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tiredtoo

(2,949 posts)
Sat Sep 23, 2023, 04:39 PM Sep 2023

macbook air question Re: Highlighting text etc.

Only had this laptop for a month or so but, frequently when i am scrolling on a page or even a spread sheet. The scrolled area will turn blue and it sort of turns off my ability to click mouse etc. It will also grab something I pass over and drag it around screen. ??
Am I doing something wrong?

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macbook air question Re: Highlighting text etc. (Original Post) tiredtoo Sep 2023 OP
Try ESC if stuff highlighted Tetrachloride Sep 2023 #1
It may be misinterpreting your intent when using LuvLoogie Sep 2023 #2
Lots of options CloudWatcher Sep 2023 #4
a few suggestions .... CloudWatcher Sep 2023 #3

Tetrachloride

(8,408 posts)
1. Try ESC if stuff highlighted
Sat Sep 23, 2023, 04:51 PM
Sep 2023

Sorry to be not loquacious. A little dried out today

My experience with laptop is low

LuvLoogie

(7,513 posts)
2. It may be misinterpreting your intent when using
Sat Sep 23, 2023, 07:26 PM
Sep 2023

the TouchPad.

For instance, if you touch it with two fingers as opposed to one, it might activate as if you were holding down the command key as well. If you're used to Windows, scrolling will seem upside down, too.

This may have changed, but Macs don't have left and right click by default. You have to hit the command key while clicking the mouse or TouchPad in order to get contextual menus under your mouse click.

CloudWatcher

(1,922 posts)
4. Lots of options
Sun Sep 24, 2023, 01:09 PM
Sep 2023

fyi the Mac calls it 'secondary click' and it can be hooked up to right-mouse click on almost all mice, or to two-finger tap on trackpads. And there's also a 'scroll direction' natural (or not) option to flip scrolling if it's not what you like.

But yeah, there are a gazillion different option on just how to configure the trackpad. See the Trackpad panel in System Preferences to enable what's desired (and practice to see if it's comfortable for not).

CloudWatcher

(1,922 posts)
3. a few suggestions ....
Sun Sep 24, 2023, 01:03 PM
Sep 2023

Hard to tell but ... a few random thoughts... (TLDR --- #1 I think is most likely, the rest are for reference).

1) If the option is enabled, you might want to try turning off the "tap to click" feature in the Trackpad panel of System Preferences. If you're new to using a large & sensitive trackpad, you might just be accidentally telling it to click & hold while you think you're just scrolling. Pay attention to where you are resting your hands!

2) You've only had the laptop for a month, but is it new or used?? If it's old, you might have someone else's problem laptop. In particular, old laptops can have batteries that swell. Initially this is not a big problem. But over time they can swell to the point of wrecking your trackpad or the main logic board. If it's really bad you can often tell by the laptop "rocking" back and forth on a flat surface instead of solidly resting on its four corners. Someone with good eyes and handy with computer hardware can replace the battery with a kit from iFixit (not *that* hard but not a simple task either).

3) Do you have a bluetooth mouse attached? It's silly, but I've had situations where one of my cats will sit down on my mouse (while I'm just using the trackpad) and the behavior is, um, quite unpredictable. And my first clue is usually that I have trouble selecting things

4) If you *don't* have an external bluetooth mouse, I highly suggest getting one for anything more than a few minutes of work. Using just the trackpad for hours at a time triggers (for me) some repetitive stress issues ... especially if I have 'tap to click' turned off and clicking requires force. I'm a fan of Apple's Magic Mouse ... it's like having a mini trackpad on top of the mouse instead of the usual scroll wheel. But don't forget to enable right-click: set "Secondary click" to "Click Right side" in the "Mouse" preference panel of System Preferences.

5) Finally for reference (i.e. I don't think it'll help, but fyi ...) there's a handy "Keyboard Viewer" window that can be used to see which keyboard buttons the OS thinks are down. The steps to enable it are a little obscure, but I've found it handy more than once.

To enable it, go to the "Keyboard" pane in System Preferences. Then to the "Input Sources" tab. At the bottom of that window is a toggle where you can enable "Show Input menu in menu bar". When that is set, there will be tiny icon in the system menu bar (up near the clock). Its icon is a tiny window with three bars and the command-key clover-leaf symbol. Then to see the keyboard window (and which keys are being pressed) click on that icon and select 'Show Keyboard Viewer'. Yeah, it's more than one step, but if your keyboard is acting up (broken or stuck key) it will show you!

And ... ouch, the above is for older Mac OS versions. In the latest, the way to enable the keyboard viewer button in the system menu bar .. is hidden a bit. Navigate to: System Preferences / Keyboard pane / Text Input - Input Sources section / Edit button / Click 'Show Input menu in menu board". But at least once it is enabled, using it is the same as before. It will show up as a tiny icon in the system menu bar.

HTH and that it's not a swollen battery!

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