There are touchpads and then there are advanced touchpads. The former is basically a point and click device. The latter, in contrast, offers many possibilities. For example, it’s common for an advanced touchpad to come with tab-switching and zooming in and out functions.[

Advanced Touchpad Functions

Regardless of the exact functionalities built into a touchpad, the goal is always the same—to improve the productivity as much as possible.

Some of the common functionalities in an advanced touchpad include:

• Double-tap to turn off the touchpad
• Double-tap to turn it on
• Place two fingers on your touchpad and slide vertically or horizontally to scroll
• Place two fingers and stretch out or pinch in to zoom out or in
• Tap three fingers to open Cortana
• Tapping four fingers will open the action center

How can you fix the Windows trackpad?

The first thing you must check is whether you have accidentally disabled the touchpad or not.

To do so, simply press the associated function key (Fn key). If you are not sure about which key you should press, look for one with the same icon or a similar icon as the one shown below:

When you press the associated Fn key, Windows will show whether the touchpad is active or not.

If the touchpad is active but you are unable to access the advanced functions, it’s time to look under the hood (read: go through the hardware settings).

How to Access Touchpad Settings (Windows 10)

• Press the Windows key
• Type settings in the start search box and press Enter
• Click the top result in the best match list
• In the Settings window, locate and click Devices
• In the list appearing in the left pane, locate and click Touchpad

Once you have opened the settings window for the touchpad, there are many things you can do:

• Tap the sensitivity settings which include Low, Medium, or High Sensitivity or Most Sensitive
• You can watch a help video to learn how you can make use of Windows Gestures
• Obtain additional information on the touchpad from Windows Support
• Change the advance settings
• Give feedback to Microsoft

How to Change the Touchpad’s Advanced Settings

Click Additional settings (under Related Settings) to make changes the advanced settings of your touchpad.

Now the touchpad’s mouse properties window will open, which will look something like this:

This screen tells you whether the touchpad status is disabled or enabled. Other information displayed includes the port assignment of your device and its Synaptics version. Keep in mind that certain changes (like modifying scheme settings) are going to change not only touchpad settings but also USB mouse settings.

If the trackpad is disabled, activate it by clicking on Enable.

You could change the clip tray behavior settings as well. This in turn would influence the way the trackpad’s icon behaves.

• In the Tray icon field, selecting the first option (Remove tray icon…) would hide your device from clip tray
• Selecting the second option would make your device visible as a static icon
• When you select the third option, the trackpad will display any activities performed in clip tray

The third setting (Animated tray icon…) could help you fix certain failures which might be there. For example, in case only one device function is faulty (like right click operation), you could test every function and check if the input is being registered by the device. Because touchpads are basically pressure-sensitive pads, there’s always a possibility that different parts (or sections) of it fail individually.

Settings You Can Access Through Mouse Properties Window

Mouse properties window includes many different settings. With the help of these settings, it is possible to adjust the behavior of your mouse according to your specific needs.

Buttons Tab

This tab lets you change how you operate the mouse, i.e. right-handed device or left-handed device.

Pointers Tab

Through this setting, one can not only customize their mouse pointer but also enable shadow tracking.

Pointer Options Tab

This tab allows you to:

• Make changes to the pointer speed
• Hide or show pointer when you type
• Enhance pointer precision
• Show location pointer as you hold down CTRL

Hardware Tab

All the mouse devices (which include touchpad) that are connected to your Windows computer can be seen in this tab. Click a device and then click its properties to access hardware device properties. In case your touchpad isn’t responding, go to Device Properties window, choose driver, and then select Update Driver.

You will get two options to choose from. The first option allows Windows to automatically search for the latest driver both on your PC and the Internet. The second option lets Windows search the latest driver on the computer. Use the second option in case you already have downloaded the latest driver from its manufacturer’s site.

After the driver has been updated, you can select Settings and then from the Mouse properties customize the touchpad settings as per your unique requirements.

Always keep your drivers up to date

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

• You can update device drivers automatically
• The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
• The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
• Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

 

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