How to set up a touchpad on a laptop. Enabling the touchpad and what useful settings exist for using it How to set up multi-touch on a laptop

A touchpad is a touchpad that works like a mouse on a desktop computer. At first, many users are distrustful of this part of the laptop, as it seems inconvenient. In fact, it’s all just a matter of time - with prolonged use, the touchpad becomes no less comfortable than a mouse.

When using a laptop computer, it is not always possible to use an external mouse

Another thing is that not always when turned on Touchpad works and responds to touches, so you should know how to turn it on and configure it for the most convenient use. Let's figure out how to enable the touchpad on a laptop and change its settings.

How to enable the touchpad

There are several ways to enable the touchpad:

• Many modern laptops have a small indentation right next to the touchpad - use this to turn the touchpad on or off. If you do not have such a recessed button, use the following method.

• Each laptop has a function key Fn, which serves to perform different tasks when pressed with the buttons in the row from F1 to F12. One of them is specially designated for launching the touchpad and most often has a corresponding mark on it. Therefore, try pressing Fn from one of the keys in this row, or use each of them in turn.

• Perhaps the touchpad is disabled in the system itself, and it needs to be activated through the BIOS - go to the menu when starting the laptop or rebooting it, find the Pointing Device section, where the device will be indicated. To enable it, you need to select the Enable option, to turn it off - Disable. Don’t forget to save the changes by selecting F10 or another combination that has the Save and Exit option next to it.

If all the above steps did not produce results, it is worth checking if everything is ok with the drivers - perhaps they are out of date. To do this, do the following:

• Through Start, go to the Control Panel menu and select Device Manager.
• Find the Mouse section, the touchpad line and view the hardware properties - if the drivers are outdated or do not work (this happens after replacing the operating system), this will be indicated in the window that appears.
• If there is something wrong with the drivers and they need to be updated or reinstalled, the computer will do it on its own, or you can find the necessary files on the Internet and specify the path to them in the hardware properties.

If you cannot enable the touchpad via operating system, key combinations, BIOS, most likely the issue is a hardware malfunction - in such a situation you will have to take the laptop for repair.

Setting up the touchpad

In addition to the fact that this part can be turned on or off, the touchpad can be configured so that it is most convenient for you to use it at work or at leisure. Let's figure out how you can change its settings.

So, to change the touchpad operation parameters, you should follow these steps:

• Go through Start to Control Panel.
• Select Device Manager and Mouse section.
• Open the line with the name of the touchpad, select properties and in the window that appears, under the name of the equipment, click on parameters.

What settings might be useful for you? Please pay attention to the following parameters:

• You can enable or disable scrolling, activate the ChiralMotion function, which allows you to scroll through pages not only from top to bottom, but also in a circular motion - this is convenient if you are scrolling a long document or site.

• Modern laptop models support multi-touch, which allows you to work with the touchpad with not one, but several touches, which expands its functionality - you can also activate this tool here, in the device settings.
• One of the most important tools is sensitivity, which can be adjusted based on criteria such as random touches and finger typing. For example, if you constantly touch the touchpad when typing and it reacts, you should lower the scale in the Palm Touch Control parameter. If you want the touchpad to be less or more responsive to finger input, select Touch sensitivity.

• In some cases, if you still constantly touch the touchpad when typing, you can activate its locking when using the keyboard - this way you will be sure that the cursor will remain in its place and will not scroll the page while you are entering text or press individual buttons.
• Additionally, the speed of cursor movement, the area of ​​pressure on different parts of the touchpad, and the scrolling speed can be adjusted.

As you can see, the touchpad, although different from the mouse familiar to desktop computer users, can be well suited to your needs. Now you know how to enable the touchpad using several methods and configure its settings.

Today I want to tell about your personal problem, which I encountered after the penultimate Windows updates 10 and also how I solved this problem. The fact is that as the main computer I use a laptop, which is equipped touchpad from the manufacturer Synaptics. Their laptop touchpads are most common, so there was a possibility of a problem for me extremely unexpected, but still it appeared, and now I’ll tell you about everything in more detail.

What is the problem?

Any touchpads used in laptops, for full operation and their further configuration during use, are equipped by the manufacturer special drivers, which are not only improve device performance, but also add programs to the system containing list of options for touchpad control.

