How to Disable the Mac Trackpad When a Wireless Mouse is Present

Jun 1, 2021

1 minute

I like using a wireless mouse at my desk but sometimes I accidentally hit the trackpad. There's a simple way to disable the trackpad while the wireless mouse is activated.

Don't worry! When you turn off the mouse, the trackpad will automatically become active again.

Looking to disable other annoyances on your Mac? Check out our guide on disabling the Mac touchbar, disabling time machine backup, disabling the caps lock key on a Mac and disabling the Mac empty trash warning.

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Open Spotlight Search (in the top-right corner of your screen) and type "Accessibility."

(Conversely, you can go to your Settings and find Accessibility there.)

Scroll down the left menu until you find "Pointer Control. Select it.

Check the box to "ignore the built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present."

Now, your Mac should seamlessly switch on and off your trackpad when you're using a wireless or Bluetooth mouse.

Check out our other Mac hacks, like how to disable the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.

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Zach (248)

May 28, 2021

1 minute

Every time I go to empty my Mac's trash, I have to click yet another dialog box to confirm. I find this a tad annoying, but thankfully this is an option we can control.