Jerking around cursor ? Something is happening to my Mac Book Pro, mid 2014 on Catalina OS. My cursor seems to act on its own, jerking around and towards the left of the screen and...

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Something is happening to my Mac Book Pro, mid 2014 on Catalina OS.
My cursor seems to act on its own, jerking around and towards the left of the screen and suddenly the screen image is blown up 10x, too big to navigate.
I did my Mac utilities and did 3x the CCleaner (CC keeps that away for about 10 minutes, but the nuissance comes back.
Any ideas whats going on ?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's with a trackpad, not a mouse, right? I suspect a trackpad problem.

https://macpaw.com/how-to/mac-cursor-moving-on-its-own#:~:text=Keep%20your%20trackpad%20clean&text=The%20thing%20is%20that%20water,need%20to%20slightly%20dampen%20it.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

petercbrandt wrote:

Something is happening to my Mac Book Pro, mid 2014 on Catalina OS.
My cursor seems to act on its own, jerking around and towards the left of the screen and suddenly the screen image is blown up 10x, too big to navigate.
I did my Mac utilities and did 3x the CCleaner (CC keeps that away for about 10 minutes, but the nuissance comes back.
Any ideas whats going on ?

Since CCleaner temporarily fixes it, try running Malwarebytes and a good antivirus program.
Make sure screen zooming is turned off under Accessibility settings.
Are you using the trackpad or a mouse? Some have reported that pressing on opposite corners of the trackpad fixes erratic behavior.
Let us know if you solve it.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Mostly a wireless mouse. I also have Intego installed, will use it right now.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

petercbrandt wrote:

Mostly a wireless mouse. I also have Intego installed, will use it right now.

Have you changed the battery in the mouse or tried a different one?

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

yes, new battery ! My first action.

TonyBot

Dirty track ball on mouse most likely. Turn it over, gently blow it out and it should be ok. If not, they’re many good mouses (mice? meese?) reasonably priced out there, just buy a new one!

Carl S

Had the same problem and moved the mouse transmitter closer to the mouse. Drove me nuts until I moved the sender.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

If I leave the computer alone and the mouse alone, the cursor jumps around, without me.
Just now as I write the screen jumps by itself bigger and smaller, just as I write this now.
Its as if someone else is doing remote controll.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

I just changed the wireless mouse sender to another USB connection. So far all is quiet !
That's Odd !!!!!

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Still quiet! I think it is fixed by changing the wireless mouse USB sender /receiver.
Thanks to Carl S and all who participated!

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

I've sometimes have happened with my PC laptop. A complete reboot cures it.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

petercbrandt wrote:

Mostly a wireless mouse. I also have Intego installed, will use it right now.

That sounds like the mouse battery is getting low or the optic sensor is a bit dirt

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

No, not the battery, that was the first thing I changed. I just now took my MBP laptop to the living room and it started all over again ! Rats !

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

petercbrandt wrote:

Something is happening to my Mac Book Pro, mid 2014 on Catalina OS.
My cursor seems to act on its own, jerking around and towards the left of the screen and suddenly the screen image is blown up 10x, too big to navigate.
I did my Mac utilities and did 3x the CCleaner (CC keeps that away for about 10 minutes, but the nuissance comes back.
Any ideas whats going on ?

Perhaps malware - your Mac may have been hacked (that was so rare in the olden days). Does your ISP have a firewall? Call Apple technical services.