Troubleshooting

Symptoms

Any of these usually means Wacom's driver no longer supports either your tablet or your version of macOS.

• The tablet's light is on and the pen moves the cursor, but Wacom Center displays "No device connected."
• Wacom Center shows the tablet and a pen icon, but the cursor doesn't move and no error appears.
• Wacom's installer says "Supported tablet not found."
• Wacom Center shows "The tablet driver is not responding."
• Wacom Center's tablet panel is blank or crashes.
• An older driver worked until a macOS upgrade, and reinstalling it doesn't help.
• A newer Wacom driver says the tablet is no longer supported.
• The cursor moves, but pressure works only sometimes or not at all.
• Everything worked until a macOS upgrade, and your tablet is not among the removed models. See Newer macOS than the driver knows.

Affected hardware

Each major Wacom driver release retires older models. Families retired on macOS 14 (Sonoma), 15 (Sequoia), and 26 (Tahoe) include:

• Intuos 1–3 — GD, XD, and PTZ series
• Intuos 4 — PTK-440, PTK-640, PTK-840, PTK-1240
• Intuos 5 — PTH-450, PTH-650, PTH-850
• Intuos Pro Gen 1 — PTH-451, PTH-651, PTH-851 (K1 editions)
• Bamboo and consumer Intuos — CTE, CTL, and CTH series (CTL-480, CTH-480, and similar)
• Some older Cintiq pen displays

Intuos Pro Gen 2 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860) and Gen 3 (PTK-470, PTK-670, PTK-870) still have official support. To check current support, open the "compatible products" link in a release's notes on Wacom's driver download page before installing.

Wacom announced one round of these retirements in a 2022 driver support bulletin, which names the affected families and the last driver for each. Many owners never saw it. Later models retired without notice, which is why a tablet usually just stops working one day.

Newer macOS than the driver knows

Wacom's driver refuses to start on a macOS version newer than it knows. Wacom Center then shows "The tablet driver is not responding", even with every permission granted. The tablet itself is fine. Check this first if your model is not in the Affected hardware list.

Each download on Wacom's driver page lists the macOS versions it supports. Driver 6.4.14-2 (September 2026) covers macOS 13–15, 26, and 27, so it should revive a supported tablet that stopped working on macOS 27.

Until Wacom catches up, stay on your current macOS or switch to a driver without the version check. Avoid patches to Wacom's installed files: they alter signed system components, and the next driver update undoes them. For the root cause, see this independent analysis.

MockTab has no such check. It needs macOS 13 or later, sets no upper limit, and runs well on macOS 27 in daily use.

Staying on Wacom's driver

If Wacom still supports your model, reinstalling an older driver sometimes helps. Wacom's support site lists past releases and the hardware each covers. Back up your settings in Wacom Center before uninstalling, since uninstalling erases them.

Patched legacy Wacom drivers

For owners of discontinued Bamboo, Graphire, Intuos 1/2/3, and 1st-gen Cintiq tablets on macOS 10.15 Catalina through 12 Monterey, community member thenickdude maintains patched legacy Wacom drivers that fix the crashes and installer failures Catalina introduced. The wacom-driver-fix repository has downloads, supported models, and permission reset steps.

These patches don't help on macOS 13 or later. And if Wacom retired your model, no current driver will recognize it. Either way, try MockTab or the outside tools below.

macOS permission setup

macOS can block a correctly installed driver. Grant the Wacom driver these in System Settings → Privacy & Security:

Resetting stuck permissions

A major macOS upgrade can break a permission even though its toggle still looks on. Remove each entry and add it back:

1. Disconnect the tablet.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Select com.wacom.IOManager and click – to remove it.
3. Repeat in Input Monitoring for WacomTabletDriver and WacomTouchDriver.
4. Restart the Mac.
5. Add each entry back with the + button. The driver files are:
   • /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.wacom.IOManager.app → Accessibility
   • /Applications/Wacom Tablet/.Tablet/WacomTabletDriver → Input Monitoring
   • /Applications/Wacom Tablet/.Tablet/WacomTouchDriver → Input Monitoring

   Press Command+Shift+. in Finder to show hidden folders like .Tablet.

6. Reconnect the tablet and test.

System maintenance tools

Cleanup utilities can quietly delete Wacom's background services and settings. If the driver stops working right after you run one, uninstall with the Wacom Tablet Utility and reinstall. See Wacom's guide to CleanMyMac problems.

Giving MockTab a try

MockTab reads the tablet directly. It needs no Wacom Center, no com.wacom.IOManager, and no background services.

1. Check hardware compatibility

Find your model on the Hardware page. Confirmed models have run on real hardware. Others come from published references and usually work, though details like ExpressKey counts, touch, and status lights may be off. File an issue if something doesn't match.

2. Remove Wacom's driver

Two drivers fight over the same tablet and cause erratic input, so MockTab warns you when it finds another one. Remove Wacom's with its uninstall utility or the Wacom File Utility, then restart. Dragging the app to the Trash leaves files behind. If you can't remove it, App Tamer or LaunchControl can pause it instead.

3. Install MockTab

Download the latest disk image from Releases, open it, and drag MockTab to Applications. Launch it from there, since macOS ties permissions to the app's location.

4. Grant permissions

MockTab needs Accessibility and Input Monitoring. The Configuration page walks through both. If a toggle has no effect, remove MockTab from the list and add it again. Moving or reinstalling MockTab can undo an earlier permission.

Common post-install issues

Pen moves the cursor but pressure doesn't work

Pressure needs the Accessibility permission. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, make sure MockTab is on, then quit and reopen it. If it's already on, remove it and add it again.

Conflict warning in the Devices pane

MockTab shows a notice when another tablet driver is running. Quit or pause it, then reconnect the tablet. The notice clears on its own.

Tablet not showing up

An empty Devices pane usually means MockTab doesn't know the tablet yet. Choose Help › Collect Device Data… to record what the tablet sends into a zip file. Attach it to a GitHub issue or email it from the same sheet to request support.

Bluetooth not connecting

The Intuos Pro gen 2 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860) uses older Bluetooth and needs a specific pairing sequence. The Intuos Pro gen 3 (PTK-470, PTK-670, PTK-870) pairs normally. See the Bluetooth pairing section of the Configuration page.

Some websites or Calendar views won't scroll

Some websites, and Calendar's Month and Year views, ignore scrolling that coasts. Turn off Momentum Scrolling in the Touch pane for two-finger scrolling, and in Pen Feel for Pan View. It's off by default.

Little Snitch ignores pen clicks

By default, Little Snitch blocks input from other apps, to stop spoofing. Turn on Preferences → Security → Other → Allow GUI Scripting access to Little Snitch.

Outside tools to try

If neither Wacom's driver nor MockTab works, these two tools cover many older tablets.

When to choose which tool

Installing OpenTabletDriver on macOS

1. Uninstall the Wacom driver with the Wacom Tablet Utility, then restart.
2. Download the latest release from opentabletdriver.net — choose osx-x64 for Intel or osx-arm64 for Apple Silicon.
3. Extract the archive and drag OpenTabletDriver.app to your Applications folder.
4. Launch it from Applications.
5. Grant Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions when prompted.
6. Check that your tablet appears in the Tablets list. If not, check the compatibility table by model number and consult the OTD FAQ.

This guide covers macOS only. For Windows, see Wacom's official driver troubleshooting section. For setup and troubleshooting across many tablet brands, Wacom included, see SevenPens. Wacom's release notes have the definitive list of supported tablets. Check them before installing any driver.