How to disable touchpad on laptop

All modern laptops are equipped with a touchpad to make it easy to use the device, even if there is no computer mouse. Sometimes it is necessary to disable the touchpad, but each model uses a different set of keys to perform this action. In this guide, we will talk in detail about all the existing ways to disable the touchpad on various laptop models.

What is a touch pad?

The touchpad is a touchpad made by Synaptics and is located under the keyboard on a laptop. The technology is used to replace the functions of a computer mouse, move the cursor and use LMB and RMB. The touchpad is operated with fingers on the touch surface, which accurately reads the user’s actions. At present, the touchpad can perform many tasks, including scrolling the page, zooming in and out on objects, mirroring, swiping, pressing LMB/RMB/MMB, spinning the mouse wheel, and others.

Disable the touchpad with a hotkey?

Almost all laptop manufacturers implement special key combinations for using additional functions. One is to toggle the touchpad off and on. In most cases, pressing “Fn + F9” is used, but there are differences depending on the model and brand of the laptop. Usually, the active key responsible for enabling and disabling the touchpad is placed on the function buttons (F1, F2 … F12). First of all, pay attention to them, because under the designation of almost every key there is an action icon. A touchpad appears on the desired key. Below are the main buttons used to enable and disable the touchpad on a laptop:

1. Acer – “Fn + F7”.
2. Asus – “Fn + F7” or “Fn + F9”.
3. Dell – “Fn + F5” or “Fn + F7”.
4. HP – double tap in the top left corner of the touchpad.
5. Lenovo – “Fn + F5” or “Fn + F8”.
6. MSI – “Fn + F3”.
7. Omen – “Fn + F11”.
8. Sony – “Fn + F1”.
9. Samsung – “Fn + F5”.
10. Toshiba – “Fn + F5”.

How to disable the touchpad with a dedicated button

The rarest way, which ensures the presence of the corresponding key next to the touch screen. When this button is pressed, the touchpad is disabled and the user does not need to use a special key combination. In this case, using the button again will reactivate the touchpad.

How to disable the touchpad from the “Settings” Windows 10

You can disable the touchpad in the Windows operating system through the settings. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Click “Start” and in the window that opens, click the gear icon to go to “Settings”.
2. Go to the “Devices” section and use the “Touchpad” item.
3. In the window that opens, enable the active highlight under “Touchpad” to disable the touchpad.

In the same menu there is an item “Do not disable touchpad when mouse is connected” If you uncheck the box, the touchpad will be disabled automatically when you connect a computer mouse. Also in this section you can configure active actions on the touchpad and, if necessary, disable some of them.

How to disable the touchpad via “Mouse Properties”

As mentioned, most laptops have touchpads from Synaptics. If there are such touchpads, they can be disabled via their properties. Do the following:

1. Click “Start” and in the window that opens, click the gear icon to open “Settings”.
2. In the search bar, type “Control Panel” and open it with LMB.
3. In the window that appears, type “Mouse” in the search bar in the top right corner.
4. Click on “Mouse”.
5. In the properties of the mouse, open the “Device Settings” section.
6. Click on the “Disable” item and save the changes with the “Apply” button.

In this menu, you can also disable the touchpad automatically when a computer mouse is connected. To do this, place a mark in the paragraph “Disable internal pointing device when connecting external pointing device to USB port”

How to disable the touchpad via “Device Manager”

If desired, you can uninstall the touchpad driver and disable the device from the appropriate menu. To do this, follow a few simple steps:

1. Press the key combination Win+R
2. In the window that opens, type “devmgmt.msc” without quotes and click the button “OKAY” The Device Manager appears on the screen.
3. Find and open the item in the list of devices “Mice and other pointing devices”
4. Find the touchpad, right click on it and use the item “Turn off device” Please note that the name of the touchpad may differ depending on the model. The most common is “Synaptics (panel name) TouchPad”. The touchpad may also be located in the “HID devices (Human Interface Devices)” section. In this case, you need to disable the “HID compatible touchpad” device.

If the panel does not turn off, you can experiment at your own risk and risk: turn off another device if available in the “Mice and other pointing devices” and “HID devices (Human Interface Devices)” sections. Nothing bad will happen, so if the attempt fails, the user can re-enable it the same way. In this example, the touchpad is disabled permanently.

Disable Touchpad in BIOS

There is another way to disable the touchpad on laptops. In this case, the user must enter the BIOS before booting the system. To do this, follow a few steps:

1. Restart your laptop.
2. When restarting the device, press the button del or F2 before turning on the device and loading the Windows operating system. Usually, the button needed to enable the BIOS is displayed at the bottom of the screen. In some cases, keyboard shortcuts work. Ctrl+F2 Fn+F2 Ctrl+Alt+Del or “Ctrl+Alt+Esc”
3. After entering the BIOS, go to the section “Advanced”
4. Open item “Internal pointing device” and switch it to the “Disabled” position.
5. In chapter “Save and Exit” (F10 key) save the changes and restart the laptop.

This method disables the touchpad permanently. Please note that in this case, to enable it, you need to go into the BIOS again and switch the “Internal pointing device” to the “Enabled” position. Also, some BIOS versions may differ from each other. Our material shows the most popular way to disable the touchpad in the BIOS.

There is a mechanical way to disable the touchpad – by disconnecting the device cable. In this case, you need to unscrew the screws and look inside the laptop case. We strongly advise against doing this as the device may lose the official warranty. It is also possible to damage the contacts, housing and other parts of the laptop.