Windows 10: why are my touchpad options so limited?

I wanted to fiddle around in my touchpad to fix a scrolling issue, so I looked up a tutorial and the guy had completely different touchpad settings. So I updated my Windows version thinking I was just on an older software version, but that did nothing.

:)

 

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

 

turn off touchpad

Thanks for trying I downloaded driver for touchpad, followed the steps you listed but it did not solve the problem - When I get to the last tab for the software, there is no checkbox for "disable touchpad if mouse is attached." I can completely disable the
touchpad by system, and you, advised against this so at least I had the warning not to completely disable touchpad. I have tried the other options suggested but to no avail. Frustrating!

 

Touchpad

Hi Denise,

To address your concern, we suggest that you check if the touchpad is enabled in Mouse Properties.

Please follow these steps below to check the status of the touchpad.

• Click Start and choose Settings.
• Click on Devices. Choose Mouse & touchpad. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click
  Additional mouse options.
• The Mouse Properties window will open. Click the tab furthest to the right (ELAN
  or Device Settings).
• Under Devices, check if your touchpad is disabled. If it is disabled, click the touchpad to select it and then click
  Enable.

Let us know how it goes.