Why does my text cursor jump around documents?

Q  When I’m typing, whether in Microsoft Word or an email, the text-entry cursor will jump to a different part of the text, so I end up typing text in the wrong place. It seems to follow no logic, though it does seem to happen quite often when I pause typing (but by no means always).

I’ve tried disabling all the mouse and pointer options, one by one, and using a different mouse, but this has made no difference. I thought it might be a virus, but repeated scans with my Kaspersky software have all come up clean.

Do you have any suggestions? I’m using a laptop with Windows 7.
Julie de Burgh

A  This apparently causeless problem crops up a few times each year in the No Problem mailbag. However, there is usually no mystery to it.

In our experience, almost all sufferers are laptop users and the reason it happens is related to the fact that most laptops have touchpad control panels slap-bang in the middle of their wrist-rests, right below the keyboard.

A mere brush from a palm heel or wayward thumb can be enough to command the text-entry cursor to leap to a different part of the document. That the problem seems to coincide with times when you have paused typing supports this hypothesis: taking a moment to think is precisely when your hands and fingers are likely to move from their typing positions.

In most cases, the problem can be alleviated or eliminated by altering the touchpad’s settings in Control Panel, or just disabling it entirely.

To do this in Windows 7, click Start followed by Control Panel, then click Hardware and Sound followed by Mouse. This displays the Mouse Properties dialogue box and what to do next depends on the specific type of touchpad.

You didn’t tell us anything at all about your laptop so we can’t be specific, but look for a button or tab that relates to the touchpad and then see what options are available. Often, there will be sensitivity settings that can be adjust to make the touchpad less susceptible to accidental input.

To be fair, you did mention having tried all the mouse and pointer options (though not specifically touchpad options). So, if all else has failed, try disabling the touchpad and relying on a mouse for control and input instead.