Disabling direct touch for MacOS 27 and iPadOS 27 sidecar

I know before version 27 that you were only able to do gestures on iPad and that direct touch wasn’t a thing. I was able to draw with drawing software without the struggle of my fingers doing something to the screen. Now in version 27, my fingers keep messing up the screen because direct touch has been added with no way to disable that. Can someone help?

Posted on Oct 12, 2026 2:58 PM

3 replies

neuroanatomist

Level 9 (72,871 points)

Oct 12, 2026 3:47 PM in response to Kaituf

Apple updated Sidecar in macOS 27 and iPadOS 27 to include Direct Touch. This means a single finger now natively mimics a mouse click or click-and-drag action across the entire Mac interface on your iPad.

More info from Apple: Use iPad as a second display for your Mac – Apple Support

Unfortunately, Apple does not provide a built-in toggle to turn off Direct Touch or revert Sidecar strictly to the old gesture-only mode.

However, depending on your preferred drawing software, there are a couple of workarounds to stop your hands/fingers from accidentally altering your canvas:

Enable "Ignore Touch Input" in Your Drawing App

Because Sidecar now passes direct finger coordinates straight to macOS as mouse inputs, several desktop creative apps allow you to isolate input to the stylus only.

Look into the Preferences / Input Settings of your Mac drawing software (e.g., Photoshop, Illustrator, Clip Studio Paint, Krita).
Look for options such as "Enable Touch Input," "Ignore Touch Input when using Stylus," or "Use Apple Pencil Only." Disabling touch inside the specific app's preferences will often neutralize accidental finger marks.

Wear a Drawing Glove (Palm Rejection workaround)

Since macOS 27 views your single-finger touches or palm rests as intentional click-and-drag actions, physical palm rejection can sometimes struggle if your hand slides. Using a two-finger artist/drawing glove completely blocks capacitive touch from your skin onto the iPad glass, entirely eliminating accidental inputs while leaving your Apple Pencil perfectly operational

Only Apple can provide a toggle to turn off direct touch. To have Apple consider your feedback, submit it here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

StarMan991

Level 1 (8 points)

Nov 2, 2026 9:59 AM in response to Kaituf

I encountered the same issue, now I must spend money to activate another version of clip studio paint on my Ipad to use it stand alone while I have bought one for macos, I hope this will be resolved soon...

Kaituf Author

Level 1 (4 points)

Nov 2, 2026 1:02 PM in response to StarMan991

Yeah, and I feel bad that I have to buy a drawing glove now just to counter act this issue. I have gigantic hands, I can’t really find a drawing glove that fits me.