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I have a 2015 MacBook Pro running El Capitan with the new taptic force touch trackpad thing. Which, I must add, is fantastic!

However, this morning I started it up to discover it would not click/select anything. What is this madness? How do I fix it? How do I stop it happening again?

Things that work:

  • Typing with the keyboard.
  • Moving the mouse around.

Things that don't work:

  • Touch to click (I had enabled that setting)
  • Press to click (track pad makes a clicky sound but does nothing)
  • Deep press (track pad makes double clicky sound)
  • Two finger press (for right click)

Have Tried:

  • Restarting the Finder
  • Restarting my Mac
  • Making sure it is pugged in at the wall
  • Vigorously tapping the trackpad in frustration
  • Using expletive language

Unfortunately, I had no success with the above.

Previously, there were no issues with the trackpad. This mac is relatively new, I cannot think of any installed software that could be causing this issue. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

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11 Answers 11

Reset to default
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My trackpad (MBP Early 2015) was working, but there was no haptic feedback, or any indication that force touch was working. Other functions (trackpad, single tap, scrolling, etc.) were working. Here's what my settings looked like: enter image description here

For me, it was fixed somehow by an SMC reset with the charger disconnected, while powered on. Basically, I pressed Control + Shift + Option + Power button. The system instantly shut down without warning. Force touch and haptic feedback were back when the system turned on.

Do I recommend this? No. It's an unclean shutdown. Did it work? Yes it did.

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  • 3
    After trying some of the other solutions, this is the one that finally worked for me. Thanks!
    – Krejko
    Oct 28, 2017 at 22:16
  • Context: A restart didn't help. Booting to another OS didn't help. The usual stuff (SMC/PRAM resetS) didn't help. I discovered this accidentally when I was about to do yet another SMC reset, but forgot the fact that the Macbook was still on. I'm not sure whether the charger needs to be disconnected, but it makes sense.
    – Aloha
    Apr 3, 2019 at 15:17
  • This worked for me too. I had to hold (Control + Shift + Option + Power button) until it shut down.
    – Sam Brodkin
    Jun 4, 2019 at 19:02
  • it magically worked :D even restarting machine didn't worked :D
    – w3debugger
    Jun 26, 2020 at 10:32
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Got this this weekend, I was starting to go a little cranky when I saw my 2015 MBP wouldn't click. Tried restarting, to no avail.

At one point, I unchecked 'tap to click', big mistake because I couldn't click anymore, so I connected a USB mouse to regain tap-to-click, but still no trackpad clicking.

I came across this answer from user jbjose80 on Discussions.Apple, recommending instead of rebooting, to shut down and boot back up. Sounded silly, but worked like a charm. Phew!

(Originally posted on Retina MacBook Pro (non-Force touch) trackpad can't "click" as usual, but that was the wrong model)

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  • I can confirm that performing a shut down and then rebooting resolved the haptic feedback issue on a MacBook Pro 15" Retina Mid 2015 model. When the system is shut down and powered off, even momentarily, the vast majority of the system's peripheral components are also fully powered-off, so when the system is restarted, it starts up in a clean state (peripheral-wise at least).
    – bluebinary
    Nov 19, 2017 at 5:00
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Same problem, but the SMC reset (Control + Option + Shift + power button) fixed it.

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I tried some of the methods suggested here but none of them worked. Then I realized there's a toggle button on the trackpad, I turned it on/off and that worked for me. Note: I have an external trackpad.

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  • This answer is simple and worked for me. Definitely recommend trying it first!
    – Alex White
    Nov 2, 2020 at 17:08
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The issue was solved by connecting an external mouse via blue tooth and just clicking around the screen.

This mouse had previously been set up, so it only required turning on the mouse to connect. The MacBook's inbuilt TrackPad then started responding to clicks again and everything works as expected (presses, clicks, and deep clicks, etc).

The cause of this problem remains unknown, therefore I have no idea how to prevent it. Note: it has not happened again since.

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  • If you have a more complete answer or explanation please feel free to post it. I may have solved my issue but the question is still not fully answered. Have a fantastic day!
    – puqeko
    Dec 30, 2015 at 7:04
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Sadly with 3 years of dealing with this situation with all possible manual methods and recently I have had time to contact Apple Care. And then they conclude that is the fault of the hardware! The last thing that I can do now is to disable the Force Touch Trackpad apple that was first introduced on the Macbook Pro 2015. You will not see the error can not zoom, back page ... Lost Force touch feature (or force feedback), although it is still better than the previous MacBook Trackpad, but the above shows it is the biggest disappointment for the Macbook Pro 13 user community - the Force Track Trackpad 2015 in general!

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  • The tolerances in these hardware are super tricky and exceptionally fine. Like micrometer level repairs where no dust or grit can be present before the technician replaces the springs on a trackpad that isn’t purely glass + haptic. Any drops or bends in the top case can also throw off this entire repair and service. If a pickup truck ends up in the ditch, the frame can bend and be safe to drive, but a bent unibody frame with a physical trackpad can’t be off more than a few mils can prevent the pad springs from working.
    – bmike ♦
    Mar 21, 2021 at 16:26
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My haptic feedback stopped working and I did all the recommendations (reset SMC, PRAM, etc.) and nothing worked. Called apple support and no help either. They sent me to apple store and after spending 2 hours there running some weird tests I was told "sorry you should change your trackpad".
How much? $650. !!!!

I came home and decided to purchase the trackpad and fix it myself but out of desperation picked up a paper and slide it through the trackpad sides and gently start moving the paper. Some dust fluff started to come out and suddenly my trackpad started working.

That's it, just a lousy dust

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I had the exact same issue which happened without any warning or damage to the computer. I tried restarting manually and updating software; it did not work. However, I came across this website and the option of the control + shift + option + power button worked beautifully for me. Weirdly, I had to press the option button on the same side of the control button. If I tried to press it on the opposite side the computer would not shut down or restart. As soon as it rebooted with the hard reset, the trackpad haptic click was working again.

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I have just had this problem. I have a bluetooth trackpad that I occasionally use. It was under a pile of books and so was being pressed. It took me 45 minutes to figure out why my internal trackpad and an external mouse wouldn't click after I logged in (but did work before I logged in).

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I had the above mentioned issue and tried all the solutions listed, all without result and almost issued a ticket with Apple. Finally I decided to drain the battery, I started Netflix and left the laptop running until it died. Left it overnight, plugged power in and my trackpad's haptic is working again !

I hope somebody may benefit from this option

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Same issue here but I resolved it with a PRAM reset.

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