Synaptics Touchpad tab is missing

Synaptics is no exception for each model of its touchpads creates similar software which works perfectly in conjunction with the rest software installed on the laptop when it first starts. Just in the process of using such a device, a list of programs available on it changes from time to time. Something is installed, something is removed, and something is being updated. Updated and operating system, which is a priori shouldn't cause problems, but only solve them. However, the more complex technologies become, the more difficult it is to improve them, without adding new problems. This is what I encountered. After the penultimate Windows 10 updates that were somewhere in February-March, I'm missing all Synaptics Touchpad settings, which were located in a specially designated mouse settings tab. They simply disappeared, and at the same time The touchpad itself stopped working correctly, ignoring all the parameters I entered earlier.

Unsuccessful solutions

First of all, of course, I I tried installing the Synaptics Touchpad driver, which was intended for my laptop, thinking that it was just crashed during update. But in vain! Installation hasn't even started, since the system said that it had already a more recent driver version was installed and to continue the operation you need to delete it through "Programs and Features". But here's the catch - drivers was not on the list installed programs , which means there was nothing to delete.

Next I I tried to find a solution on the Internet, believing that he was not the only one facing the problem. And so it happened. The problem arose many, but it all came down to this: Microsoft has nothing to do with it and it's better to contact technical support laptop manufacturer. And the problem, by the way, arose among laptop owners completely different brands.

Typical Microsoft Support Response

There were also tips roll back the driver version to the previous one, in which this problem did not exist. And yes, I tried to do this, but here another snag arose. When I tried to roll back the driver, it was reset to the point where provided by Microsoft Corporation, suitable only for basic touchpad functionality. And in theory, on top of it You can already install the Synaptics driver any desired version, but before that you need to restart a computer. And that was where it all ended, because after rebooting, as active, the phantom driver was used again from Synaptics latest version.

Installing Windows 10 May updates

Further, just three days ago, Windows 10 received a new update package, which I put my faith in big hopes, because I thought that she would correct the annoying mistake. But no, the system has been updated, but the problem remains. And here I decided that it was worth take a closer look at this issue, which is what we will talk about next.

As it turned out everything is very easy, but at the same time not so obvious, as we would like. In general, in order to solve my problem with missing settings, I did the following:

Option "B"

If for some reason described above the method does not return you the settings panel Synaptics Touchpad, then you can use the second option. However, have it in stock, downloaded from the official website of the laptop manufacturer, driver still necessary.

Next, if the driver is in the archive, then it should be unpack and in the resulting folder find the file - Setup.exe. Run the file double-click the left mouse button and wait for the following dialog box to appear:

Now it's easy install the driver, like any other program for the operating system Windows. If you have any difficulties with this, you can familiarize yourself with detailed instructions. Now that driver installed, you can reboot your device and customize your touchpad.

It is also worth mentioning that even successful driver installation Synaptics Touchpad is temporary solution, since after the next, somewhat global updates Windows, the driver will removed from the system, so it will have to reinstall. But this already no problem.

If the touchpad settings still don't appear...

What to do if everything drivers loaded, All instructions completed, All advice followed, and the touchpad settings are still never showed up? On the one hand, you can be upset and take it for granted, but on the other hand, you can take matters into your own hands and independently do what the settings were supposed to do of this pointing device.

So why do we need settings at all? Synaptics Touchpad? After all, the main reason why we install them is Automatic touchpad shutdown when connecting a full-fledged mouse, right? Right. So let's just achieve the required result so that this functionality was present in the actual absence of settings touchpad. To do this we will use " Registry editor", namely:

However, if your the mouse is not wired, that is, there is a possibility that more will need to be done some actions:

After all the actions performed, the main function that the settings should have performed Synaptics Touchpad, will work successfully without them.

Final words

As you can see there's nothing complicated about it, however, like any actions in Windows, the solution to the problem does not seem as obvious and clear as we would like. Thankfully Microsoft understands this and with every update they try make the system intuitive for users of any level of depth and awareness. However, not everything in this world depends on just one single corporation that creates its own operating system for tens of thousands of devices created every day. They bear no less responsibility for proper operation personal computer manufacturers, which must support their devices by releasing current updates and responding to user complaints. And if some succeeded in this, others let everything take its course and forget about their clients as soon as they replenish their budget by purchasing obviously unpromising device. I would like to say that this all remains on their conscience, but unfortunately she doesn't have them. However, if you encounter problems using your personal computer, which the manufacturer does not want to decide, then you can write about them to me at corresponding page, and I will try to help you with them.

