Trackpad suddenly over is sensitive

OVERSENSITIVTY :

Just uncheck the "press to click option" in the "One finger" section of the trackpad's system preferences. The oversensitivity is killed definitively (but you will have to click instead of just touching the trackpad)

HEAVY PRESSURE REQUIRED to produce active clicks

It does not come from the battery. It is caused by a failure in Mac OS X 10.6.8 update ( 10.6.7 is much more finder friendly than 10.6.8).

To solve this bug, just trash the trackpad's preference file (.plist) which is located in the Preferences folder of your user's Library and restart the Mac. The problem may come back one day, then, it will just suffice deleting this file again.

As evidenced by the profuse internet calls for help, thousands of people have been seriously bothered by these two problems (especially the second) for many months. Why does'nt Apple address the matter and provide an answer ?

My wife's Macbook Air was suffering from the overly sensitive trackpad issue. At first the trick of pressing hard on the diagonally opposing corners fixed the issue but eventually it persisted. I sighted along the base of the computer and didn't notice any bulging but decided to try the battery replacement none the less. So far so good. It's only been a couple of days but the issue had previously been a steady annoyance. Really appreciate this site and its forum!

OMG, this worked for me, too. I am so appreciative. I have a MacBook Pro mid-2015, and InDesign CS6 was completely un-useable on this machine. I assumed it was a software problem, but this fixed it like a charm. I have been looking on Adobe chat boards for months looking for a solution. THANK YOU! I’ll add this to those boards now.

Warmly, Karen G

The diagonal thing, didn't solve the problem. It might have helped, but that might have just been wishing.

This actually seems to work (12 hours ...)

https://www.laurivan.com/fix-crazyjumpin...

Go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad

Check “Ignore built-in trackpad if external mouse is present”

Play around for a bit with your mouse, say 15 seconds

Come back to the preferences tab and uncheck that box.

Commenters say they used USB mice, I've got a wireless mouse (did it with or without, did it different wireless mice)

I've had this problem since I first received my new MacBook Pro two weeks ago. I'd been searching for overly sensitive track pad. Yesterday I searched for MBP cursor jumping all over the place I found threads leading to this tip. One commenter said he received this fix from the Genius Bar

It's been three months since my initial post above. None of the listed tips worked.

What has worked is covering the track pad with enough layers of plastic to desensitize the surface, but not so much that the track pad doesn't work.

I used lamination sheets one sheet tucked inside another (so 4 layers) then run through the laminator. Only problem was the surface has too much friction.

At the moment I have a trackpad 'skin' (total waste of money) and a white plastic (pvc?) new car dealer license plate insert. This has a nice slide, but I do get an occasional random cursor jump. The track pad still works fine. Any other 'solution' than covering the track pad did not work, though it might seem so but not for long.

Doing nothing or using one of these other methods: I got a random cursor jump every minute or two. (Apple also replaced the entire machine, though no hardware problems showed up in the tests. Both machines acted exactly the same.)

It made writing nearly impossible. I can take these plastic coverings on and off and duplicate the error or eliminate it.

With the double-laminates the problem was completely eliminated-but the surface was sticky. I've also stacked 4-6 pieces of laserjet paper and even used a Tyvek post office envelop (doubled)

With my current solution, that still occasionally jumps, I could slip a single melted laminate sheet underneath the white pcv and I think it would completely solve the problem. The pvc and the laminate (when I tried that) are held in place with Scotch tape. I made it oversize which also makes the trackpad waterproof. I think it's pretty lame that Apple had no solution or even awareness of this problem. On MacRumors someone suggested keeping an old MacBook Pro that still works. Also the TouchBar is too sensitive, but not random. I've eliminated almost all the buttons and turned of configuration changes with App changes. It may be useful with some specific apps; in general it's a piece of hardware with no killer app. I do like the fingerprint password function. Hope this helps.

OK, I've got a solution to Random-Cursor-Jumping that's inexpensive and seems to work as well as my best solutions to date, but this is low friction. Teflon sheet for heat press transfer. I got 3 sheets 16 x 20 for $6.75 on Amazon. (I tried most of the things above, they didn't work for me.)

One layer over my 2017 MacBook Pro 15" oversized over sensitive track pad. I just typed for an hour and not one random cursor jump! (Most recently I had 1/16th inch teflon, but it wouldn't lay flat and was expensive. I've been working on this for months. Most solutions I've found are are not slick enough for finger gestures, this is. )

It lays flat, attaches with scotch magic tape, thin as a manilla folder. On the less plus side, it's brown, and has a slight texture. So yo! my 2017 MacBook Pro now works better than Tim Cook's.

It's also called "Teflon baking sheet " so maybe there's some in a kitchen near by.....

Hope this helps. (And I apologize in advance if I've just solved a problem that a software patch fixed last week....