How to disable accidental trackpad input in Yosemite?
The solution to this problem in previous versions of OS X was a checkbox in the trackpad preferences that said "ignore accidental trackpad input." That option is no longer there in Yosemite.
Is it still possible to enable it, and if so how?
If you have a multi-touch trackpad Mac, the option no longer appears in System Preferences because it as enabled automatically. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201822.
Update 2016-04-03-1007
You may want to give BetterTouchTool a try. It enables fine grained control of trackpad behavior. Three items that may interest you in particular:
- Disable trackpad gestures after hitting a keyboard key to prevent accidental gestures while typing
- Thumb recognition (filters out thumb and palm . . .)
- Reenable gestures only after touching the center area of the trackpad
I changed "Click" to "Firm" in the menu.
System Peferences > Trackpad > Point & Click
It seems to have helped.
I was having similar issues after purchasing a new MBP.
What seemed to fix it for me was to go into System Peferences > Trackpad > Point & Click and disable the following items:
Look up & Data (Tap with three fingers)
Force Click and haptic feedback
Since I don't need any of those features I just disabled all of them. I code and don't use a lot of fancy trackpad features. Try playing around with those options to see what works best for you. If you need those options some of the time, you could probably make a script to quickly toggle them on and off.
UPDATE: Non-technical HACK:
While some of these tricks seemed to have helped, I found a very easy way to eliminate accidental thumb clicks while typing. Place a 1/2 inch width strip of electrical tape across the top of the trackpad. It may not look pretty but it gets the job done with no further hacks required!
To insure the area of electrical tape is not trackable, use 2 layers of tape with a thin strip of aluminum foil between the layers. You probably could use clear or scotch tape for the top layer for a thinner profile. Just be careful the foil doesn't make direct contact with the trackpad itself as this will disable the trackpad. I recommend cutting the foil to be slightly smaller than the electrical tape.
