Mouse acceleration is an ergonomic feature in both macOS and Windows operating systems (OS). While the speed setting is beneficial, it can affect your precision in gaming applications. This is particularly the case for first-person shooter games. 

For enhanced precision, and control, you need to disable the mouse acceleration feature on your Mac computer. Disabling acceleration settings will also allow for a faster refresh rate (FPS), for an improved gaming experience. 

Throughout this guide, you will learn the various methods you can use to disable mouse acceleration in macOS devices. 

Disabling mouse acceleration settings on Mac will give you better control and enhanced precision, especially when you are playing video games. In macOS, you can disable mouse acceleration from the System Settings. 

Alternatively, you could run several commands on the Terminal to disable this feature, as described later in this guide. 

What is Mouse Acceleration? 

This is the ratio of the pixels a pointer moves on the screen to the actual distance covered by the mouse on your desk. It is essentially a speed setting that determines the rate of movement of the mouse pointer on your screen. When activated, this feature accelerates mouse movement such that the pointer moves a bit faster in relation to the actual movement of the mouse. 

When the mouse acceleration setting is On, the mouse pointer or cursor will travel a distance greater than that moved my mouse—and at a faster speed. Such a capability will come in handy if you happen to have limited space on your desk for the mouse. 

When mouse acceleration is turned off in Mac, the mouse cursor or pointer on your screen will travel at a ratio of 1:1, to the actual mouse movement. In other words, the cursor/pointer will travel the same distance covered by the mouse on your desk and at the same speed. 

Why Do You Need to Disable Mouse Acceleration in Mac? 

Some applications on your Mac computer require high precision and consistent mouse control. Such applications include Battle Royale games like Fortnite and first-person shooter games like Counterstrike.

Just as is the case with the Windows operating system, the mouse acceleration feature is enabled by default on various Apple computers, including Mac. 

In addition to improved precision and control in-game, disabling this feature has also been proven to enhance the game FPS rate. This, in turn, allows for more consistent and predictable mouse movements while you are playing video games on the PC. 

This may be the edge you need to ace the CS GO or Overwatch and move on to the next rank. 

Though beneficial when used in other applications, the mouse acceleration feature can have a significant effect on your gaming performance and experience. To eliminate all instances of mouse acceleration on your Mac computer, you need to disable it both on the OS, and in-game settings. 

Discussed below are some of the most effective methods and steps you can use to disable mouse acceleration on Mac: 

Method 1: Disable Mouse Acceleration From System Settings 

Having stated your Mac computer and logged into the OS, click on the Apple icon on the desktop to bring up the Apple Menu. Next, navigate to ‘System Preferences’ then select the ‘Mouse’ option from this settings menu. 

This should display several mouse settings options, such as Secondary Click, Tracking Speed, and Scroll Direction settings. Lowering the Tracking Speed settings on this window should reduce the effect of mouse acceleration on Mac OS X. This setting determines how fast the pointer follows actual mouse movements. 

However, his method will not really disable mouse acceleration on your Mac computer. To disable this feature once and for all, you should use any of the methods discussed below. 

Method 2: Turn Off Mouse Acceleration Using the Terminal 

You can run a series of commands on your Terminal to disable the mouse acceleration feature in Mac OS X. In this regard, here are the steps you need to follow: 

Step 1: Open the Terminal on your Mac computer—from the Utility folder in Applications. Alternatively, you could just press the Command + Spacebar keys combination on your keyboard to open the Spotlight Search bar.

Now type Terminal into this search bar then press the Enter key to run the search. Select Terminal—the first entry on the search results—to launch the utility tool.

Step 2: Check the current mouse acceleration setting on your computer by running the following command (Just type the command into the Terminal and then press the Enter key on the keyboard to run it):

defaults read .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling

This will display a hidden preference setting that you can change by altering the number at the end. If the mouse acceleration feature is enabled, the above command should display a value between 0 and 3. This is the value that is altered when you move the ‘Tracking Speed’ slider, as mentioned in Method 1 above. 

By default, values 0 ~ 3 will not disable the acceleration, but rather determine how fast it is. To disable the mouse acceleration feature on Mac, you should change this value to -1, as described in the following step. 

Step 3: Now enter the following command into the Terminal and then press the Enter key on the keyboard to run it: 

defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1

Running this command will disable the mouse acceleration feature on your Mac, but fix tracking speed for the mouse to a constant, predefined value. This means that you will be locked to the same mouse sensitivity after running this command. 

Step 4: Finally, you need to log out then back in for these changes to take effect. Alternatively, you could just restart the computer. 

Note: Altering the ‘Tracking Speed’ setting under ‘System Preferences’—as described in method 1 above, will automatically reactivate the mouse acceleration feature. 

