Nothing can be more annoying than having to work with a slow and lagging mouse, especially when you are trying to meet a deadline and working under pressure to get things done on your MacBook.
In many cases, the issue of a Mouse being Slow or lagging in performance ends up simply being due to the batteries being weak or due to the Laser opening being partially blocked by dirt/debris.
If these issues are ruled out, the problem could be due to incorrect mouse settings, interference from USB 3 or Bluetooth devices and other reasons.
Fix Slow and Lagging Mouse on Mac
You can find below the steps to fix the problem of a Mouse being slow or lagging in performance on a MacBook, Mac Mini and iMac.
1. Examine Mouse and Mouse Pad
Take a good look at back of the Mouse and make sure the Laser opening is clean and not being blocked by dirt/debris.
Also, clean the Mouse Pad and make sure that it is not worn out or dirty, which is another reason for the mouse not functioning properly on a MacBook.
2. Replace Batteries
As mentioned above, the reason for the Mouse being slow and lagging in performance on your MacBook could simply be due to the Batteries losing their power.
You can easily confirm this by replacing the current battery on your Mouse with a New battery and see if it helps in fixing the problem.
3. Restart Mac
Stuck programs and processes can interfering with proper functioning of the Mouse.
1. Click on Apple Logo in top-menu bar and select the Restart option in the drop down menu.
2. Patiently wait for your Mac to completely Shut Down.
3. After 30 seconds Restart the Mac.
4. Unplug USB Connected Devices
In many cases, the problem of a Mouse getting stuck, becoming slow or not working properly on Mac is due to interference from USB 3.0 devices.
Hence, remove all USB connected devices from Mac (except Mouse & Keyboard) > Restart the MacBook and see if this improves the performance of Mouse.
5. Change USB Port
It is possible that the particular USB Port on your Mac to which the Mouse or Mouse Receiver is connected to is not working properly.
You can rule out this possibility by plugging the Mouse into another USB Port on your Mac and monitoring its performance.
Note: If you are using a USB Hub, remove the Mouse from USB Hub and plug it directly into the USB Port.
6. Disable Handoff Feature
Some users have reported fixing the slow mouse problem by disabling the Handoff feature on Mac.
1. Click on Apple icon in top-menu bar and select System Settings in the dropdown menu.
2. From System Settings screen, go to General and uncheck Allow handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices option.
7. Disable Bluetooth
As mentioned above, interference from other Bluetooth devices is another reason for slow or laggy performance of the Mouse on a MacBook.
1. Click on Bluetooth icon (top-right corner) and select Turn OFF Bluetooth option.
2. After disabling Bluetooth, disconnect the Mouse from Mac and wait for 30 seconds.
3. After 30 seconds, connect the Mouse back to your MacBook.
You can enable Bluetooth back on your Mac, after the Mouse starts working properly. If it is a plug-and-play mouse, it should work without Bluetooth.
8. Adjust Tracking & Scrolling Speed
If you find that the cursor is dragging or moving slowly, the problem is most likely due to the tracking speed of the Mouse being set to a low value.
1. Click on Apple icon in top-menu bar and select System Settings in the drop-down menu.
2. From System Settings screen, go to Mouse and adjust Tracking and Scrolling Speed by moving the slider to right.
After this, start using the Mouse and see if it feels faster than before.
9. Reset NVRAM
NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory) stores the settings of the Keyboard, Mouse and all other External devices connected to a MacBook.
Hence, there is always the possibility of the slow mouse response on your MacBook being due the NVRAM being corrupted.
Luckily, it is not difficult to Reset NVRAM on a MacBook and you can find the steps to Reset NVRAM in this guide: How to Reset NVRAM or PRAM on Mac.