Touchpad Not Working in Windows 11 & 10: Fixes by Symptom (2026)

If your laptop touchpad is not working in Windows 11 or 10, start with the two fixes that solve most cases: press the touchpad toggle key (a function key with a touchpad icon, often F5, F6, F7 or F9, sometimes with Fn), and check Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad to make sure the Touchpad switch is on. If that does not do it, reinstall the touchpad driver from your laptop maker, not from Windows Update. Here is what most guides miss: the exact symptom tells you the cause. A pointer that does not move at all is usually the touchpad switched off or the device missing from Windows. A pointer that moves but will not click or scroll is almost always a driver. And a touchpad that dies together with the keyboard points to the laptop's internal I2C controller, which needs the chipset driver, not a touchpad driver. This page fixes each one in order, and shows how to control the PC with the keyboard while you do.

Ethan's laptop touchpad went dead on a Monday morning, ten minutes before an online exam. No pointer, no clicks, nothing. He grabbed the laptop and ran the two streets to Jake's shop. Jake did not touch the laptop's insides. He pressed Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock, turned on Mouse Keys so the arrow keys on the number pad moved the pointer, opened Device Manager from the keyboard, and found the touchpad marked with a yellow triangle: "This device cannot start (Code 10)". A Windows update overnight had replaced a controller driver. Jake installed the laptop maker's chipset package, restarted, and the pointer came back with four minutes to spare. That is where this page starts: diagnose by symptom, fix in the right order, and never be stuck without a pointer while you do it.

Every software fix here is safe and reversible. Before changing drivers, it is worth creating a restore point; our guide to creating a System Restore point takes two minutes. If you can, plug in a USB mouse while you work. It makes everything easier, and if the touchpad is set to switch off when a mouse is connected, unplugging it later is itself one of the tests.

Start here: what is your touchpad actually doing?

"Touchpad not working" covers half a dozen different problems with different causes. Find your symptom first and jump to the fix that matches; it saves trying everything.

The five-minute checklist

If you just want the order to try things in, without reading every section, here it is. Most touchpads are back by step three.

1. Restart the laptop (a real restart, not shut down).
2. Press the touchpad toggle key, or double-tap the corner on HP laptops.
3. Check Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad: switch on, and "Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected" checked.
4. Open Device Manager and enable the touchpad, or note any yellow warning.
5. Install the chipset, Serial IO and touchpad drivers from your laptop maker, restarting after each.
6. If it broke after an update, roll back the driver or uninstall the update.
7. Test in Safe Mode and from a Linux live USB to separate software from hardware.

No working pointer? Control Windows with the keyboard

Every fix below needs you to open Settings or Device Manager, which is awkward without a pointer. If you do not have a USB mouse to plug in, the keyboard can do everything.

Turn on Mouse Keys

Press Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock together. Windows asks whether to turn on Mouse Keys; press Enter for Yes. Now the number pad moves the pointer: 8, 2, 4 and 6 move up, down, left and right, 5 clicks, and the plus key double-clicks. On laptops without a separate number pad, Mouse Keys still turns on, but you need the embedded number keys, usually reached with Fn, or a turn of the Num Lock. You can also switch it on under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse > Mouse keys.

Plain keyboard navigation

• Windows + I opens Settings. Tab and Shift + Tab move between areas, arrow keys move within lists, Enter opens, Space toggles a switch, and Esc goes back.
• Windows + X, then M, opens Device Manager. Arrow keys move through the list, Right arrow expands a category, and Shift + F10 (or the menu key) opens the right-click menu for the selected device.
• Windows + R, then ms-settings:devices-touchpad and Enter, jumps straight to the Touchpad settings page.
• Alt + F4 closes the current window, and Windows + Tab shows all windows.

It feels slow for a minute and then surprisingly natural. Our guide to opening Settings lists more direct addresses that save keystrokes.

Fix 1: the touchpad toggle key (by brand)

Most laptops have a key that switches the touchpad off, and it is pressed by accident far more often than people think, especially when cleaning the keyboard or reaching for a volume key. Look along the top row for an icon of a touchpad, often a rectangle with a line through it.

Press the key once, wait a second, and try the touchpad. If your laptop has an "Fn Lock" that swaps the top row between functions and media keys, you may need Fn with the key, or without it. Exact keys differ between models of the same brand, so if the icon is not obvious, the laptop's manual or support page names it.