Method 3: Run the Kill Mac OS X Mouse Acceleration Command-Line

If you would rather have a linear mouse response experience on Mac OS X, you need to disable mouse acceleration. This can also be achieved by running the kill Mac OS X mouse acceleration command-line available at ktwit.net.  

To begin with, you need to open the Terminal, as described in method 1 above. Next, download the free command-line script by Chris by running the following command on the Terminal: 

macpro:~ user$ curl -O http://ktwit.net/code/killmouseaccel

Once this command has been executed, you need to turn the killmouseaccel script you just downloaded into an executable file. To do this, run the following command on the Terminal (running a command means entering the command into the Terminal window then pressing the Enter key to execute it):

macpro:~ user$ chmod +x killmouseaccel

Thereafter, you need to run the following command on the Terminal: 

macpro:~ user$ ./killmouseaccel mouse

This should disable all mouse acceleration settings on your Mac computer.

Method 4: Disable Mouse Acceleration Using Third-Party Apps 

You may also use a third-party utility tool like SteerMouse or Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane to disable mouse acceleration settings on Mac.

The procedure to use, in this regard, will depend on the application you decide to use. The various apps offer different features and capabilities. 

With this free tool, you will also be able to customize mouse sensitivity, even when with the acceleration setting disabled—which I not possible with any of the above-described methods.

To use the app, you first need to download it from the official developer’s website. Alternatively, you could run the following command on the Terminal to download SteerMouse: 

brew install –cask steermouse

Having installed the application, you should launch it and configure it accordingly to disable mouse acceleration settings. In this regard, you should set acceleration settings to 0 to disable the feature. You should then configure the sensitivity and cursor settings to your preferred values. 

Method 5: Disable In-game Mouse Acceleration Settings on Mac 

In addition to disabling the mouse acceleration settings on the operating system, you also need to turn the feature off on your preferred game. This will improve your precision and control in some of the most preferred first-person shooter games.

The right procedure for turning off in-game mouse acceleration settings varies from one game to another, as illustrated below: 

How to Disable In-Game Mouse Acceleration in CS: GO

Launch the CS: GO game on Mac then click on the cog icon within the main menu to open Settings. Next, navigate to Keyboard/Mouse > Keyboard & Mouse Settings. Now you need to toggle the ‘Raw Input’ option ON, then set the ‘Mouse Acceleration’ option to Off. 

Once you are done, close the window and relaunch the game to save the changes. 

How to Disable In-Game Mouse Acceleration on FALLOUT 4

Navigate to Documents>My Games>Fallout4 folder and open the Fallout4.ini file. Next, you should scroll down to [Controls]. You need to add the following code just below the [Controls] entry: 

bMouseAcceleration=0

Now navigate back to the Fallout4 folder and open the Fallout4Prefs.ini file. Scroll down until you find the  [Display] entry and add the following code just below it: 

bForceIgnoreSmoothness=1

You can now close the Fallout4 folder and navigate to the installation folder for the game—usually located on C:\Program Files [x86]\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4\Fallout4. Find the [Display]entry and add the following line just below it: 

bForceIgnoreSmoothness=1

This should automatically disable the Fallout 4 in-game mouse acceleration settings on your Mac. 

How to Disable In-Game Mouse Acceleration in BLACK OPS 2

Find the Black Ops 2 game on your Steam Library, right-click on it, and select Properties from the context menu that pops up. From the Properties window, select ‘SET LAUNCH OPTIONS’. You should then enter the following code: 

 –noforcemaccel –noforcemparms

Finally, click on the OK button to save the changes then close the window. You should also consider closing Razer Synapse on your computer as it can re-enable the in-game mouse acceleration settings in Black Ops 2. 

How to Disable In-Game Mouse Acceleration in FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

Find the Fallout_default.ini file in the game’s installation folder—should be located in C:\Program Files [x86]\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas by default. Now find the [Controls] entry in the Fallout_default.ini file and enter the following lines just below it:

fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0

fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0

fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0

fForegroundMouseMult=0

Once you are done, save the file and close the folder. This will turn off in-game mouse acceleration in Mac. 

How to Disable In-Game Mouse Acceleration in SKYRIM

Open the SkyrimPrefs.ini in the game’s installation folder—by default, this should be located in \Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\Skyrim. Next, scroll down to the [Controls] entry and change the bMouseAcceleration=1 line just below it to bMouseAcceleration=0.

Finally, save the file and close the folder. 

Final Verdict 

Mouse acceleration is a standard speed setting that determines the speed at which the pointer moves across the screen in relation to the distance moved by the mouse. Despite being a handy feature in many Mac applications, mouse acceleration can affect your precision and control in gaming applications. 

You can disable this setting from the system settings or by running a series of commands on the Terminal utility. You may also use your preferred third-party app to disable mouse acceleration in Mac. 

In addition to disabling acceleration on the OS, you should also consider disabling in-game mouse acceleration settings as discussed in this guide.  Free free to check our post about Mouse Lag in rainbow six.