Setting up a laptop touchpad allows you to include many additional features, which make working with this device much easier. Despite the fact that many people use mice when working with a laptop, the TouchPad is often closer to hand. It turns out that the functionality of this touch device is so wide that it will give even advanced mice a head start!

First, let's figure out how to enter the touchpad settings:

1. Click “Start” and go to “Control Panel”
2. In the window that opens, if at the top right is “Preview: Category”, then select “Preview: Large icons”. It will be easier to find required section in the Control Panel.
3. Click on the Mouse section.

1. There will be tabs at the top of the window. You need to select the touchpad name tab or just TouchPad. In this tab you can adjust the touch sensitivity.
2. If there is no touchpad tab (the driver is not installed), then select “Pointer Options”, there you can set “Pointer Movement Speed”

1.Setting scrolling on the laptop touchpad.

2.Customizing touchpad scrolling areas

The Scroll Area settings group allows you to define scroll areas with one finger - they can be expanded or narrowed by simply dragging the area boundaries.

3.Setting scaling by pinch on the touchpad

Multitouch is most in demand when scaling a window with two fingers - by moving them closer and further away.

4.Adjusting the sensitivity of random touchpad touches

Adjusting the accidental touch sensitivity allows you to filter out accidental touches on the touchpad, for example, when typing on a laptop keyboard.

All laptops are equipped with a special touch panel - a touchpad. It is a pointing device with which you can control all processes in the computer. This device is an excellent alternative computer mouse However, few people know that the touchpad requires customization for the individual user. How to set up a touchpad on a laptop? We'll talk about this later.

In order to set up your touchpad, you will first need to find its settings. Where are the touchpad settings - you ask? They are in the control panel. As a rule, the Mouse item is responsible for them, while in Windows 8 you will only need to enter search query, which can be called up by clicking on the upper right corner of the screen, the word “touchpad”.

Setting scrolling options

Scrolling allows you to turn pages without touching the touchpad with both hands. How do I set up my touchpad for scrolling? First of all, you will need:

• Open the touchpad properties page.
• Find the Scrolling heading.
• Check the box next to "Scroll with one finger" or "Scroll with two fingers."

Setting left and right mouse buttons

In addition to the touchpad itself, it has buttons that serve as right and left clicks on a computer mouse. These devices are active on every laptop by default. But on the same properties page for your touchpad, you can also customize each button to your liking.

• To do this, in the touchpad properties, find the heading: Buttons.
• Next, select Action by pressing the left button.
• After this, select the action you need from the list provided.

Touchpad touch settings

Note that a single or double touch on the touchpad is considered equivalent to a single or double click on the buttons of, for example, a computer mouse. However, in the same control window of your touchpad, you can customize touch settings. How to set the touchpad to touch? Follow the instructions provided:

• Find and click in the touchpad properties heading: Touch.
• Next, check the box (optional) for Touch and Drag or Touch Zones.

So, for example, using the Touch Zones setting, you can assign each corner of your touchpad to function as a different button. Thus, the right and left button you may not need it.

Sensitivity Settings

In addition to customizing the functions of your touchpad, you can also adjust its sensitivity, which will be adjusted to your touch. This setting Allows you to customize how fast your touchpad responds to finger presses. This setting will come in handy for those users who suffer from constant cursor jumping while typing or other unwanted touch with the palm or finger. This phenomenon indicates that the sensitivity of your touchpad is too high and will need to be slightly reduced or increased (depending on the problem).

• To do this, in the touchpad properties, select the Pointer category and Sensitivity.
• Next, find the item: touch sensitivity.

Move the slider in the desired direction, and by default it should be in the middle.

Many laptop users sometimes encounter the problem of the touchpad not working. It suddenly turns off and does not respond to any touches. As a result, you cannot control the cursor unless you have a detachable mouse. What to do in this case? How can I get my touchpad working again?

