Reviewed July 2026

Every Mac setting that helps a hand tremor.

All of these are free and built into your Mac. They take about ten minutes together. This guide walks through each one in plain words, says honestly how much it helps, and is clear about the one thing settings cannot do.

1. Make the pointer bigger.

System Settings, then Accessibility, then Display, then Pointer size. Two notches larger makes the pointer far easier to track with your eyes, which quietly reduces the urge to overcorrect with your hand.

2. Turn off "Shake mouse pointer to locate."

Same screen: Accessibility, then Display. This feature enlarges the pointer when it moves quickly back and forth. It was designed for finding a lost cursor, but with a tremor it fires constantly and the ballooning pointer becomes its own distraction. Nearly everyone with shaky hands should turn it off.

3. Give double-clicks more time.

Accessibility, then Pointer Control, then Double-click speed: one notch slower. Tremor makes the two clicks of a double-click land slightly apart. This setting stops the Mac from treating them as two separate clicks.

4. Ease the tracking speed.

System Settings, then Mouse or Trackpad, then Tracking speed. Slower makes small targets reachable. The trade-off is real: too slow and crossing the screen becomes a chore. One notch at a time, and stop when small links stop escaping.

5. Color the pointer outline.

Accessibility, then Display, then pointer outline and fill colors. A high-contrast outline keeps the pointer visible against every background, which matters more when it is in motion.

Worth knowing about, sometimes useful.

• Mouse Keys (Accessibility, then Pointer Control, then Alternative Control Methods) moves the pointer with the keyboard instead of the mouse. Slow but steady; some people use it just for precise final positioning.
• Sticky Keys and Slow Keys (Accessibility, then Keyboard) help when holding key combinations is hard or when keys repeat by accident.
• Dwell and alternative pointer actions (Accessibility, then Pointer Control, then Alternative Control Methods) can click for you, though the built-in version is aimed at people using head pointers and takes patience to configure.
• Spring-loading delay affects how folders pop open while dragging. Longer is calmer.

The honest limit of all of this.

Every setting above changes how the Mac responds to movement. None of them changes the movement itself: if your hand trembles, the pointer still traces that tremble across the screen. That last step is what TrueCursor does. It learns your movement automatically as you use it and quiets the shake in the cursor while everything deliberate goes through. The trial is free for 30 days, and it works alongside every setting on this page.