Does anyone else's computer do this annoying thing?

Is this a laptop? Whenever I try to type on other peoples’ laptops, my fat hand always ends up sliding across the trackpad, which causes the issues you describe.

And is this an issue that only occurs while typing? Or, if you stepped back from the computer and didn’t touch anything, would the mouse cursor still act up?

Yes it’s a laptop. It was fine for three years, and I don’t think my hands have changed dramatically. It’s only while typing, yes.

I was thinking what @Sarcasm said.

Most trackpads can be locked if you’re not going to use it for a while. There may be a function in your hardware tools to change the sensitivity too.

It’s definitely not the trackpad. I suspected that and have been very careful not to touch it since this problem started.

Turn the trackpad off while typing if it affects you.

Try turning it off anyway. It maybe a hardware glitch with the trackpad. If turning it off solves the problem, get the trackpad looked at. Otherwise…. I dunno.

Laptop keypads do wear out. One of the signs is a cursor that slowly drifts across the screen sometimes regardless of what is happening with the mouse or trackpad. It may be time for a keypad replacement (they’re relatively cheap) or an upgrade to a new laptop.

The other sign that I saw, and the one that finally required that I had to replace the keypad (because the drifting cursor was something I could and did live with for a few weeks) was the utter failure of the center keys: 8 – i – j – m (I think) to register while typing or entering menu commands via keypress.

So I’d be looking at your keypad itself as the culprit here.

Spray some compressed air on the keyboard or carefully vacuum. There might be some junk under one of the keys.
Another possibility is a slightly loose keyboard. Turn off your laptop and turn it over. Look for the 4 screws with a“k” (for keyboard) next to them. Tighten them with a small Phillips (+) screwdriver. Heck, while you’re at it, tighten them all. They probably can use it.

@sliceswiththings Despite how careful you may think you are, all it takes is just the lightest tap on the trackpad.
If the problem exclusively happens while typing, then that suggests it’s an issue with the keyboard. So, logically, you could disable trackpad (as other suggest) and plug in an external mouse, and the problem should still persist. That’s a fairly easy test to do, rather than having to take apart pieces of the laptop.

That’s also happened to me while using a laptop, I’m pretty sure that it was just my wrist accidentally hitting the trackpad, but it happens periodically while I’m writing on one. Trackpads are extremely sensitive, so you might not even be aware if you’re accidentally hitting it.

As others have said, I’d suggest disabling the trackpad even if you don’t think it’s the problem, so you could at least rule out that possibility completely if you’re right.

Yes this happens to my laptop as well. I think my hand hits the trackpad and it locks and highlights the words,

This recently started happening with my computer. I had a virus on the laptop, but thankfully it didn’t invade any of my files and the technician was able to remove the virus and didn’t have to re-install anything. That was 2 weeks ago and I’ve been having this problem with the typing ever since. It is usually when I type the letter u or o that it happens. Then the cursor suddenly and randomly moves to another line (without touching the typepad) or else a block of type becomes highlighted. I’m a pretty good and fast typist, but ever since this business started, I’ve had to correct and correct. So I apologize for some of the typos you may have seen in my answers. I’ll try the tightening of the screws like @worriedguy said, otherwise, not sure what to do about it.

Thanks, @Kardamom, I’ll have to keep an eye out for what keys provoke mine!