Trackpad click button is jammed

Ok, this may seem a little weird. My trackpad had the exact same issue and I solved it by blowing in it rather hard. Press your lips on the side that is not "clicking" correctly and blow a few times. Make sure your lips build a good seal though.

Or, a short burst of air from a can of can'ed air.

May really just be dust/crumbs stuck under there. This should do the trick though.

Usually caused by swollen battery pressing on the underside of the trackpad.

You can remove and try and bend the battery outwards for a temporary fix, but

new battery is the only permanent fix.

I cant believe PRAM reset worked …

Mine stopped working on a very new laptop. I am confident no crumbs or dust was a factor. Turned upside down tapped around no joy. Blowing did not work, paper did not do anything. After few days, decided to give a try to PRAM reset and that worked :) Makes no sense to me but started working right after the reset, give it a try before putting WD40 on it.

PRAM reset plug in power and shut off. HOLD Command + Option + P + R, while holding press power few times and you’ll hear a chime.

Having dealt with A1181 button issues for many years now, I've found the situation often cannot be resolved, but the first and most effective step to take is to remove the battery (and make sure the battery isn't swollen -- that will cause a problem in itself) and firmly press up on either side of the button from inside the battery cavity. This will usually cause a cracking sound, as a seal formed by years of gunk buildup is broken. This alone will often restore the "click" to a "soft" button.

If that doesn't help, take a look at the underside of the button -- you'll see there is a strip of metal down the center of the button. Take a pair of tweezers and slip the flat end into the small space between the left side of the button and the metal strip, and then pry slightly, making the small space first about 1mm, and then if that doesn't do it try 2mm. This reduces resistance between the left side of the button and the "clicker mechanism" and often restores usability.

But if that doesn't help, it's most likely a lost cause. These topcases are flimsy, and the more you mess with them , the less the chance they are ever going to work again.

Also, as one final thing to try, put the battery back in and see if the push of the battery against the underside of the button helps -- sometimes it does. OEM batteries are best for this since they tend to be thicker.

I thought I would be the odd one out and have to say the blowing didn't work. Instead, I get to say that the blowing was the first step. Then some (unintentional) gentle pressure unlocked it with a click sound as I resorted to having to use the right bottom pad only. Voila! All better now!

Finding this response, after my wife's MacBook core duo did the same thing, and discovering the remedy recommended was to replace the whole top cover, I tried the lub fix.

I took out the battery and hard drive and got a can of WD40 with a straw nozzle. Holding the computer upside down, front lowered and slanted away from the hard drive compartment, flushed the click from the back side with several busts under both sides of the click. I wiped it down with paper towel, cut 1/4" strips of paper and ran them back and forth under the click cover - again on the back side- until they came out dry. Wife says works fine.

What do you have to loose?

Elkhorn 10/4/12

PS Site managers; Would be helpful to have a component list with directive to whether replaceable and in which procedure one should look for instructions. Wondered around a couple of hours and did not find out what to do about replacement until finally I found this hint when I went to send in a question. You helped me with screen replacement on this one and Keep up good work.

This issue just popped up again for me on another MacBook Pro.

Always check the battery first... swollen battery. Replaced it and the trackpad is back to normal.

My trackpad has been stuck before I think it got stiff because of the cold, I blew on it and it worked. Now it’s jammed again at the bottom in the middle. It doesn’t make a “click” noise. I can move the mouse around but can’t “click” on anything unless I hit the right spot with a lot of pressure… tried the paper and it didn’t work pretty sure I got a little piece stuck In there now.. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to take my computer apart, afraid I won’t be able to put it back together lol

blowing or papper didnt work for me

what did work was getting a vacuum cleaner and sucking the trackpad back up and/or pressing the vacuum against the trackpad and sucking up around the edges

My macbook air 11inch has a jammed trackpad and I used the method where i slide a piece of paper around the trackpad but it doesn't work. I also tried the blowing method but it didn't work any other solutions.

Blowing worked for me too !!

A small piece of paper, sliding back and forth under the track pad usually does the trick . This has worked for me several times- plus using compressed air is the “ Final Topping “ . Good Luck !

After years of mainly clicking on the front of the trackpad I realized I could hardly move the back part at all. Just massaged it out with clicks working my way towards the back. The whole things working better now.

This didn't work at all I tried for ages. seems nothing stuck under it? I'm also very clean and make sure I don't get food and dust near my laptop, oh and it's only 3 weeks old.

If using the corner of a thin piece of A4 copy paper doesn’t work , then keep spraying with compressed air. If not then the track pad should be replaced . Good Luck : ) !