Fix 2: check the Touchpad settings

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad on Windows 11, or Settings > Devices > Touchpad on Windows 10.
2. Make sure the Touchpad switch is On.
3. Expand the Touchpad section and check Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected. If it is cleared and any mouse is connected, including a forgotten Bluetooth mouse or a wireless receiver in a USB port, the touchpad switches itself off.
4. Check Taps: if the pointer moves but taps do nothing, tap-to-click may simply be off.
5. Check the cursor speed and sensitivity sliders have not been set to an extreme.

If there is no Touchpad page at all under Bluetooth & devices, Windows does not see a touchpad, which points to the device being disabled or its driver failing. Move on to Device Manager.

Fix 3: Device Manager, enable and check the touchpad

1. Press Windows + X, then M, to open Device Manager.
2. Expand Mice and other pointing devices and Human Interface Devices. The touchpad may appear as "HID-compliant touch pad", "I2C HID Device", "Synaptics", "ELAN" or under your laptop's brand.
3. If an entry shows a down-arrow icon, it is disabled. Select it, open its right-click menu and choose Enable device.
4. If an entry shows a yellow triangle, open it to read the error. "This device cannot start (Code 10)" is the most common one; jump to the I2C HID fix.
5. If nothing touchpad-related appears, choose Action > Scan for hardware changes, and check View > Show hidden devices for grayed-out entries.

A quick note on what you see: on modern laptops, the touchpad is usually connected internally over a bus called I2C, so the touchpad device depends on an "I2C controller" device elsewhere in the list, often under System devices as an Intel Serial IO or AMD I2C controller. If that controller has a warning, fix it first. The touchpad cannot work without it.

Fix 4: "I2C HID Device" Code 10, or touchpad and keyboard both dead

"i2c hid device error touchpad not working" is a common search on HP, Lenovo, ASUS and Dell laptops alike, and it is the cause Ethan hit. The touchpad is fine. The small controller that connects it to the rest of the laptop has lost its driver, so Windows cannot start the touchpad at all. When the keyboard stops at the same time, the same controller or the chipset is usually responsible.

1. Go to your laptop maker's support site and enter your exact model or serial number.
2. Download and install the chipset driver, plus any driver named Serial IO, I2C, GPIO, Touchpad or Precision Touchpad for your model. On Intel laptops, Serial IO is the key one; on AMD laptops, look for the AMD chipset or GPIO/I2C package.
3. Restart, not shut down.
4. If the warning remains, uninstall the I2C HID Device in Device Manager (check Attempt to remove the driver for this device if offered), restart, and install the touchpad driver again.
5. Still failing: update the BIOS from the same support page. BIOS updates often include fixes for exactly this controller. Our guide to finding your BIOS version helps you check whether you are behind.

Some people also report the I2C error clearing after turning off Fast Startup, because Fast Startup resumes drivers from a saved state instead of starting them fresh. It is a quick thing to try; our guide to turning off Fast Startup shows where the setting is.

Fix 5: reinstall the right touchpad driver

When the pointer moves but clicks, taps or scrolling are dead, or gestures have vanished, Windows is usually running a generic driver. It knows how to move a pointer but not much else. The fix is the laptop maker's driver.

1. Download the touchpad driver for your exact model from the maker's support site: Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer and Microsoft all have model-specific pages. Avoid driver-download sites and "driver updater" programs.
2. In Device Manager, select the touchpad device, open its right-click menu, choose Uninstall device, and check the option to remove the driver if it appears.
3. Restart. Windows will load a basic driver.
4. Run the maker's installer, then restart again.
5. Open the Touchpad page in Settings and look for "Your PC has a precision touchpad". If it is there, the full driver is back.

If you would rather keep Windows from replacing it again at the next update, our guide to stopping a specific driver update shows how to hide it. Our general guides to updating and uninstalling drivers have screenshots of each step.

Where to get the right drivers, brand by brand

Every fix that involves drivers depends on getting the right package for your exact model. These are the official routes for the main brands; each one identifies your laptop automatically or by the serial number on the sticker underneath.

