MacOS – Mac OS X Terminal mouse reporting

macosmouseterminal

I don't know why this is bothering me but I've been pressing Cmd-R to refresh my browser and today I mistakenly pressed this combination while using the terminal.

I came across an option known as "Mouse Reporting". What is it? Is it on by default in OS X? How do I reset the terminal to defaults (including mouse reporting)?

Best Answer

To my knowledge it is turned off by default. However, all it allows is for applications run in the Terminal to see the position of your mouse cursor. This could be useful for things like games where you use your mouse. So in most cases, it simply does not matter.

To turn off Mouse Reporting, just press Cmd-R again.

However, if you really want to reset your Terminal preferences:

  • First quit the Terminal, then open the Finder.
  • Press Cmd-Shift-G and type ~/Library into the bar that appears
  • Press go.
  • Find the Preferences folder, then find the file called com.apple.Terminal.plist.
  • Drag it into the trash, then empty the trash.

Your terminal should be back to factory settings.