 11th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
@GT Badman, the latest update shows Apple has solved it. haha
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