If you’re using Bluetooth or an external mouse on your Windows laptop, the touchpad can be a bit annoying. Fortunately, it’s easy to automatically disable the touchpad any time a mouse is plugged in.
This method may differ from one manufacturer to another. In some cases, turning the touchpad on and off is achieved through manufacturer-specific settings rather than through Windows settings.
How to Disable the Touchpad When a Mouse is Connected via the Settings App
One of the easiest ways to automatically disable the touchpad on Windows is through the Settings app. Here are the steps you need to follow.
The touchpad will automatically turn off whenever you plug in a wired or wireless mouse.
It’s worth noting that the Leave touchpad when mouse connected option may not appear on your laptop if it doesn’t have a precision touchpad. In that case, you’ll need to use the Control Panel to disable the touchpad automatically on Windows.
How to disable the touchpad when a mouse is connected via Control Panel
Uncheck the Disable internal pointing device when an external USB pointing device is attached option.
Configure Windows to Automatically Disable Your Touchpad
While it is not possible to physically disconnect the touchpad from the laptop, you can configure Windows to disable it whenever you connect a mouse. If you don’t use the touchpad often, you can also choose to permanently disable it.
While buying a new laptop, we give utmost importance to a sleek and smooth touchpad. However, there may be times when you just want to get rid of it completely. The touchpad may inadvertently register clicks when you type on the keyboard, you may want to use an external device, or there may be some other reason.
It is not possible to physically disconnect it from the laptop, but you can disable it. Let’s take a look at six different ways to disable the touchpad on your laptop.
1. Disabling the Touchpad in Windows Settings
In Windows, the Settings app is the first place you should go to make any changes to settings. So let’s see how you can disable the touchpad in Windows Settings before we move on to the more complicated ways to disable it.
Right-click on the Windows Start button and go to Settings. Then, navigate to Devices and go to Touchpad from the left-sidebar. To disable the touchpad, turn off the Touchpad toggle.
You can only view the touchpad’s sensitivity settings, which means you can’t disable it in the Settings app.
2. Disabling the Touchpad in Control Panel
As an alternative, you can disable the touchpad in the Windows Control Panel. If you want to take this route, you have three options:
1. Disabling the Touchpad Completely
Navigate to the Mouse category in the Windows Control Panel. In Mouse Properties go to the Touchpad tab, which in this case is ELAN. Click on the ELAN touchpad and hit Stop device. Tapping Yes in the Disable device warning popup will disable your touchpad.
The only way to get your touchpad working again is to use an external mouse, so keep one nearby if you don’t want to be stuck after disabling the touchpad.
2. Disabling the Touchpad When You Connect an External Device
In the same window, you can check the box for Disable when an external USB pointing device is plugged in, which will disable the touchpad pad as soon as an external pointing device is connected.
3. Disabling Touchpad Clicks While Maintaining Its Scroll Functionality
Last but not least, if you want to disable clicks on the touchpad but keep scrolling working on the touchpad and its buttons, there is another way.
Go to Control Panel and this time go to Touchpad category. Go to Tapping configuration in One-finger settings. Unchecking the box for Enabled will disable the click while keeping the rest of the touchpad functionality working.
To set your touchpad to your desired setting, you can choose from three options. Suppose these methods haven’t worked for you; Move on to other ways to disable the touchpad in Windows.