Having an unresponsive touchpad on your laptop can be extremely frustrating. As someone who relies heavily on my touchpad for navigating my laptop, I know the struggle firsthand. Fortunately, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take to try and fix the issue on your own before paying for expensive repairs. In this article, I’ll walk you through the top solutions I’ve found for reviving an unresponsive touchpad.
Update Your Trackpad Drivers
Outdated, corrupted, or missing drivers are one of the most common culprits behind a touchpad malfunction. Updating to the latest driver can often resolve touchpad responsiveness problems.
Here’s how to update your trackpad drivers:
- Type “Device Manager” into the Windows search bar and open it.
- Expand the “Mice and other pointing devices” section.
- Right click on the touchpad driver > Select “Update driver”.
- Choose to search automatically for updated driver software.
- Restart your laptop once the update is complete.
In many cases, this simple driver update is enough to get your touchpad working again. Be sure to download drivers directly from your laptop manufacturer’s website to ensure compatibility.
Toggle Trackpad Settings
Sometimes the touchpad settings can get switched off or configured incorrectly, temporarily disabling your touchpad functionality.
Try toggling these trackpad-related settings:
- Disable touchpad when mouse is connected – Turn this off under Touchpad settings if a mouse is not connected.
- Touchpad sensitivity – Increase sensitivity if touchpad response is intermittent.
- Touchpad lock function key – Press the lock key (often Fn + F5 or a padlock icon key) to ensure the touchpad hasn’t been disabled by the physical key combo.
Adjusting these settings often resolves the issue if the touchpad is being inadvertently disabled by the software.
Update Other Drivers
Outdated drivers don’t just affect your touchpad – they can cause all sorts of device conflicts and hardware problems. Take the time to update ALL of your laptop drivers, not just the touchpad. This helps rule out driver-related conflicts impacting your touchpad functionality.
Here are some of the key drivers to check for updates:
- Chipset
- BIOS
- Input devices
- USB
Updating all the drivers ensures optimal compatibility between connected devices and can fix touchpad problems stemming from an indirect driver conflict.
Disable and Re-Enable Your Touchpad
If your touchpad is still unresponsive, try disabling it and re-enabling it. This resets the connection and can restart an unresponsive touchpad.
To disable the touchpad:
– Open Device Manager > Mice and other pointing devices
– Right click touchpad and select Disable.
To re-enable:
– Right click on the touchpad again and select Enable.
After enabling it, check to see if the touchpad is now responsive. A simple disable/re-enable forces a connection reboot and often fixes unresponsiveness.
Boot Into Safe Mode
Booting into Safe Mode loads a minimal version of Windows with only essential drivers and services. This can isolate whether a third-party application or startup program is interfering with your touchpad.
To boot into Safe Mode:
- Open the Windows Start menu and hold the Shift key while clicking the Power button > Restart.
- On the startup screen choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings.
- Select “Enable Safe Mode” and restart.
Now test the touchpad responsiveness in Safe Mode. If it works properly here, a conflicting program is likely causing the issue in regular mode.
Try a Clean Reinstall of Trackpad Drivers
If you’ve tried all other troubleshooting to no avail, a clean reinstall of the trackpad drivers could fix the lingering unresponsiveness. This gives you a fresh start with clean driver files.
To do a clean reinstall:
- Open Device Manager and uninstall the current touchpad driver. Make sure to check the box to delete driver software too.
- Restart your laptop. Windows will automatically reinstall the default drivers.
- Download the latest driver from your manufacturer and reinstall it.
Resetting with a fresh touchpad driver often resolves even stubborn unresponsiveness issues.
When To Take Your Laptop In For Repair
If you’ve tried all the troubleshooting tips and your touchpad still isn’t functioning, a hardware repair may be needed. Some signs it’s time to contact a repair shop:
- Touchpad completely unresponsive at all times
- Cursor still jumps around screen even after driver updates
- Physical damage like cracked touchpad surface
- Error messages about hardware failure
Don’t keep struggling with a defective touchpad. Get an expert diagnosis of the underlying problem. They can determine if the ribbon cables, touchpad itself, or motherboard components need replacement.
While frustrating, a non-working touchpad can often be revived with common software fixes. Update drivers, toggle settings, reinstall drivers, and isolate conflicts until you’ve exhausted all DIY repair options. But if all else fails, seek professional help to determine if hardware failure is the culprit. With persistence, you can get your faulty touchpad functional again.
