The mouse or touch pad is an essential piece of hardware that is used to navigate folders, launch programs and access a computer's right or left-click options. Sometimes, users may face issues where the mouse or touch pad starts moving around erratically, and merely pointing the cursor on an icon causes the program to launch automatically. This issue is also known as an automatic click issue.

The most common cause of this problem is an outdated driver. Luckily, updating the old driver is a quick fix that should get your mouse working correctly again.

Fix Automatic Click Issues on Mouse

Right-click on My Computer on your desktop. In the window that appears, do a left-click on the Hardware tab. Then left-click on the Device Manager option.

Scroll down the list of Device items and left-click on the + sign located to the left of Mice and other pointing devices.

Under the Mice and other pointing devices heading, you should see a list of all drivers currently in use for your active touchpad and computer mouses. Right-click on the driver name and then left-click Update driver to update it.

Follow the update instructions to update your driver, and then reboot your computer to finish the installation.

For Macs

If you are having a similar problem on a Mac where your trackpad is moving the cursor and clicking when you have a mouse attached, you can temporarily disable the trackpad.

To do so go to System Preferences and then to the Accessibility menu. Once here go down to the Mouse and Trackpad settings and select Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present.

You will now be able to use your mouse without any unwanted interference from the trackpad.

Image: © Domenico Loia - Unsplasom