In short: a tremor turns typing into a fight with the keyboard. Your Mac can help: Slow Keys ignores brief accidental presses, a longer key-repeat delay stops doubled letters, and a slower double-click speed and tracking speed make the pointer easier to control. For writing, the biggest change is to stop typing: dictation turns what you say into text, and it doesn’t care whether your hands are steady.
This guide is about computer settings, whatever the cause of the tremor (essential tremor, Parkinson’s, medication or something else). It isn’t medical advice. Talk to your doctor about the tremor itself, and to an occupational therapist about equipment such as adapted mice and keyboards.
Why typing is so hard with a tremor
Keyboards and mice are built for small, precise, steady movements, which is exactly what a tremor takes away. The usual problems are:
- Wrong keys, when a finger lands next to the one you aimed for.
- Doubled letters (“thhe”), when a finger bounces or rests a moment too long.
- Missed clicks and drags, when the pointer moves just as you click.
- Fatigue, because steadying your hands takes effort, and the corrections mean even more typing.
Each of these has a setting that helps. To open settings, click the Apple logo in the top-left corner and choose System Settings. The steps are for recent macOS (Tahoe 26).
Keyboard: ignore the presses you didn’t mean
- Slow Keys (Accessibility > Keyboard): a key only counts after it’s been held for a moment. Brief, accidental touches are ignored. Adjust the Acceptance delay: longer filters more bumps, but every key needs a slightly longer press.
- Key repeat (System Settings > Keyboard): make Delay until repeat longer so a finger that lingers doesn’t produce “sssss”.
- Sticky Keys (Accessibility > Keyboard): press shortcut keys one after another instead of holding two keys at once. Holding two keys still is harder than pressing one.
Mouse and trackpad: a steadier pointer
- Double-click speed (Accessibility > Pointer Control): slow it down, so a double-click doesn’t need two quick, perfectly placed clicks.
- Tracking speed (System Settings > Mouse or Trackpad > Point & Click): a slower speed means a shake moves the pointer less. Try a few settings.
- Pointer size (Accessibility > Display > Pointer): a bigger pointer is easier to keep track of.
- Zoom (Accessibility > Zoom): bigger targets are easier to hit. With keyboard shortcuts turned on, Option-Command-plus zooms in and Option-Command-minus zooms out.
- Mouse Keys (Accessibility > Pointer Control): moves the pointer with keys instead of the mouse, one step at a time. You can’t type text while it’s on.
- Head pointer (Accessibility > Pointer Control): moves the pointer as you move your head, using the Mac’s camera.
Some people with tremors use adapted mice, including weighted ones, or a trackball that stays put while you roll it. An occupational therapist can help you choose and try one before you buy.
Writing: talk instead of type
Dictation takes your hands out of writing. You press one key, say what you want to write, press it again, and the text appears in any email, message or document. One key press replaces hundreds of small, precise ones.
- Free: Apple Dictation. Turn it on in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, and choose a shortcut that suits you, like the Microphone key. Step-by-step guide.
- VybeScript (paid). One tap of the Control key starts recording and another tap stops it. You don’t need to hold anything down while you talk, and Control is easy to find on the bottom row, at the left. Its default Clean style also removes “um”s and repeated words, so there’s less to fix by hand afterwards.
- Whole Mac by voice: Apple’s free Voice Control (Accessibility > Voice Control) lets you click and open things by speaking. Standard Dictation is off while it’s on.
Here’s the difference in practice. You say:
“Dear Anne, um, thank you for the the lovely flowers. They made my whole week.”
With the Clean style, VybeScript writes:
“Dear Anne, thank you for the lovely flowers. They made my whole week.”
Nothing to aim at, nothing to correct.
VybeScript needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and there’s a 14-day free trial with no card. Apple Dictation works on every Mac. Which to use? See Apple Dictation vs a dictation app.
Habits that help
- Ask about arm support. An occupational therapist can suggest how to position your arms, chair and desk.
- Draft by voice, then read once. Fix only what matters.
- Teach it your names. Add names that come out wrong to VybeScript’s Settings → Vocabulary so you never have to retype them.
- Use the accessibility shortcut (Option-Command-F5) to switch features like Slow Keys on and off on days when the tremor is better or worse.
Settings checked against Apple’s macOS Tahoe 26 guide on 2026-11-04: keyboard accessibility, Pointer Control, tracking speed.
Keep going
- Mac setup checklist for arthritis: many of the same settings, for stiff hands.
- Using a Mac without a keyboard or mouse
- Mac tips for seniors
- How to write an email by voice