Of course, few people use touchpads. Most people who own laptops prefer to use wireless mice - they are compact and can be easily taken with them. Moreover, for some they are much more convenient than touch panels. And this is true, because not all laptops have touchpads that can be called successful. While some people can recognize up to five fingers, others can somehow cope with just one. As a rule, such touchpads are disabled automatically when a mouse is connected, but you have to activate them manually. What to do if the touchpad (touchpad) on the laptop does not work, and there is simply no mouse at hand? Let's find out!
About ninety percent of problems are solved by activating the touchpad. You probably know that your laptop has a multifunctional Fn key, which, together with other keys, allows you to adjust the brightness of the display, switch tracks in the player, decrease and increase the volume and, of course, enable/disable the touchpad.
There is a small problem - on all laptops different key combinations are responsible for enabling/disabling the touchpad. In laptops from:
- Acer: Fn + F7;
- Asus: Fn + F9;
— Gigabyte: Fn + F1;
As for the no less popular laptop manufacturer HP, their touchpad is turned on/off completely differently. Take a closer look at your pet; in the upper left corner of the touchpad there is a light indicator, also known as a touch button. Just press it twice with your finger and the touchpad will be activated.
Cleaning the touchpad on a laptop
If the touchpad is too dirty or greasy, it may not respond to your touch. A similar situation will occur if you try to work with it with wet hands.
Ordinary wet wipes work best for cleaning. After this, the panel should be wiped dry and its functionality checked.
The touchpad does not work - we solve the problem through the BIOS
It is extremely rare that the touchpad could be disabled in the BIOS. To get into the depths of your laptop, you need to use one of the following keys: Escape, Delete, F1 - F12.
How to get into the BIOS and what to do:
Installing drivers for a laptop touchpad (touchpad)
Nothing complicated here either. It is enough to know the model of your laptop - you can look at it on the box under the device or under the battery.
Instructions:
If this does not work, most likely the problem is a damaged touch panel and that is why it does not work. There is only one way out - contacting a service center. On the other hand, after reinstalling the drivers, you can try repeating the very first tip - activating the touchpad using the keyboard, which often works precisely after reinstalling the software.
Modern laptops are irreplaceable portable devices that are easy to use and do not tie you to a stationary workplace.
To work with them, you do not need to buy additional equipment or other devices, which especially pleases regular users.
“Why doesn’t the touchpad work and what should I do?” many cannot answer this question.
Thanks to the design features, you don’t have to use a mouse, which is replaced by a practical touch panel that controls cursor movement. If the first acquaintance with this device is intimidating, then further convenience and quick adaptation justify its constant use.
After a little practice, the touchpad quickly becomes a convenient tool for work, completely replacing a computer mouse.
The touchpad responds to the touch of a finger or fingers and adjusts the movement of the cursor along a given path according to the user's wishes.
In this article we will help you figure out what to do if touchpad doesn't work and in what cases this malfunction can be corrected independently.
Many users include in the concept “touchpad not working” a fairly wide range of problems that complicate the operation of the device as a whole.
This may be a deteriorated response of the cursor to given commands, its slow or fast movement across the desktop or on open pages or documents.
Often, such problems can be eliminated by simply cleaning the device from possible contamination with an alcohol wipe.
The work surface reacts to wet or greasy hands after eating, so you should wash your hands before starting work.
Work should begin after the device has completely dried, and cleaning and washing procedures are best carried out periodically, once every 2-3 months. Such standard measures do not always help answer the question - why the touchpad does not work and the device continues to work unstable.
Why the touchpad does not work - operating system settings.
One of the reasons why the touchpad does not work may be incorrect settings in the installed operating system (OS).
To check them on Windows:
After making any changes, even minor ones, you should definitely save the settings you made. If after this the touchpad on your laptop still does not work, it is better to check the installed drivers.
You can read how to install drivers in our article “How to Correctly Install Drivers on a Computer or Laptop”
The best option would be to download new drivers; it is better to do this from the official website from the manufacturer. There you can select them for a specific model, series of computer with guaranteed quality.
Why the touchpad does not work - turning on the touchpad.
If scrolling on the touchpad does not work, it is completely unresponsive to user input, there is a possibility that it is disabled. To activate, several simple options are used to help correct the situation:
Making changes requires saving; this option is suitable for those who install Windows 10 and their touchpad does not work.
Why the touchpad does not work - additional steps if the touchpad does not work
Before you fix the problem yourself and look for the reason why the touchpad stopped working, you should determine whether the OS is in contact with the functionality.
There may not be such a bookmark at the specified address, then it is recommended to reinstall the drivers to eliminate the possibility of other problems with a non-working touchpad.
If none of the options worked, if you were unable to fix the problem yourself, it is better to contact a specialized service center, where professionals will eliminate hardware and mechanical damage.