What is a touchpad

You can move the arrow-shaped pointer on the screen of desktop computers only with the mouse. A portable PC (laptop) is, however, equipped with another control device - a non-removable touch panel. Its other name is touchpad from English word touchpad.

The touchpad is rectangular in shape, often with rounded edges, and is located under the keyboard on a laptop. At the bottom of the touchpad there are always two buttons, similar to the keys of a regular computer mouse.

The touchpad on a laptop is located under the keyboard and looks like a rectangle

The arrow is controlled by different types touching, tapping and finger movements. As a result, the PC user performs actions on the computer that would seem impossible to perform without a mouse: launching utilities, folders, menus and services; work in the programs themselves; closing them and turning off the PC.

Standard methods for activating the touchpad on a Windows 10 laptop

As a rule, the touchpad is disabled and enabled by two using standard methods: using a combination of certain keys and through the “Control Panel”. There are also separate utilities from the laptop manufacturers themselves, with which you can enable, disable and configure the touchpad.

Using the keyboard

You can activate the touch keyboard if it suddenly turns off and does not work using a special key combination, which, unfortunately, depends on the laptop manufacturer. There is no single combination.

This combination necessarily includes the Fn button. It is usually located to the left of Windows buttons, which launches the system Start menu. The second key is one of the function buttons: F1 to F12. You can identify a button using an icon drawn on it in the form of a panel, which can also be crossed out. For example, for Sony devices made the combination Fn + F1.

The button for turning the touchpad on and off usually has an icon in the form of a crossed out touchpad.

Let's present a few more manufacturer matches and combinations:

1. For Asus there are two options: Fn+F9 or Fn+F7.
2. For Lenovo - Fn+F8 or Fn+F5.
3. For Acer - Fn+F7.
4. For Dell use Fn+F5.
5. In Toshiba - Fn+F5.
6. For Samsung they also use the Fn+F5 combination.

On HP laptops, there is usually a button in the left corner of the touchpad that turns the touchpad on and off. To activate, you just need to double tap.

Using the Control Panel

Your touchpad may be disabled if you connect a removable Mouse device to your computer while the corresponding option is enabled in system settings. How can I disable this setting and enable the touchpad?

1. Using the “Start” system menu, launch the “Control Panel” window on the screen. Open Control Panel from the Start menu
2. In the list of main blocks, click on “Hardware and Sound”.
   Launch one of the main sections called “Hardware and Sound”
3. We draw your attention immediately to the links in the first section “Devices and Printers”. We need a "Mouse". Click on it once with the left button.
   Click on the "Devices and Printers" section
4. Now we switch directly to the ClicPad or ELAN tab, depending on the model of your laptop. Another possible name for the section is “Device Settings”. Click on the “Activate device” button
5. In the tab, click on “Activate device”. Uncheck the “Disable when connecting an external USB mouse” item.

In the standard program from the manufacturer

Laptop manufacturers, for example, Dell and ASUS, often release their own software with which you can enable and configure the touchpad. For ASUS, this utility is called Smart Gesture. Usually it is already preinstalled. You just need to launch it, and in it you can already disable the functions of deactivating the touchpad with connecting a mouse.

What to do if the touchpad still doesn't work

Pressing certain keys on the laptop keyboard and configuring it in the Control Panel often does not solve the problem of the touchpad being turned off. In such cases, you need to update the touchpad driver or enable it using the BIOS menu. If these two methods do not work, you need to scan your PC for malware. It is also possible that the touchpad is physically damaged.

Installing or updating the driver

In many cases, reinstalling or updating the touchpad drivers in the Device Manager window will help reactivate it. What exactly needs to be done?

