Mouse click refusing to "unclick".

Every now and then, seemingly at random, I click on something and then it refuses to ... well ... "unclick". I can move the mouse around. The keyboard still works (eg. shortcuts etc). I can move the mouse pointer outside the virtual machine and it behaves entirely normally there, But inside the virtual machine, the mouse is behaving in every way as if I have not released the mouse button. But I assure you I have. lol. Clicking the physical mouse (or trackpad) again doesn't change anything. It's just stuck. Even moving the mouse outside the virtual machine and back in again (including releasing it with Control-Option if necessary) doesn't fix the problem. I can do anything I like outside the VM. But move the mouse back into the VM and as far as the VM is concerned I never released the mouse button.

The only solution I've found so far is to move the mouse outside the virtual machine and then choose "Restart" from the "Actions" menu. That works as long as there's no dialog in the VM that won't allow a restart. If there is such a dialog, then I've had some limited success pressing command-option-escape to bring up the force quit window, and using arrow keys to navigate to the "dialoged" app and force quitting that - although that hasn't always worked either. Sometimes the only solution I've had to this is to choose "Stop" from the "Actions" menu, which obviously isn't cool.

I'd have to assume this is a bug, but it's very intermittent and I have no idea how to reliably replicate it, so that makes reporting it difficult. I wanted to ask around to find out if anyone else has experienced this before I do report anything, in case those experiences might help.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, have you found a way to "unclick" it?

• Parallels Desktop for Mac v 13.1.1 (43120) as well as a few previous point versions.
• macOS X Sierra and High Sierra guests.
• macOS X High Sierra host.
• New 2017 MacBook Pro 15" maxed out.

 

Hello! I also have this issue sometimes it stuck like I hold mouse and only turn VM off or reboot help.
Sometimes mouse stop responding to a click, keyboard works well and I can use mouse outside VM but if I back to VM I can't use it.
Already sent a lots of reports and have dialog with PD support but they can't fix it till now...problem was since version 12...on MacBook Pro 2011/2017.
Hope one day you will fix mouse issue.

 

I also faced such issue, mouse click is not working and it could be only re-enabled after restart/resume guesting OS.

It's already experienced since Parallel 12, but it's not fixed it yet.

So annoying bugs..

hopefully fix it soon.

 

Has anyone found a solution for this?

As far as I can tell, the only workaround to get the mouse button "unstuck" is to suspend/resume the VM. This has to be done multiple times per day. It seems that since v11, each release has gotten progressively worse and far less stable, with v 13.1.1 bordering on completely unusable. If there truly is no way to actually use the mouse for an extended period in an OSX VM, Parallels is literally of zero value to me ; I'll pursue a refund and investigate alternative products that actually work. But on the other hand, if there's a quick fix, I'd love to hear it. Any ideas?

 

Also still waiting for fix.

 

Same here, only seems to happen on Virtual Macs not Windows VMs. I have experienced this on El Capitan, Sierra and High Sierra versions. It is getting very frustrating having to stop, suspend or restart my VMs every few minutes.

 

Hi all. Please remove Parallels Desktop, reinstall it and check for the issue. If the issue persists, then take a snapshot, shut down Windows, open the virtual machine configuration window, navigate to Hardware -> Mouse & Keyboard, select 'Don't optimize for games' for 'Mouse' and disable 'Mouse pointer sticks at window edges' and 'Smooth scrolling'. Close the window and check for the issue again.

 

Thanks Hemnath, that's solved the problem. Unfortunately my OSX VM failed to boot after the reinstall so I created a new OSX VM. But problem appears to be solved. My Win XP, 7 and 10 VMs have remained unaffected and functional.

 

Hi SusanC2. Glad to know that I was helpful. But in case you see a re-occurrence of the problem (not that I expect it), get back to us and we'll investigate it further. Take care!

 

I have the same problem, and 'Don't optimize for games' for 'Mouse' and disable 'Mouse pointer sticks at window edges' was already set. A similar problem is, that starting a selection in a window does not stop when releasing the mouse button. Parallels is behaving as it would not recognize the "unclick".
A quicker workaround is to switch to a (terminal) window with cmd-tab and enter some text. Then the mouse recovers. However, in 30% of the cases the mouse freezes and I hae to go to stand-by and return.
The mouse issues (mouse freeze, no unclick, too fast scrolling, ..) are a real pain, and Parallels has been plagued by them for years! Parallels, if you are listening, please get this fixed properly. I am thinking every day about switching to virtual box, although I like Paralles because of many other features.

Host: OSX 10.12.6
PD 13.2.0
Guest: OSX 10.13.2

 

If you do try VirtualBox, please post follow up and let me know how your experience goes. With Parallels now completely unusable for Mac guest VMs due to this mouse issue, I guess it would be impossible for VirtualBox to be any worse. Another one I'm looking at is VM Ware. As I review at the various VM solutions, it's becoming clear that the combination of Mac host + Mac guest must be a low-demand combination (relatively speaking). I'm just not seeing a whole lot of examples of it out there. Maybe the low demand is why Parallels totally abandoned support and all quality control for that particular use case? Let me know how it goes with the search. I'll do the same.

