By default, when you connect a mouse to your laptop, the touchpad will also be available and active. This allows you to use either the external mouse or touchpad to perform certain actions on your computer. However, in some cases, when you have both an external mouse and touchpad active, you may run into situations where you inadvertently move the mouse pointer simply by resting your palm on the touchpad of your device. This might not be something you’ll want to happen frequently since it can be annoying. Windows allows you to automatically disable the touchpad when you connect an external mouse, and the steps below will show you how to do that. Other settings one can perform on a device’s touchpad are; turning on or off the on-screen touchpad, using touchpad gestures, turning off touchpad clicks, disabling your device touchpad, adjusting touchpad sensitivity, and more.
How to turn automatically turn off the touchpad when the mouse is connected in Windows 11
As mentioned above, Windows allows you to automatically disable your computer’s touchpad when you connect an external mouse. Below is how to do that: Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings app. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from the System Settings pane. To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below:
Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it. Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click Bluetooth & devices and select the Touchpad tile on the right. On the Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad settings pane, select the tile that Reads “Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected” then uncheck the box to disable. That will turn automatically turn off the touchpad when you connect an external mouse. This will also occur even if you connect a mouse via Bluetooth. That should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to disable a laptop’s touchpad when a mouse is connected. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
