How to Disable the Touchpad on Windows 11

This article explains how to disable the touchpad on Windows 11, including instructions for turning the touchpad back on later, even if you don’t have a mouse plugged in.

How Do I Disable My Microsoft Touchpad in Windows 11?

The touchpad on your Windows 11 laptop may end up getting in the way if your hands brush against it while typing, or you may not want it enabled if you’re using your laptop with a mouse. In either case, you can disable the touchpad in Windows 11 at any time through the device settings.

Here’s how to disable your touchpad in Windows 11:

1. Right click the Start button on the taskbar.

2. Select Settings.

3. Choose Bluetooth & devices.

4. Scroll down if necessary, and select Touchpad.

5. Select the Touchpad toggle to turn it off.

How Do I Lock the Touchpad on Windows 11?

There’s no way to quickly and temporarily lock your touchpad on Windows 11 unless your laptop has a physical touchpad switch or a touchpad function key. If it does, you should be able to activate that switch or use that function key to lock your touchpad and switch it again to unlock it.

If you don’t have a physical switch and you’re having trouble with the touchpad registering accidental clicks, you can lock the touchpad so that it no longer happens. Doing so will prevent you from clicking anything, though, unless your laptop has physical mouse buttons or you have a USB or wireless mouse connected.

Here’s how to lock the clicking feature of your touchpad in Windows 11:

1. Navigate to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad.

2. Choose Taps.

3. Select each check box, starting with the bottom and working your way up.

4. Once you’ve removed every check, tap-clicking will no longer work.

5. To unlock the touchpad and allow tap clicking again, you can click the checkboxes again if your laptop has physical mouse buttons. If it doesn’t, you will have to connect a mouse or use the method in the next section.

How to Turn the Touchpad On in Windows 11?

If you have disabled the touchpad in Windows 11, you can turn it back on by navigating to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad and either clicking the Touchpad toggle or clicking the checkboxes in the Taps section.

If you don’t have a mouse, you can still turn the touchpad back on using your keyboard. Here’s how to do that:

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard.

2. Type touchpad, and press enter.

3. Use the tab and arrow keys to highlight Touchpad and press the spacebar if the touchpad toggle is off, or highlight Taps and press the spacebar if you've disabled tap-clicking.

4. If tap clicking is disabled, use the tab and arrow keys to highlight Tap with a single finger to single-click and press the spacebar. You can then use your touchpad to turn the other tap-clicking features on if you wish.