Experts may recommend changing the device on your computer in case of complex damage. If it was simply subjected to a strong impact, or mechanical pressure, as a result of which the buttons were pressed through, they will be restored to their previous state.
A complete diagnosis will help determine the exact cause of the problem. This procedure is especially relevant if the touchpad does not work, the keyboard buttons do not respond to presses, and other ports do not respond to switched-on devices.
Almost all parts of the laptop, like the touchpad, are connected by a cable to the motherboard, but long-term transportation, intensive use or other factors can affect the disconnection of the cable from the special connector.
In this case, it is better not to disassemble the laptop yourself, but to seek help from service center specialists who have experience in dealing with such problems.
The last thing you can try is to reinstall Windows; how to do everything correctly is described in our article
The problem that the touchpad does not work on an HP, Sony, Lenovo, Acer, Samsung, Toshiba or most often Asus laptop or stopped working after upgrading to Windows 10 is rare, but it does happen.
In general, the touchpad is the prerogative of the operating system itself - everything should work immediately after installation, without additional user intervention.
Still, situations arise when you cannot do without the intervention of the laptop owner - you have to go into the settings.
There is no particular difference between laptops and operating systems - therefore, below are provided, so to speak, universal options for troubleshooting problems with the touchpad.
Why the touchpad stopped working on a laptop with Windows 10
First, the touchpad can simply be disabled, although this function is enabled by default in all operating systems.
The second is incorrect settings. It is rare, but it is possible that as a result of incorrect actions, something was not configured as needed.
Third, a bad or outdated driver. This is the main reason. They can be easily eliminated only if the appropriate driver is available.
A laptop could have been bought 10 years ago, when there was nothing higher than XP. Now you have updated to Windows 10, but the manufacturer has not updated the software for your laptop.
Fourth – hardware malfunction. There are no questions here. We take our laptop and go to the service center, unless of course we have sufficient knowledge of electronic devices.
What to do if the touchpad on a Windows 10 laptop does not work
First of all, we look to see if the touchpad is turned on. In some laptops, a specific key combination is responsible for this function, for example, fn and F7, just F6 or fn and one of F1 to F12.
Please note: one press – turn it on, turn it off again. If such functionality is not provided, then it is enabled in the settings.
To get there, open the control panel (classic) and click on the “Mouse” section.
If you don’t see the “Enable” button in this section, then you don’t need to do anything. If you see it, uncheck the box next to the “Off” line. internal decree. device when connected ext. decree. USB device" (I wrote it in abbreviated form).
If the settings are incorrect, you can select “Restore to default” - this is the best option.
If the touchpad on your laptop continues to not work, then you need to get hold of the driver. There are three of them: from Synaptics, Alps Electric and Cirque, and the settings in them are almost the same. The driver may be outdated or not suitable for your Windows 10.
NOTE: sometimes drivers for Windows 10 may not be available on the manufacturer’s websites, especially on the laptop manufacturer’s resource.
They are reluctant to update them for new operating systems. Then install the latest version, only in compatibility mode with Windows 10. Good luck.
The touchpad may not be the most convenient device for controlling the cursor on a laptop, but when you don't have a proper mouse or surface to place it on, the touchpad is a tolerable alternative. However, in some cases the touchpad begins to work incorrectly or stops functioning altogether. What to do in this case?
In today's article we will look at how you can revive a non-working touchpad on a laptop without resorting to the services of professionals.
Before we get into the solutions themselves, let's look at a small list of possible reasons why this device is not working properly:
- touchpad disabled;
- the touchpad surface is dirty;
- problems with the touchpad driver;
- physical damage to the touchpad touchpad.
Let's now see what you can do about this not very pleasant problem.
Guide to restoring the functionality of the touchpad
Solution #1 Activating the touchpad
The most likely reason why your touchpad has stopped working is because it was disabled by accidentally pressing a key combination on your keyboard. Every laptop has many key combinations with which you can activate and deactivate this or that functionality. Each of these combinations usually involves the Fn button.
Take a close look at your laptop's keyboard and look for a touchpad icon on it. For example, this icon may be located on the F9 key if you have a laptop from ASUS or on the F7 key if you have a laptop from Acer. Once you find the key you want, press the Fn+[touchpad button] key combination and check if the touchpad is enabled on your laptop.
The note: if you are the owner of a laptop from HP, then you need to press not a key combination, but double-click the touch button, which is located directly on the surface of the touchpad itself, in the upper left corner.
Solution No. 2 Cleaning the surface
How long have you cleaned the surface of your touchpad? Yes, it’s a rather strange question, but it’s quite possible that the touchpad could stop perceiving your presses on it simply because there is a thick layer of dirt on the touch surface. Take a good look at the touchpad and wipe it thoroughly, then check to see if it works.
