peterpatter Author

Level 1

9 points

How to disable 'Open on Hovering'

How do I disable the cursor from opening things when the arrow hovers over them? It is most annoying with my reasonably new MB Air (Monterey), which I now detest. As things are now, I am nervous of hovering over anything while I decide if I want to open it, or not.

This 'open on hover' is very annoying and not needed. How do I disable it so it doesn't come back with a future update? Incidentally, this only happens to one of the two persons who log in to the MB Air.

MacBook Air 13″, 12.6

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 12:34 AM

Reply

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

135,521 points

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 5:29 AM

FWIW, in the off chance you actually meant how to disable spring-loading folders, uncheck "Spring-loading delay:" in System Preferences > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Mouse & Trackpad.

View in context

Similar questions

7 replies

Top-ranking reply

Level 10

135,521 points

Oct 15, 2022 5:29 AM in response to peterpatter

FWIW, in the off chance you actually meant how to disable spring-loading folders, uncheck "Spring-loading delay:" in System Preferences > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Mouse & Trackpad.

Reply

Level 10

135,521 points

Oct 15, 2022 4:45 AM in response to peterpatter

FWIW, there is no "open on Hovering" feature. It sounds like you may be applying too much pressure on the Trackpad. Either use a lighter touch or, disable "Force Click…" in System Preferences > Trackpad.

Reply

peterpatter Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 15, 2022 10:47 PM in response to Owl-53

Thanks P. Phillips, "Enable Hover Text" was not ticked, so that wasn't my problem.

I then unticked all boxes in "Dwell" and set the dwell time to max of 8 seconds.

That seems to have removed the nuisance of items opening with pointer hovering.

Do 'hover' and 'dwell' have the same meaning in Apple's special dictionary?

I've been an Apple user since 2008, but Steve Jobs's mantra of "it just works" doesn't seem to apply.

Reply

Level 10

102,193 points

Oct 15, 2022 4:29 AM in response to peterpatter

System Preferences >> Accessibility

refer to image below

Reply

peterpatter Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 15, 2022 11:04 PM in response to dialabrain

Thanks for the advice. I disabled "Force Click..." in Trackpad and increased the dwell time. This seems to have helped. Pressure was not a problem.

I wish Apple would make things easier and more logical to understand and have a simple on/off toggle swsitch for this hovering nuisance.

Reply

Level 10

102,193 points

Oct 16, 2022 2:29 AM in response to peterpatter

These are my setting.

Never had a " Need " to muck around in there

In the context of " hover " and "dwell " meaning the same thing, reading the " Blurb " in below header of Dwell Image - no

Have been with Apple since about 2004.

The Only issues I have had were usually Self Inflicted through either ignorance or refusing to move with the times.

Reply

peterpatter Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 15, 2022 11:06 PM in response to dialabrain

What is "spring-loading delay". I've unchecked it for good measure.

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How to disable 'Open on Hovering'

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up