 

I moved from VMWare to Parallels 2 years ago, because it had a couple of glitches, too, and I was unable to connect my VMs via a bridge (private virtual LAN with stable IP addresses) to the VMWare host. That is possbile with Parallels, but it might have been my incompetence.
I have been using virtual box occasionally in parallel to VMware, and it always felt a bit rough, and did not support image encryption at that time.

 

Hi Henmath.

First, as the original poster, my apologies for being absent from this thread for a while. Very very busy couple of months. But I'm back and still need this addressed...

Please be aware that this is only occurring with Mac guest OS. Not Windows. Your suggestion to "shut down Windows" doesn't really make sense in that context.

But that said, if I assume you simply meant "shut down the guest OS", then I'm sorry to say these steps did not resolve this issue for me. In fact I always have And as others have said, this makes Parallels Desktop unusable for the things I need it for. It's obviously a common bug so have you guys in Support been able to replicate it?

It does concern me that every time I talk to any Parallels support people about issues with Mac guest OS's that you all always still refer to the guest OS as Windows. It makes me fear DavidS's comments that you guys just aren't interested in supporting Mac guest OS's. The fact that issue is specific to Mac guest OS and it's been around for multiple versions of Parallels, and it's still nowhere in sight of being fixed. Even your response to my post came a month after I posted it. We have to ask the question: Does Parallels take Mac guest OS seriously? Or should those of us who need that functionality abandon Parallels and switch to VirtualBox or VMWare?

If you or someone could please advise on each of those questions I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

I fully agree! I really would like to know if you understand the problem, if you can replication the issue, if a resolution has been scheduled, and if it is worthwhile to drag on for a couple of weeks. If not, please let me know now!
For some dependencies I have been forced to upgrade to High Sierra (thank you Apple not for backporting bug fixes!), so I cannot revert to PD12, where the mouse issues are just bearable for me.

 

Moving to Virtualbox is not a desireable option for me, becuase OSX guest support is experimental (limited to 1 CPU, no guest additions, ..). However, I tried to connect to the VM via VNC (the OSX native one) and found out that you can work with the VM even while the mouse is stuck in the VM guest window. I will test this (ugly) workaround for some time and see if it is feasible.

 

Parallels v13..3.0 (43321), Host = OSX 13.3.3, Guest OSX 10-6-8, Hardware = MacBook Pro TouchBar, 16GB, Quad Processor, Two Processors Given To VM, wired USB Keyboard, Apple Wireless Magic Mouse.
Same symptom. Mouse sticks. I clicked something, and whatever I clicked on stays "stuck" to the mouse. Inside the VM the keyboard doesn't work for as long as the mouse is stuck. Outside the VM, all works just fine. Seems to me that if I just ignore the VM for a while, eventually the mouse gets "unstuck". Sometimes that happens in a minute or two. Sometimes it takes a long time. A few times a day I have to restart the VM. It's as if the VM just stops "hearing" input. Also, inside the VM, the Caps Lock Key is not recognized. If you want to, or need to, type in all Caps, you have to hold down the Shift Key. The VM just does not recognize the Caps Lock Key at all. It is like it doesn't even exist. Parallels Support has confirmed this as a known issue with no fix scheduled. Argh !!!!

 

It's crazy that this thread is still open. Bottom line is that Parallels is basically unusable for Mac guest OS because of the mouse sticking bug. The fact that they still advertise this product as supporting Mac as guest OS is simply false advertising. The unfortunate fact is that Parallels is now only viable for Windows VMs, not Mac.

 

I tend to concur. They are not being up front with the marketplace. That said, as anyone found a better alternative for Mac OS guests? I would appreciate it if folks could share any experiments/experience with other alternatives. Thanks....

 

I gave up virtualizing everything with Parallels because of this bug. For the remaining VM I use Screen Sharing (VNC) as work around. After a few days the VM window will recover and accept mouse clicks again, just to get stuck again after a few minutes.
I noticed that the problem rarely occurs when I am not connected to my LAN at home. The difference might be that Time Machine is not available then.
It is a pity that Parallels is neglecting OSX guests, and even not providing answers beyond the stereotypical "you shoud reboot your windows guest".

 

To Rainer1, using VNC means you have to keep an older piece of hardware up and running on your network. Not always advisable or affordable. My experience is that if I just switch back to the host and do something else for a few minutes, the VM starts "hearing" the mouse again. I do agree that Parallels is misleading the market quite badly and I don't feel comfortable recommending it as a solution for anyone who has to keep older versions of OS X going for any reason. For me, I'm using it because two applications that are required in my office are still Carbon Based (won't run past Snow Leopard when Apple switched to Cocoa). But we are investing in updating both applications so eventually the VM will no longer be necessary. But as I said, shame, shame, shame on Parallels.