How to Disable Touchscreen Gestures on Windows 10 (Action Center & Virtual Desktop)

Is there a way of disabling touch screen gestures from windows 10? We have a full screen Kiosk system, but we don’t want people swiping the side of the screen and playing around with pc settings. I’ve searched the device manager / mouse & touchpad settings and there is no way to disable gestures. Any suggestions? Is there anything in regedit I can change?

Or disable Action Center & Virtual Desktop.

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Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

We are working on your issue, we will get back to you soon.

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About that reply that you deleted, I’m guessing that you don’t want me to do it?

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I have the same problem developing a Self Checkout application for customers using Windows 8.1 or 10.

Please publish a solution to this issue.

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The Microsoft Engineer originally replied.

«Step 1: Copy the following registry code in Notepad and then save the file as Touch.reg file. Make sure that you save the file with .reg extension.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Right Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Left Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Right Edge Pull Extended Zone]
“ActionType”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Top Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000000

Step 2: Double-click on Touch.reg file, click Yes for the prompt, and then click Ok.

Step 3 : Reboot your Windows 10 PC to disable the above mentioned gestures.

To enable these disabled gestures again, follow the steps provided below:

Step 1: Copy the below registry code in Notebook, save it as TouchEnable.reg file.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Right Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000002
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Left Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000002
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Right Edge Pull Extended Zone]
“ActionType”=dword:00000002
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Synaptics\SynTPEnh\ZoneConfig\TouchPadPS2\Top Edge Pull]
“ActionType”=dword:00000002

Step 2: Double-click on the file, click Yes, and then click Ok when you see confirmation message.

Step 3: Reboot your computer.

Hope the information is helpful. Feel free to write to us for any other assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.»

Then he deleted the reply an hour later, I havn’t had a chance to try this on our demo system. Use at your own risk.

Disabling Windows 10 Touchpad Gestures/Swipes

Is there is way to completely disable the touchpad gestures/swipes in Windows 10 (Build 1511)?

I find that very obtrusive, as they are constantly getting in the way of what I’m doing — the ‘Start typing to search. ‘ dialog box is the worse.

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Thank you for posting your concern in Microsoft Community and welcome to the Windows 10 Family.

From the description provided, I understand that you want to disable the track pad gestures in Windows.

Please be informed that this feature to interact with Windows is an inbuilt feature and depends on the brand and model of touchpad. So, it is not possible to disable the gesture feature of the touchpad you are referring to.

However, I suggest you to post your valuable feedback about Windows 10 in feedback app. So, that it will be helpful for the developers to integrate the changes suggested by you.

Open start menu, type Feedback app in search bar and click on feedback app to open it. Post your suggestions in feedback app.

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That is correct. these gestures are the most useless, intrusive, ill-conceived, un-friendly implementation ever and its complete **** that users are unable to disable them.

I have previously submitted feedback via the app.

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I haven’t received a suitable reply on this yet.

I’ve had no feedback on the feedback that I submitted through the Windows 10 Feedback app.

Can I get a meaningful and useful reply?

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So, it is not possible to disable the gesture feature of the touchpad you are referring to

This isn’t satisfactory at all! This is completely unacceptable! Users expect to be able to switch things off.

You haven’t helped whatsoever. I do have a choice — stop using Windows 10, as its a complete joke.

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I was able to find a dialog box that allowed me to disable the touch pad «features» that are annoying to me, and enable a few that help prevent unwanted actions. Maybe this will help:

Open the Settings dialog box, select Devices (Bluetooth, printers, mouse)

On the Devices dialog box, select Mouse & Touchpad on the left menu, and scroll the right panel down to reveal Related Settings/Addition mouse options

Click on Addtional mouse options to open the Mouse Properties dialog box

On the Mouse Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab. Click on the Advanced feature settings. button.

On the Advanced feature settings dialog box are four tabbed dialog boxes with check boxes for enabling/disabling Gestures, Touch Pad functions, TouchGuard assists and Others options.

I have neuropathy, so most of the multi-finger gestures are useless, though I use Pinch Zoom. On the Touch Pad tab, the «Browser support function» results in unexpected, and uncontrollable simulated Back and Forward operations on Web pages. So turning that off was especially helpful to me. I enabled all of the options to disable touchpad events while typing.

I think software design should follow the path of least surprise. All the unwanted random events and surprising actions generated by the touch pad indicate rather poor judgment in my opinion. Hopefully this will help others suppress some of the surprises.

Disabling touchpad gestures in Windows 10

I have a big problem, that makes my tablet computer (Kiano Intelect X1 FHD) completely useless:

because of wrong working touchpad gestures all the windows minimize every 10-60 seconds.
This is extremally annoying. The built-in touchpad is recognized by Windows as a standard mouse.
I have spent hours on searching for solutions but none of them worked out.

I would like to add that this problem appears in all the tablets of this kind (even the reviewers have mentioned it).

How to completely disable the touchpad gestures in Windows 10?

Thanks in advance

[Moved to: Windows / Windows 10 / Windows settings]

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Precision touchpad is one of the improvements recently brought to Windows 10 to support touch gestures. Is you device running on Windows Creators Update? If yes, follow the steps below to disable touchpad:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Ease of Access.
3. Click Touchpad.
4. Under Touchpad, toggle the switch on or off.
5. You can also uncheck the box beside Leave touchpad on the when a mouse is connected option to disable it when you use a traditional mouse.

Once done with the steps above, check if the issue will persist.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

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Thank you for the response, however it did not solve my problem.

