After downloading Big Sur, open programs become repeatedly inactive during use

Question

Level 1

8 points

After downloading Big Sur, open programs become repeatedly inactive during use

I recently downloaded Big Sur on my MacBook Air (2018). Now when I'm in the middle of using any program (Safari, Word, Mail, ZOOM, etc.), it becomes "inactive". I don't know how else to describe it. For example, I've been typing this question here in Safari and 12 times so far I've had to re-click in this text box to finish describing my problem. I'll be typing and suddenly the program isn't accepting my typing anymore. The menu bar shows I'm still in that program, but I have to re-click the box/document to continue working. It's annoying and VERY time-consuming. It's only started since downloading Big Sur. I've even slowed my typing down to make sure I'm not hitting another key. I'm not sure if it is an update problem, or something worse! Has anyone else experienced these types of problems? Any help would be appreciated!!

MacBook

Posted on Dec 6, 2020 06:17 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TheLittles

Level 10

201,431 points

Dec 6, 2020 03:33 PM in response to lorie57

lorie57 Said:

"After downloading Big Sur, open programs become repeatedly inactive during use"

-------

Create a New User:

See what happens when you create a new Administrator User? Do you still get this error? If so, then it is a misconfiguration in the current user. If not, then you may need to reset something.

Safe Mode:

Boo into Safe Mode, wait 30 seconds once logged in, shutdown the Mac, and then log in as normal. In Safe Mode, login items do not run, and corrupt system files(caches) are fixed. So, see if that fixes this. To boot into Safe Mode, hold down the shift key upon boot.

Reply

Answer 2

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,492 points

Dec 6, 2020 03:15 PM in response to lorie57

You might be surprised how light a brush the heel of your hand has to make on the trackpad to move the cursor to another part of the screen. You should at least give it a try to see if it helps. I've turned it off on my Macbook Air and it's made a world of difference.

It's highly unlikely that it's a problem with Big Sur.

Reply

Answer 3

TheLittles

Level 10

201,431 points

Dec 7, 2020 11:38 AM in response to lorie57

Lorie57 Said:

"After downloading Big Sur, open programs become repeatedly inactive during use: Thank you, thank you, TheLittles!!! Safe Mode solved my problem! I forgot about that option until you mentioned it here. Thanks again!"

-------

You are welcome.

Reply

Answer 4

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,492 points

Dec 6, 2020 06:36 AM in response to lorie57

You're probably getting an unintentional click by touching the trackpad while you're typing. Try turning off Tap to Click in Trackpad preferences Change Trackpad preferences on Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 5

lorie57 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 6, 2020 06:39 AM in response to SeaPapp

Thanks for your input, Mike, but that's not the problem. Sometime I'm pausing to think about what to type next, not EVEN touching the keyboard or pad, and it happens.

Reply

Answer 6

lorie57 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 7, 2020 11:35 AM in response to TheLittles

Thank you, thank you, TheLittles!!! Safe Mode solved my problem! I forgot about that option until you mentioned it here. Thanks again!

Reply

After downloading Big Sur, open programs become repeatedly inactive during use

Similar questions