If you find yourself regularly clicking on your Mac computer's trackpad by accident, with the cursor jumping out of place and windows randomly closing, then you will be happy to know that you can disable the trackpad to avoid these frustrating instances.
And if you use a mouse, there's really no reason to leave the trackpad on, especially if you use an external keyboard.
Here's how to turn your trackpad off in both cases.
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How to disable the trackpad on your Mac computer
1. Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner and select System Preferences.
2. Select Accessibility — not the Trackpad option.
3. Now click on the Mouse & Trackpad option on the left menu. If you have a mouse or wireless trackpad connected, simply check the box on the bottom to disable your trackpad.
4. If you don't have a mouse connected, but want to disable the trackpad anyway, check the box to "Enable Mouse Keys" and then click Options. Then check the box to "Ignore built-in trackpad when Mouse Keys is on" and hit OK.
Mouse Keys is a function that lets certain numbers and letters on your keyboard — and the numeric keypad — control the movement of your cursor. If you also check the box to "Press the Option key five times to toggle Mouse Keys" you'll be able to turn your trackpad on and off by tapping the Option key five times in a row.
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