Solution #3 Activating the touchpad via BIOS/UEFI
In some cases, the touchpad may be disabled for some reason in the motherboard BIOS itself. You need to go to the BIOS and check if the option called “Internal Pointing Device” is enabled there. To go into the laptop BIOS, you need to reboot and then press a specific key that will be indicated on the screen. In general, just like on a regular desktop PC. Typically, the "Internal Pointing Device" option is located in the "Advanced" section. If it was deactivated, then enable it by setting the value to “Enabled” and save the changes. If she was active, we move on.
Solution No. 4 Reinstalling drivers for the touchpad
Let's move on to the next point. The touchpad could easily stop working due to a driver that began to work with errors or stopped functioning altogether. A similar situation sometimes arises after installing a new OS on a laptop. If the reason is indeed a bad driver, then you need to reinstall it. The latest driver can be found on the disk that came with the laptop, or on the official website of the laptop manufacturer.
Solution #5 The touchpad is faulty
Unfortunately, if none of the above tips and solutions helped you get your touchpad working, then it's definitely broken. This could be an issue with the touchpad itself or with its connection to the motherboard. In the second case, you can try opening the laptop and checking whether the touchpad cable is connected correctly to the board. In the first case... you have a direct route to the service center.
Found a typo? Select the text and press Ctrl + Enter
Touchpad (from the English touchpad - touch pad) is a device for controlling the cursor in laptops, netbooks, ultrabooks.
The device was invented in 1988 by George Gerfeide, but gained popularity only 6 years later, after licensing and installation on PowerBook laptops from Apple.
Possible problems with the cursor control panel and solutions to them will be discussed below.
Most laptop owners prefer to use a mouse rather than a built-in touchpad for comfortable work.
The need to disable the touchpad may arise if you have a stationary computer mouse, or if you plan to type large amounts of text.
The fact is that when typing, there are often cases when you can accidentally touch the touchpad with your shirt cuff for hours, causing the cursor to move across the text. In some laptop models, the process of disabling the touchpad is automated, but you have to enable it manually.
Most laptop users have probably at least once encountered a situation where they don’t have a computer mouse at hand and the only option is to use the touchpad, which also refuses to work.
Below we provide a list of the most common touchpad problems and how to solve them.
Step 1: Enable/Disable the Touchpad on the Keyboard
90% of problems with a non-working touchpad are solved by simply turning it on. To do this, you can use a key combination consisting of the required Fn key and a system key, which may differ depending on the manufacturer and model. Here are the key combinations for the most common laptop manufacturers.
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
HP, as well as some other laptop manufacturers, prefer to move away from the standard Fn + Fx key layout and place the touchpad power button directly on the touchpad; it is located in the upper left corner and has a light indication for ease of operation.
To enable/disable the touchpad, you need to double-tap the button, which is also a touchpad.
Step 2: Clean the touchpad
The sensor may not respond to touches if the panel is dirty, or when touched with wet fingers. Make sure your fingers are dry and the sensor surface is clean.
To clean the touchpad, you can use wet wipes and then wipe the surface dry.
Step 3. Enable/disable the touchpad in BIOS
A less common phenomenon than the previous two, but also sometimes occurring, is disabling the touchpad in the BIOS.
To fix the problem, you should go into the laptop BIOS. You can go to the BIOS settings at the boot stage by pressing a specific key on the keyboard. The name of the key depends on the BIOS manufacturer. Usually these are the keys Del, Esc, F1, F2, F10, etc.
The moment when you should press a key can be determined by the appearance of an inscription with the name of the key to go to the BIOS. If you start pressing earlier or later, you will not be able to enter the BIOS.
Touchpad operation is possible if the value is set to “Enabled”, i.e. “Enabled”, if the value is set to “Disabled” – the touchpad is disabled.
Important! Do not forget that when changing BIOS settings, you must save the settings made, otherwise the touchpad will remain disabled. All actions in the BIOS must be performed without haste, so that when solving a problem with the touchpad, you do not create a new one.
Step 4. Reinstalling drivers
The sensor may not work correctly or not work at all due to problems with the device driver. This situation may occur after reinstalling the operating system.
To solve this problem, you need to install the required driver from the CD that came with your laptop, or by downloading it from the manufacturer's website.
Step 5: Touchpad hardware failure
If none of the above tips helped, most likely we are dealing with a hardware rather than software problem with the touchpad. Such problems include poor connection of the cable to the motherboard or mechanical damage to the panel.
If you are confident in your abilities, you can disassemble the laptop and check the quality of the cable connection. Sometimes, in order for the touchpad to work, it is enough to correct the connection connector.
If you do not have experience assembling laptops or are not confident that you can do everything correctly, we recommend that you contact a qualified specialist or a service center.
How to enable/disable the touchpad if there is no dedicated button
In this video I will tell you how to enable or disable the touchpad on a laptop, even if you do not have a special key.