[SOLVED] Touchpad Not Working On Dell Laptop

A Dell laptop touchpad can also be referred to as a trackpad and for some reason can just stop working.

There are several reasons for your dell laptop touchpad not to work especially when it’s caused by common problems in windows 10.

If you really need to use your dell laptop right now and you are looking for alternative methods, I suggest you get an external mouse.

Today, I am going to sharing with you how to fix your dell laptop touchpad that refuses to work.

This tutorial will be applicable on windows 7, 8 and 10.

Before I get into that, allow me to show you a few reasons why your touchpad or trackpad stopped working

Why Your Dell Laptop Touchpad Stopped Working

Here are the reasons why your trackpad can stop working on your Dell Laptop.

Operating System

There are situations whereby your dell computer freezes and this can make you think there’s something wrong with your touchpad when it refuses to respond to your command.

If you don’t understand what it means for your dell computer to freeze, think of it like your dell computer is having a stroke. This situation can make everything on your computer to stop working for a short period of time.

In some cases, it could be longer.

The common way to fix this is simply by being patient till your computer recovers.

If you are sure you have been too patient and your dell computer is still frozen, you can resolve this quickly by force shutting down your dell laptop.

Here’s how to force shut down your dell laptop:

Press and hold your power button for 3 to 7 seconds

Restart your dell computer and hopefully, your dell touchpad should be working.

Disabled

There are several things on your dell laptop that can turn off your dell laptop touchpad.

For example,

• BIOS
• Mouse properties
• Fn lock
• Touchpad disable zone

One of these things i mentioned above is what is causing your dell laptop touchpad to be disabled.

If there’s anything you were messing with among these option, then i believe you must have disabled your touchpad by mistake.

If you remember exactly what you did, you can go back and undo them.

But if you don’t remember what you did, I will show you how to enable your dell laptop touch driver specifically for all these things i mentioned.

Drivers

Your dell laptop touchpad driver has an important role to play for your touchpad to work properly.

If your touchpad drivers is not well installed or outdated, it could cause your dell touchpad to stop working.

It’s important you always update your touchpad driver to avoid issues that can lead it to malfunction.

There are times when your touchpad can stop working right after you update. In this kind of case, you simply have to roll back to the previous update.

If you know how to update your touchpad driver properly, go ahead and do so.

If you can’t, i will show you how you can update or roll back to your previous driver below

How To Fix Touchpad Not Working On Dell Laptop

Here’s how to fix your dell touchpad

1. Enable Your Dell Touchpad

I shared with you earlier the things that can cause your dell laptop touchpad to be disabled and now i am going to aslo share with you how to enable your dell trackpad specifically for everything i mentioned above.

Les’t start with the Fn lock

Fn Lock

To enable your dell laptop touchpad with fn lock, we have to try different number of keys on your dell keyboard.

The reason we are trying different keys is that your dell laptop could be different from other people’s dell laptops and besides, what will for you you might not work for someone else and vice versa.

Follow this instruction

While holding the Fn key, press every function button which is the F keys located at the top of your dell keyboard. Look for the keys with a symbol on it that looks like it could be your touchpad to see if it switches back on.

NOTE – You might turn off your screen or something else, simply press that button again to undo any changes you don’t want.

If you are experiencing any Dell black screen issues, you may want to resolve the issues first before proceeding to the following method.

For example, Fn key + F6 or Fn Key + F7

You get the idea.

Just try any F key while holding fn Key to enable your Dell touchpad

Mouse and Touchpad settings

Touchpad settings

1. Navigate to the windows logo and search for touchpad settings
2. Select the Touchpad settings option in the search results
3. Once the touchpad settings open, make sure the Touchpad On/Off toggle switch is set to On. If it’s Off, turn it on.

Mouse settings

1. Navigate to the windows logo and search for mouse settings
2. Select the Mouse settings option in the search results
3. Once it open, by your right-hand side, click on Additional mouse option
4. After clicking on it, a pop up will be revealed showing you your mouse property
5. In the Mouse Properties window that opens, locate your touchpad settings. Since you are using a dell laptop, you should see a Dell Touchpad tab.
6. In the dell touchpad tab, look below and click on click to change DellTouchpad settings.
7. Ensure you Enable the touchpad.
8. Now click on save
9. Test your touchpad.

BIOS

1. Turn on your dell laptop by pressing the power button
2. Immediately your laptop comes on, click on F2 or F12 continuously on your keyboard till you enter Setup mode
3. It doesn’t matter about the layout of your BIOS your goal is to find an option called “Internal Pointing Device” or similar.
4. Make sure it’s enabled. This may be under the Advanced heading if you have one
5. Now save and exit.”
6. Test your Touchpad

Touchpad Disable Zone

There are some dell laptops with a small square logo or button at the top left corner of the dell laptop touchpad.

If your dell laptop have this logo or button,

Double-tap on it to enable and disable your touchpad.

Now test your touchpad

Here’s another method to disable it

1. Navigate to Settings
2. Select Devices
3. Click on Touchpad
4. Click on Additional settings
5. Then proceed to Touchpad Entry
6. Navigate to Settings
7. Select Touchpad Disable Zone
8. Now Untick Double Tap to Disable Touchpad.

2. Update or Roll Back Dell Touchpad Driver

Update Dell Touchpad Drivers

Here’s how to update your touchpad driver on your dell laptop

1. Click on the Windows logo key and search for device manager
2. Run device manager
3. Once it opens, locate mice and other pointing device and click on the drop-down
4. Depending on the number of drivers in the drop-down list, you will have to update everything.
5. Right-click on one the drivers and click update
6. A message will pop up asking you how you want to search for your drivers, select Search automatically for updated driver software.
7. Now let windows search for you drivers automatically
8. If your drivers are not up to date, update your drivers and restart your laptop. If otherwise, Proceed to the next step.

If your dell touchpad is not working right after you updated then you simply need to roll back to the previous touchpad driver.

Roll Back To Your Previous Touchpad Driver

Here’s how to roll back to your previous driver on your dell laptop

1. Click on the Windows logo key and search for device manager
2. Run device manager
3. Once it opens, locate mice and other pointing device and click on the drop-down
4. Depending on the number of drivers in the drop-down list, you will have to update everything.
5. Right-click on one the drivers and click properties
6. Navigate to the Driver tab
7. Click on roll back driver among the option provided

Last update on 2023-03-18 / As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API