TurboTax mouse not working: fixing clicks, cursor and scroll bars

Why the TurboTax mouse is not working: match the symptom

Before changing settings, confirm the mouse works everywhere else. Move it over the taskbar or another app. If it responds there, the problem is inside TurboTax, and the symptom tells you which fix to use.

A cursor that turns into a spinning circle is not an input fault. TurboTax is recalculating, saving or updating. Give it a few minutes; if it never recovers, follow TurboTax keeps crashing.

Can't click in TurboTax: display scaling and resolution

The most common reason you can't click in TurboTax is that the button you need has been pushed off the visible screen. Windows scaling of 125% or 150% is the default on many laptops, and it enlarges TurboTax's windows too. A pop-up that is taller than the screen hides its Continue button, so every click seems to do nothing.

1. Close TurboTax.
2. Open Settings, System, Display.
3. Under Scale, choose 100%.
4. Check that Display resolution is set to the value marked Recommended.
5. Sign out of Windows and back in so the change applies everywhere, then open TurboTax.

Intuit recommends a monitor of 1024x768 or higher for TurboTax Desktop. A lower resolution, or an old projector or TV used as a screen, can cut off dialog boxes. If text looks too small at 100%, raise it to 125% once you are past the stuck screen.

TurboTax scroll bar missing

On a Mac, a missing scroll bar is usually a macOS setting rather than a TurboTax fault. macOS hides scroll bars until you start scrolling. Open the Apple menu, System Settings, Appearance and set Show scroll bars to Always. The bar then stays visible in TurboTax forms.

In Windows Forms mode, users in Intuit's community report that the mouse wheel and Page Down can stop working once you click inside certain forms. Closing the form with the X at its top right, reopening it and scrolling before you click in a field brings scrolling back.

Keyboard moves that work when the mouse does not

• Tab moves to the next field or button; Shift+Tab moves back.
• Enter activates the highlighted button, including a Continue button you cannot see.
• Page Down and Page Up scroll the current screen or form.
• Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command+Tab (Mac) brings back a pop-up hidden behind the main window.

TurboTax cursor not working in TurboTax Online

TurboTax Online runs in your browser, so the browser's zoom and add-ons control what you can click. A page zoomed to 150% can hide the Continue button just like Windows scaling does.

1. Press Ctrl+0 on Windows or Command+0 on a Mac to reset zoom to 100%.
2. Open a private or incognito window and sign in there; this runs without most extensions.
3. If clicks work in the private window, turn off ad blockers, password managers and translation extensions one at a time in your normal window.
4. Clear the browser cache and cookies, then sign in again.
5. Try a different, up-to-date browser.

If the whole site fails to load, rather than just ignoring clicks, see TurboTax website not working.

Graphics driver and touch screen settings

If scaling and zoom are fine and TurboTax Desktop still ignores clicks, update the graphics driver. Intuit's Windows troubleshooting list includes updating hardware drivers and running Windows Update. A current display driver rules out drawing problems where a click lands somewhere other than where the button appears.

On touch screen laptops, plug in a USB mouse or use the trackpad while you work in TurboTax. If a mouse also fails, save your return and restart the computer before trying again.

Still stuck on a Mac where the app also misbehaves at launch? See TurboTax won't open on Mac. A problem that appeared right after the new edition's updates may be fixed by a later one; when will TurboTax be updated explains how updates roll out, and when does TurboTax come out covers the next edition. The TurboTax Desktop troubleshooting hub lists every other symptom.