The eight checks
- Look along the function row for a touchpad icon, usually a rectangle with a diagonal line. Press it, with Fn if your laptop requires it, and try again. This is the single most common answer.
- Look for a small indicator light or a dimple in the top left corner of the touchpad. Some laptops disable the pad when you double tap there, and the light shows the state.
- Unplug any USB or Bluetooth mouse. Several laptops disable the touchpad automatically while an external mouse is connected, and it is often on by default.
- Open the touchpad test and move your finger across the pad. If the pointer moves at all, the hardware and driver are alive, and your problem is narrower than it looked.
- Try clicking. On a pad where movement works but clicks do not, the physical switch or a settings change is the cause rather than the sensor.
- Try two-finger scroll and pinch. Gestures failing while movement works points at the driver or its settings, because gestures are interpreted in software.
- Check your operating system's touchpad settings for a master switch, a sensitivity slider set to its minimum, and the option that disables the pad when a mouse is connected.
- Only now reinstall or roll back the touchpad driver. Note that a laptop can fall back to a generic mouse driver after an update, in which case pointer movement works and every gesture is gone, which is a distinctive signature.
The reading that confuses everybody
The touchpad test reports a pointer type, and on almost every laptop it says mouse rather than touch. That is normal and it is not a sign that anything is wrong.
Trackpads are presented to the operating system as pointing devices, and the browser reports what it is given. A pad that reported itself as touch would be the unusual case, typically a touchscreen rather than a trackpad. The pointer types table on the touchpad test page sets this out.
The same applies to the maximum touch points reading. A value of 0 on a laptop with no touchscreen is expected. It describes what the browser was told about touch input, not how many fingers the trackpad can track, and the two are genuinely different things.
Interpreting a partial failure
| Movement | Clicks | Gestures | Most likely cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | No | No | The pad is disabled by shortcut or setting, or the connector is loose |
| Yes | No | Yes | The physical click switch, or click settings changed to tap-only |
| Yes | Yes | No | A generic driver in place of the manufacturer driver, or gestures switched off |
| Yes | Yes | Partly | Individual gestures disabled in settings; check each one rather than the master switch |
| Intermittent | Intermittent | Intermittent | A loose ribbon connector, or a palm-rejection setting that is too aggressive |
Compiled by MyGearCheck from what the touchpad test can observe. Movement, clicks and gestures travel through different layers, which is what makes a partial failure informative.
Palm rejection, the invisible cause
Modern trackpads reject contact they believe is a palm resting on the pad while you type. When that logic is too aggressive, or when it is misconfigured after a driver update, the pad appears to freeze during and just after typing and then works fine.
The signature is timing rather than function: everything works when you are not typing and nothing works when you are. That is not a hardware fault, and no amount of driver reinstalling will fix it if the sensitivity setting is the cause.
Look for a setting described as touchpad sensitivity or palm rejection and reduce it a step. The trade is the occasional cursor jump while typing, which is the problem this feature exists to prevent.
When it is genuinely the hardware
Two signs point at hardware rather than software. The first is complete silence in the browser test with the pad confirmed enabled and no external mouse connected: nothing at all is reaching the system. The second is intermittency correlated with pressure or with the laptop being picked up, which suggests a ribbon connector that has worked loose.
Both are worth documenting before contacting support. Run the test, capture the result, and note what did and did not respond. A dated record showing no pointer events with the pad enabled is concrete evidence, and it removes the first thing a support desk will otherwise ask you to try.
Be aware of the repair scope on your model before you plan around it. On many laptops the trackpad is part of the top case along with the keyboard and the battery, so a trackpad replacement is a much larger job than the part cost suggests.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the pointer type say mouse instead of touch?
Because your trackpad is presented to the system as a pointing device, which is normal. Nearly every laptop trackpad reports as a mouse, and it says nothing about whether the pad is working.
The pinch gesture is not detected. Is my trackpad broken?
Unlikely. Gestures are interpreted by the driver, so a missing pinch with working movement and clicks usually means the manufacturer driver has been replaced by a generic one, or the gesture is switched off in settings.
What does max touch points mean?
It is the number of simultaneous touch contacts the browser was told the system supports. On a laptop without a touchscreen it is commonly 0, which is expected and does not describe the trackpad's own multi-touch ability.
Why does horizontal scroll show zero?
Either the driver is not sending horizontal deltas, or horizontal scrolling is switched off in settings. The browser can only report what it receives, so it cannot tell the two apart.
My touchpad stops working while I type. Is it failing?
That is palm rejection working too aggressively, not a fault. Look for a touchpad sensitivity or palm rejection setting and reduce it one step, accepting the occasional cursor jump in exchange.
Does connecting a mouse disable the touchpad?
On many laptops, yes, and it is often on by default. It is a setting in the touchpad control panel, and it is worth checking before any driver work.
My touchpad clicks but taps do not register. What is that?
Tap to click is a separate setting from the physical click, and an update can reset it. Turn tap to click back on before assuming the surface has a problem.
Should I use an external mouse instead of repairing it?
It is a reasonable answer for a machine that mostly sits on a desk, particularly where the trackpad is part of the top case and the repair is disproportionate. It is a poor answer for a laptop you actually carry.