Notebook: Deactivate touchpad - so it'll work
In some cases it makes sense to deactivate the touchpad of a notebook. In this practical tip, we will show you how to deactivate the touchpad using either a key combination or the hardware settings.
Deactivate the touchpad on the notebook
Last but not least, the touchpad can hinder you when writing text documents or e-mails if you touch the touchpad with your lower arm and thus move the mouse pointer. In the following, we will therefore show you two ways of deactivating the touchpad on your notebook.
- There are many good reasons to disable your notebook's touchpad. On the one hand, the touchpad is a huge power hog even when not in use.
- On the other hand, it is unnecessary if you prefer to use the connected computer mouse.
- Last but not least, the touchpad can hinder you when writing text documents or e-mails if you touch the touchpad with your lower arm and thus move the mouse pointer. Below, we will therefore show you two options for deactivating the touchpad on your notebook.
Deactivate the TouchPad using a key combination
- Press the special key "Fn" and the key with the crossed out touchpad symbol on your keyboard at the same time. Many notebooks use the "F5" or "F7" key.
- You can of course undo this process by pressing the same key combination. If you do not have a touchpad button, deactivate the touchpad using the hardware settings.
Deactivate the touchpad in the settings
Before you deactivate the touchpad using the hardware settings, you should connect a USB computer mouse to your notebook. With this you can operate your device if you have successfully deactivated the touchpad. The instructions for deactivating the touchpad refer to Windows 7, but can easily be transferred to any other Windows system.
- Open the Control Panel and select the "Hardware and Sound" option.
- Now go to the sub-category "Mouse" via "Devices and Printers" and select it with a double click.
- Under the "Device Settings" tab you will find the touchpad of your notebook in the "Devices" table. Select it and click the "Deactivate" button with the left mouse button.
- Alternatively, you can have your touchpad automatically deactivated as soon as you connect a computer mouse to your notebook. To do this, check the "Deactivate the internal pointing device" checkbox.
- Finally, confirm your selection by clicking the "OK" button.
If you want to continue using the touchpad of your notebook, you should adjust it to your needs in the hardware settings. In the next practical tip, we will explain how you can reduce the touchpad sensitivity, for example. We have also made the current driver from the Synaptics TouchPad available for download.