I’m using the most actual Polish version of Windows 10 (compilation 15063).
Since, as I wrote previously, Windows recognizes the touchpad of my tablet (it is 2in1 tablet with keyboard and touchpad) Kiano X1FHD as a standard mouse (mouse compatible with HID) I can’t see the touchpad settings.

It is possible to turn the whole device off by turning off the mouse driver, but the touchpad is ok itself and works well. Just the gestures cause the whole problem. Since the computer is very small and does not have a USB port (it needs a special cable to connect an USB device) I would prefer not to buy a mouse.

Is there any way to disable just the gestures (maybe turning off some services or modyfying the system registry)?

Please advice,
Best regards
Andrzej

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Top 9 Ways to Fix Touch­pad Ges­tures Not Work­ing in Win­dows 10

Mehvish

09 Sep 2020

Windows 10 supports various touchpad (trackpad) gestures. Apart from the typical slide to scroll and pinch to zoom gestures, you can use gestures like a two-finger scroll, swiping three-fingers away from you to show open windows, and swiping three fingers towards yourself will show desktop. Sadly, some Windows 10 users cannot take the benefit of these gestures as they do not work on their PC. If you are going through the same issue of touchpad or trackpad gestures not working, here are some working solutions to fix the problem.

The solutions range from being as easy as changing mouse pointer to updating drivers. Try all the solutions on your HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, Dell, etc., laptops, and see which one works for you. After completing each solution, restart your computer. While you try the following solutions, try to keep a wireless mouse handy.

Let’s jump to the solutions right away.

1. Restart PC

If the touchpad gestures are not working suddenly, the first thing that you should do is restart your computer. Sometimes, a simple fix like that does wonders.

2. Clean the Touchpad

Next, clean the touchpad of your laptop. Sometimes, due to greasy fingers and sweat, the grime starts accumulating on the touchpad. Cleaning the touchpad with a clean cloth will help you in taking control of your touchpad gestures.

3. Enable Touchpad

Some Windows computers let you disable the touchpad. You might have accidentally disabled the touchpad, and that’s why it might not be working.

To enable the touchpad, go to Settings on your computer, followed by Devices.

Click on Touchpad from the left sidebar. You will see the toggle under Touchpad. Turn it on. If it’s already on, turn it off and on. Restart computer. Scroll down on the same page, and you will find many gestures. Enable them as per your need.

Tip: Enable the setting ‘Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected.’

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4. Change Mouse Pointer

Many Windows 10 users have suggested that changing the mouse pointer resolved the touchpad gestures issue for them. To do so, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Control Panel on your computer.

Step 2: With View by mode selected as Small icons, click on Mouse.

Step 3: Go to the Pointers tab. Under Scheme, either choose a different scheme from the current one or select None. Press the Apply button and restart the PC.

5. Enable Gestures in Touchpad Settings

On some computers, you need to enable the touchpad gestures that you want to use manually. To do so, follow the first two steps of the above solution, i.e., go to Control Panel > Mouse. Then, click on the right-most setting present next to Hardware. It goes by different names on different computers such as Device Settings, Touchpad, Synaptics, etc.

Note: In case you don’t see the touchpad setting tab, know how to fix it.

Click on the Settings inside your touchpad device.

You will see various gestures. Check the box next to them to enable them. Also, click on the settings gear icon next to each gesture to reveal more options.

Pro Tip: Click on Default Settings at the bottom to reset gestures to their default values.

6. Check Antivirus

At times, even your antivirus program interferes with the touchpad gestures. If your antivirus recently received an upgrade, that might be the reason for your trouble. Either disable or uninstall the antivirus for a temporary period to see if it resolves the gestures issue.

Also on Guiding Tech

# touchpad

7. Update Touchpad Gestures

Many times, the touchpad gestures fail to work because of outdated or corrupted drivers. To fix that, you need to update your touchpad drivers.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Right-click on the Start Menu icon and select Device Manager from the list.

Step 2: Expand Mice and other pointing devices. Right-click on your touchpad driver and select Update driver from the menu. Follow the on-screen instructions to update the driver online. Restart pc after updating the driver. Do check our guide on how to update drivers correctly in Windows 10.

Tip: You will find your touchpad driver by its name. However, if you see two HID-compliant mice, try with both. One of them will be for the touchpad.

8. Rollback or Uninstall Drivers

Occasionally, instead of updating the driver, rolling it back solves the problem. So try that as well. Go to Device Manager. Right-click on your touchpad driver and select Properties.

Go to the Driver tab and click on Roll Back Driver (if it’s active). Restart the computer and see if the problem is fixed. If gestures work, update the driver, as shown above. If updating brings back the problem, rollback, and leave it without updating until the manufacturer pushes an update to fix it.

Another solution related to drivers that you should try is uninstalling the touchpad drivers. Right-click on the touchpad driver in Device Manager and select Uninstall driver. Restart PC.

9. Repair Touchpad

Remember the good old Add or Remove programs option? The same can be used to repair your touchpad. For that, open Windows search and type Programs & features. Click on it. Check out other ways to open classic Add or Remove programs panel.

Look for your touchpad driver. Right-click on it and select Repair.

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What Is Reserved Storage in Windows 10 and Should You Disable It

Get It Fixed

We hope one of the above solutions should have fixed the touchpad gestures not working on Windows 10. In case the issue lingers on, do take a look at your computer manufacturer’s site for other troubleshooting tips. You can check HP, Dell, and Lenovo websites.

Next up: Once your touchpad is back in action and you are happy, check out 19 cool tips for Windows 10 from the next link.

Last updated on 3 Dec, 2020
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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