• Dell: the Dell support site with your service tag, or the SupportAssist app. Look for Chipset, Serial IO and Touchpad (sometimes under "Input").
• HP: HP Support Assistant, or HP's support site with your product number. Look for Chipset, Serial IO and Synaptics or ELAN touchpad packages.
• Lenovo: Lenovo Vantage (consumer models) or Lenovo System Update (ThinkPads), or Lenovo's support site with your serial number.
• ASUS: the MyASUS app, or ASUS support with your model name. Look for ASUS Precision Touchpad, chipset and Intel Serial IO or AMD packages.
• Acer: Acer Care Center, or Acer's support site with your serial number or SNID.
• Microsoft Surface: drivers come through Windows Update, with full driver and firmware packages for each Surface model on Microsoft's download site.

Install the chipset package first, then Serial IO or I2C, then the touchpad driver, restarting after each. That order matches how the parts depend on each other, and it avoids the "touchpad driver installed but still not working" loop.

Works in Linux or Kali but not in Windows, or the reverse

Dual-boot users get a clean diagnostic for free. If the touchpad works perfectly in Kali or another Linux and not in Windows, the hardware is fine and the problem is a Windows driver or setting; go straight to the driver and I2C fixes. If it works in Windows but not in Linux, the Linux kernel may lack support for that touchpad's controller, or the I2C HID module is not loading. Updating to a newer kernel usually helps, and on some laptops a BIOS setting that switches the touchpad between "basic" and "advanced" modes makes the difference for Linux.

One cross-system trap: Windows' Fast Startup leaves the hardware in a half-hibernated state, which can confuse Linux when it boots next. If the touchpad fails in Linux only after using Windows, turning off Fast Startup in Windows often fixes the Linux side.

Touchpad stopped working after a Windows update

A touchpad that worked on Monday and died after Tuesday's updates has a fairly short list of causes: a new driver arrived through Windows Update, or a cumulative update changed something the old driver relied on.

1. Roll back the driver. In Device Manager, open the touchpad device's Properties, go to the Driver tab and choose Roll Back Driver if the button is available. It restores the version you had before.
2. Install the maker's driver over it. If roll back is grayed out, install the touchpad and chipset drivers from the maker's site as in the fixes above.
3. Uninstall the update. If the problem began exactly with a cumulative update and nothing else works, uninstall it under Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates, then pause updates for a week while the maker or Microsoft releases a fix. Our guide to uninstalling a Windows update walks through it.
4. Check for a newer update. Microsoft often fixes regressions in the next optional update. Install it if one is offered.

Touchpad stops working after sleep or hibernation

If the touchpad works after a restart but dies after the lid has been closed, the driver is not resuming properly. Three fixes, in order:

1. Install the latest touchpad, chipset and Serial IO drivers from the maker. Resume bugs are a classic driver issue and are often fixed in newer versions.
2. Turn off power saving for the device. In Device Manager, open the touchpad and I2C controller entries, look for a Power Management tab, and clear Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. Not every device shows the tab.
3. Turn off Fast Startup to make every startup a fresh one, so a stuck driver state is never carried over.

A quick workaround in the meantime: Windows + X, then U, then R restarts the PC from the keyboard in a few seconds, and the touchpad comes back after a restart.

Hardware checks: dirt, ghost touches, part of the pad dead, and the battery

Software causes are far more common, but a few physical problems produce the same symptoms, and one of them is a safety issue.

Dirt and moisture. Oil, lotion and moisture on the surface make the pointer jump, drift or ignore you. Clean the pad with a slightly damp, lint-free cloth, dry it, and try with dry hands. Many "ghost clicks" disappear with this alone.

Part of the touchpad not working. If one area does nothing while the rest works, check that it is not a reserved zone: some laptops treat the edges or corners specially, and ASUS NumberPad turns part of the pad into keys. If a zone is genuinely dead, the pad itself may be damaged, which is a repair.

A lifted or bulging touchpad. If the touchpad sits higher than it used to, clicks constantly by itself, or the laptop rocks on a flat table, the battery underneath may be swelling. Stop using and charging the laptop and get the battery checked. A swollen lithium-ion battery is a fire risk. Our guide to checking battery health covers what to do next.

Test outside Windows. Start the laptop from any Linux live USB stick. If the touchpad works there, the hardware is fine and the problem is in Windows. If it fails there too, run the maker's pre-boot diagnostics (often F2 or F12 at startup) for a hardware verdict. A loose internal ribbon cable, common after a dropped laptop or a keyboard replacement, is a quick fix for a repair shop.

