Is the touchpad not working properly on your HP/Lenovo/Dell/Acer/Asus laptop running Windows 10? Are you unable to move the mouse cursor with the touchpad? Cannot perform left and right clicks using the touchpad? In this guide, we will show you how to make your Windows 10 laptop touchpad work again.
Since the touchpad is not working on your PC, you will have to connect an external mouse or use keyboard shortcuts to follow the solutions in this article.
Restart your PC
Before trying out other solutions, it’s a good idea to restart your PC once. The thing is, sometimes, all you need to do is restart your PC to make the touchpad work again.
For instance, on my ThinkPad, touchpad stops responding at times. I simply restart the laptop to get the touchpad working again.
Since the touchpad is not working, use keyboard shortcuts to reboot the PC. Simultaneously press Windows logo and X keys to see the power user menu, press U key to see all power options, and then press R to restart your PC.
Check if the touchpad is disabled
Like in earlier versions, one could disable the touchpad in Windows 10 as well. So, unless you are very sure, it’s worth checking if the touchpad is disabled.
The option to enable or disable the touchpad is under mouse settings (mouse properties). You can also check touchpad settings (not in Windows 10’s settings).
Refer to our 3 ways to enable/disable touchpad in Windows 10 guide for directions.
Disconnect external mouse
You can skip this solution if you are not using an external mouse with your laptop.
There is an option in Windows 10 which allows you to automatically turn off the touchpad once an external mouse is connected. Simply unplug the external mouse once to check if the touchpad starts working.
Between, you can turn off the option under Settings:
Step 1: Navigate to Settings > Devices > Touchpad.
Step 2: Turn on Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected option.
Restore Windows 10 to a previous date
If the touchpad was working till a few days ago, you might be able to make it work again (unless it’s a hardware issue) by restoring Windows 10 to a previous date when the touchpad was functioning properly.
Refer to our how to restore Windows 10 to an earlier date article for step-by-step directions.
Restore the old version of the touchpad driver
If the touchpad stopped working after updating its driver to the latest version, you could try restoring the previous version of the driver. It’s easy. Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Right-click on the Start button and then click Device Manager.
Step 2: Expand Mice and other pointing devices to see your touchpad entry. If you cannot see the entry, it’s likely because the touchpad hardware is not working, or the driver is not installed.
Step 3: Right-click on the touchpad entry and then click Properties.
Step 4: Switch to the Driver tab. Click Roll Back Driver button to restore the previous version of the driver.
Reinstall the touchpad driver
If nothing helps, reinstalling the touchpad driver should fix the issue. Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Open the Device Manager by right-clicking on the Start button on the taskbar and then clicking Device Manager option.
Step 2: In the Device Manager, expand Mice and other pointing devices. Note down the touchpad name and model.
Step 3: Right-click on the touchpad entry and then click Uninstall device option.
Step 4: When you see the following dialog, select Delete the driver software for this device option. Click Uninstall button to uninstall the touchpad driver.
Step 5: After uninstalling the touchpad driver, reboot your PC once.
Step 6: Download the latest version of the touchpad driver from your PC manufacturer’s website and then run the setup file to install the driver.
Your touchpad should start working now.
Run the diagnostics tool by your OEM
All laptop manufacturers offer hardware diagnostics software to scan and check for hardware issues. Contact your laptop manufacturer to download the diagnostics software.
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