1. Right-click on the “Start” button located in the lower left corner of the screen. In the list of services, we select “Device Manager”. Open Device Manager through the Start context menu
2. In the window that opens, look for the “Mice and other pointing devices” object. Expand this item by double-clicking and right-click on the corresponding equipment. Select "Update Driver".
   Click on "Update Driver" in context menu devices
3. In the new window, click on the link “ Automatic search updated drivers."
   Click on the link “Automatically search for updated drivers”
4. Wait for the search process to complete.
   Wait for the end of the search for driver updates
5. If an update is found, the system itself will download and install it. If there are no available updates, a message will appear in the window indicating that all necessary updates are already installed on the device.
   The system may not find driver updates
6. If you want to reinstall it, click on “Remove device”. There is no need to worry: we will immediately return it to its place, but in an updated state. To do this, on the top panel, click on the “Action” section, and then on the first object “Update hardware configuration”.
   Click on “Update hardware configuration” in the “Action” section

Setting in BIOS

BIOS is a set of specific microprograms necessary for the operation of the PC hardware and devices connected to it. This menu loads separately from Windows. All changes to it must be made very carefully, with knowledge of the matter, since incorrect settings may cause your PC to malfunction.

The touchpad may simply be disabled in the BIOS menu. If all previous activation methods did not help you, use the following instructions:

Checking for viral activity

The touchpad may not respond to touches if there is malware on the computer that blocks its operation. In this case, you need to use the antivirus that is installed on your PC. Each antivirus has its own interface, but, as a rule, it is easy to understand even for a beginner. In particular, you need to find the partition to scan the system. Let's consider step by step instructions using Avast as an example:

Check for physical damage

If all of the above methods do not solve the problem of a disabled touchpad, it may be that the touchpad is physically unable to work due to a breakdown. In this case, you need to replace the touchpad or repair it. To diagnose and fix the problem, you need to take your laptop to a computer repair service.

If your laptop was recently disassembled and cleaned, your touchpad may have stopped working because the touchpad connector was not put back into the socket. If you connect it, the touchpad will work. The service center will also help you in this matter.

Method for touch screen device

There are so-called hybrid laptops: they are both a tablet with a touch screen and a laptop with a regular keyboard. If this is your case, your touchpad may not want to work due to a service conflict touch screen and a touchpad for cursor control.

In this case, you need to forcefully turn off the touch screen service in the Task Manager.

Video: how to activate the touchpad on Windows 10 using several methods

Setting gestures and touchpad sensitivity on a Windows 10 laptop

How to customize the touchpad on a laptop after turning it on? How to increase or decrease sensitivity and enable certain gestures?

1. In the “Properties: Mouse” window, launch one of the possible tabs: ClicPad, ELAN or “Device Options”. To do this, use the instructions from the “Using the Control Panel” section of this article.
2. To go to the touchpad settings, click on the “Options” or “Options” button next to the on and off keys. Click on the “Options” button
3. Laptops may have touchpads from different manufacturers, so the settings menu may differ. However, they usually offer the same parameters to change. Each of them is described in detail in the window, so even a beginner can configure the touchpad. Let's look at the setup using the Synaptics touchpad as an example.
   The Properties window for Synaptics has several sections where you can configure commands to control
4. First, let's adjust the sensitivity. Open one of the main sections on the left side of the window called "Indication". Now click on the first item “Sensitivity” - two blocks will appear. The first option, Palm Touch Control, can be set to a minimum level by moving the slider if you often accidentally touch the touchpad so that it doesn't respond to accidental touches as a result.
   Adjust the Palm Touch Control level
5. In the second block “Touch sensitivity”, adjust the amount of pressure on the touchpad that it will perceive and, as a result, command the system to perform certain actions. You can move the slider to the “Very strong pressure” value if your touchpad is very sensitive and responds to even slight friction.
   Set the desired touch sensitivity level using the slider
6. You can configure the gestures that the touchpad will perceive in such sections as “Scrolling”, “Tap” and “Application Gestures”. In the first section, you can enable options for scrolling the page with one or two fingers, or pinch zooming. In the Gestures section, you can activate the rotation command, three-finger swipe and click.
   Set the required gestures in the "Scrolling" and "App Gestures" section
7. In each changed section, you must click on the “Apply” button to save all changes.
8. If you want to return all settings to their original values, click on one of the buttons: “Standard”, “Restore all settings to default” or “Default settings” depending on the manufacturer of your touchpad and laptop.

It is quite easy to return the touchpad to functionality: you can simply hold down a certain key combination or activate the function through the “Control Panel”. If the problem is not solved, you need to update the drivers and make sure that the touchpad is included in BIOS settings. If none of the methods work, check your PC for viruses and take your laptop to a computer repair service. Your touchpad may need to be repaired or replaced if it is faulty.