MacBook Trackpad Not Working

The MacBook Trackpad is a lot more than a plain mouse – it supports a wide range of gestures, which give you convenient control over large portions of the macOS' interface. Understandably, having your trackpad stop working on bug out can be very annoying, and such issues should be resolved as soon as possible. If your MacBook Trackpad is not working, you may want to try the fixes listed below – but first, make sure to connect an external mouse to make troubleshooting easier:

Check Trackpad Settings and Interferences

Go to System Preferences -> Trackpad, and verify that all features you want to use are enabled. From there, you can also control the tracking speed and click sensitivity to further enhance your trackpad's performance.

By default, macOS may disable the trackpad temporarily if it detects an external mouse is connected – either via USB or Bluetooth. To make sure that no unwanted mice are connected, go to System Preferences -> Bluetooth, and then turn off Bluetooth. Alternatively, you can go to System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Mouse & Trackpad. From there, you can disable the option named 'Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present.'

Apply macOS Updates

Updating your operating system regularly is strongly recommended if you wish to keep your computer running at its best performance, lacking a critical system update may result in your trackpad behaving oddly, or not working at all. Go to System Preferences -> Software Update to see if there are any pending updates for your device.

Reset PRAM and NVRAM

This sounds like a very advanced thing to do, but you can rest assured that it is very easy to do. The memory in question is used to store small bits of information concerning macOS settings. Resetting this memory may result in fixing the unresponsive trackpad issue:

1. Shut down the computer/laptop.
2. Turn it on and immediately hold the keys Option, Command, P, and R.
3. Keep holding them for about 20 seconds, and release them.

As mentioned earlier, this resets macOS' settings entirely. You will need to go to System Preferences to manually restore the settings you used previously.

Run macOS' Diagnostics Utility

Turn off the device, and then turn it on, but press and hold 'D.' In a few seconds, you should see a screen asking you to select your language – you can release D as soon as you see it. Select a language, and the diagnostics utility will start scanning for issues. This may take up to ten minutes, so be patient. If any issue is found, you will see a reference code, which you can find on Apple's website or online forums to test applicable solutions.