Check the BIOS. Some laptops, especially business models, can disable the touchpad in the BIOS setup. If someone has changed it, Windows never sees the touchpad. Look for an option named "internal pointing device" or "touchpad" and make sure it is enabled.

Touchpad works, but the pointer is jumpy, slow or erratic

A touchpad that technically works but behaves badly is its own category, with its own fixes.

Erratic only while charging. This one surprises people. If the pointer jumps, clicks by itself or ignores you only while the charger is plugged in, the cause is often electrical noise from the charger, especially cheap replacement chargers or two-pin plugs without a ground connection. Test on battery power. If the problem vanishes, try the original charger, a different wall socket, or a charger with a grounded plug.

Too slow or too fast. Adjust Cursor speed at the top of the Touchpad page. If the pointer still feels sluggish, open Additional mouse settings (under Bluetooth & devices > Mouse), go to Pointer Options, and try Enhance pointer precision on or off. It changes how acceleration feels.

Clicks while typing. Lower the touchpad sensitivity under Taps, and turn off tap-to-click if light brushes cause clicks.

Pointer drifts on its own. Clean and dry the surface, and remove anything resting on the pad: a phone, a watch strap, or the edge of your hand. If drift continues on battery with a clean pad, reinstall the driver; if it continues outside Windows, it is a hardware fault.

Mouse works but the touchpad does not (or the reverse)

The two failing separately tells you a lot, and it takes ten seconds to check with any spare mouse, which is a good reason to keep a cheap one in the laptop bag.

USB mouse works, touchpad does not: Windows and USB are fine, so the issue is specific to the touchpad: its toggle key, its setting, the "turn off when a mouse is connected" option, or its driver and internal controller. Unplug the mouse and test again in case the automatic switch-off is the whole story.

Touchpad works, USB or Bluetooth mouse does not: the mouse, its receiver, its batteries, its USB port or Bluetooth is at fault, not the touchpad. Try another USB port, new batteries, or re-pairing the mouse under Bluetooth & devices.

Neither works: Windows input as a whole is stuck. Restart with Ctrl + Alt + Delete and the power icon. If both are still dead after a restart, test in Safe Mode as below.

Before you change drivers: three precautions

1. Create a restore point. Driver changes are easy to undo with System Restore if something goes wrong. Search for "Create a restore point" in Start and click Create.
2. Write down your model. The exact model or serial number, from the sticker underneath the laptop or from Settings > System > About, decides which drivers are right. A driver for a similar-sounding model can make things worse.
3. Avoid driver updater programs. Tools that promise to update every driver at once often install generic or wrong versions, and some bundle adware. The laptop maker's own support site or app is the safe source for touchpad, chipset and BIOS updates.

The Safe Mode test: is another program disabling the touchpad?

If drivers look healthy but the touchpad still fails, find out whether Windows itself or something installed on top of it is the problem. Safe Mode starts Windows with only basic drivers and no third-party startup programs.

1. Hold Shift while choosing Restart from the Start menu's power button (or from the sign-in screen).
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
3. When the list appears, press 4 for Safe Mode.
4. Test the touchpad. Basic pointer movement and clicks should work even with the generic driver.

If the touchpad works in Safe Mode but not in normal Windows, a program is interfering. Do a clean boot: press Windows + R, type msconfig, go to the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, click Disable all, then disable startup items in Task Manager's Startup apps tab, and restart. If the touchpad now works, re-enable services and apps in small groups until it breaks again; the last group you enabled holds the culprit. When you are done, return msconfig to Normal startup.

If the touchpad fails even in Safe Mode, programs are not the problem. It is the driver at a deeper level, the controller, the BIOS or the hardware, so return to the I2C and hardware sections.

Software that can switch your touchpad off

Several kinds of program can disable or take over the touchpad, and they are easy to forget about.

• Laptop maker utilities: Lenovo Vantage, MyASUS, HP and Dell control apps can all turn the touchpad off. Check their device or input sections.
• Old touchpad control panels: Synaptics and ELAN settings left over from an earlier driver can keep their own "disable when mouse is connected" option, separate from Windows'.
• Gaming and macro software for gaming keyboards and mice sometimes include a touchpad lock for games.
• Remote access tools, during or after a session, can leave input in an odd state until you restart.
• "Touchpad blocker" utilities designed to prevent accidental touches while typing can be set too aggressively, blocking the pad for long periods.

Malware that disables touchpads specifically is rare. If you suspect it, a full scan in Windows Security costs nothing, but in practice a forgotten utility is far more likely.

Touchpad not working at the sign-in screen only

Some people find the touchpad dead on the lock and sign-in screens, then working normally once they are signed in, or the reverse. At the sign-in screen, Windows runs before your user settings and some drivers' helper software load. Most often the cause is a manufacturer's touchpad utility that only starts after sign-in and was doing part of the touchpad's job. Updating to the maker's current driver usually fixes it. In the meantime, you can sign in with the keyboard alone: press any key or Space to lift the lock screen, type your PIN or password, and press Enter. Windows Hello fingerprint or face sign-in avoid the issue completely.

Repair or replace: what a touchpad fault costs

If every test points to hardware, it helps to know what you are facing before you visit a repair shop.

A loose or damaged ribbon cable is the cheapest fault: the touchpad connects to the motherboard with a thin flat cable, which can work loose after a drop or a keyboard repair. Reseating or replacing it is a short job for a technician.

A failed touchpad module costs more. On many laptops the touchpad is a separate part, but on a growing number of thin models it is built into the palm rest, sometimes together with the keyboard and battery. Replacing it then means replacing that whole top section, which raises the price considerably.

A swollen battery damaging the touchpad means two parts, and the battery comes first for safety.

Check the warranty before paying anything: touchpads are covered as standard parts, and many makers offer mail-in or on-site repair. If the laptop is out of warranty and older, compare the repair quote with the price of a good external mouse or a standalone touchpad. For a desk-bound laptop, an external pointing device is a perfectly good permanent fix.

Why the old "troubleshooter" advice no longer works

Many guides still tell you to press Windows + R and run msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic to open the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter. On current Windows 11, Microsoft has retired the old MSDT troubleshooters; those commands now do nothing or point you to the Get Help app instead. The Get Help app's device troubleshooters can still be worth a try for general hardware problems, but for touchpads they rarely find more than the checks above. Skip it and go straight to drivers. It is a small example of why a fix guide is only as good as its last update.

Windows 10 differences

Everything above applies to Windows 10 with two changes of wording. The Touchpad page is Settings > Devices > Touchpad, and Windows 10's Touchpad page has a Reset button at the bottom that restores all touchpad settings and gestures, worth trying before driver work. Older Windows 10 laptops are more likely to use Synaptics or ELAN drivers with their own settings under Mouse settings > Additional mouse options, where the touchpad can be disabled separately. If Windows' own switch is on but the touchpad still does nothing, check there too.

For IT admins: touchpads failing across a fleet

Pattern recognition first. When several laptops of the same model lose their touchpads in the same week, the cause is almost always a driver delivered through Windows Update or a firmware change, not hardware. Check which driver versions the affected machines have with PowerShell:

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object FriendlyName -match 'touch ?pad|I2C HID|Serial IO|Synaptics|ELAN' |
  Select-Object Status, Class, FriendlyName, InstanceId

Devices with a Status of Error are the ones to chase. Comparing the driver versions on working and failing machines usually names the culprit in minutes.

Control the driver source. For managed fleets, deliver touchpad, chipset and Serial IO drivers from the OEM's catalog or driver tools, and use Intune driver update policies or the Group Policy Do not include drivers with Windows Updates to stop generic replacements. Pilot BIOS and driver updates on a small group before broad deployment.

Give users a way out. Add "Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock for Mouse Keys" to your help-desk scripts. A user who can move a pointer can at least save work and join a remote session while a driver fix is pushed.

Touchpad not working: frequently asked questions

Ethan finished his exam with the touchpad working and three minutes to spare. The next week he made two changes Jake suggested. He kept a cheap USB mouse in his laptop bag, and he wrote "Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock" on a sticky note inside the lid. Neither cost him anything, and both mean a dead touchpad can never trap him again. Touchpad failures are rarely the hardware, and almost never a reason to panic before an exam, a meeting or a deadline. They are a driver, a key or a setting. And the fastest way through any of them is knowing which one you are looking at before you start clicking, or, in this case, before you start pressing keys.

Revision note. Written October 2, 2026, rewriting our 2016 guide for Windows 11 and 10. If your touchpad died at the worst moment, I hope you are back in control now.