Windows 10: Touchpad disabled when mouse is removed

If I remove my mouse for my laptop the touch pad is disabled. I have it enabled in device manager, but I have the option for it to be turned off when a mouse is connected. If I turn off the feature of having the touch pad disabled when a mouse is connected, disconnecting the mouse allows the touch pad to still work. I have updated all drivers, and it is a brand new laptop, maybe 3 weeks old. Has been having this problem since I got it.

:)

 

I want to disable touchpad on Dell laptop


Hello everyone,
My laptop's touchpad works and I don't want it to, because I prefer a mouse. It's a Dell Inspiron 11 3000 series on windows 10 OS.

What I have tried that hasn't worked:

• start<settings<devices<mouse & touchpad<additional mouse options. This opens a window called Mouse Options which has 5 tabs up top, none of which involve the touchpad. The Hardware tab shows 2 devices: the mouse itself, and the USB. No touchpad there.
• windows key+x<mobility center. No touchpad to be found.
• various function keys. No options for touchpad on/off.
• device manager<mice and other pointing devices. Again, only the mouse and usb show up. It appears the touchpad is working without a driver, which is a little spooky.

Any other suggestions? I could try downloading a third party driver, but that seems like a step in the wrong direction.
Thanks

 

Disable Touchpad and use External mouse

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you want to disable the TouchPad of your laptop and want to use an external USB mouse.

To use an external USB mouse, please connect the USB mouse to any USB port on your laptop and it will be set up automatically.

To disable the touchpad you can try the following steps and check if that helps:

1. Press and hold Windows + X key on the keyboard.
   
2. Select Device manager from the list.
   
3. Expand Mice and other pointing devices.
   
4. Find Synaptics SMBus TouchPad/ELANClickpad touchpad.
   
5. Right click on the driver and select Disable.
   

Hope it helps.

Please reply with the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

disable touchpad

Hi Donna,

Disabling touchpad will depend on the make and model of your Laptop. Some models would have its own button that would allow you to disable/enable the touchpad from the keyboard. Other models would also have settings from its own driver software that would
allow you to toggle it on/off. Since you've mentioned that your laptop is Dell, may we know the specific model?

However, if you have other pointing device to connect on your laptop (like a mouse), you can disable the touchpad through Windows settings by following these steps:

• On your keyboard, press Windows + I.
• Click Devices.
• Choose Touchpad.
• Uncheck Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected.

After performing the steps above, your touchpad will be disabled until you disconnect the other pointing device.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards.