Dell Laptop Mouse Not Working
My Dell E6410 touchpad stopped working. USB mouse was fine. Little button between the G and H keys worked too. I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, and the pad itself. No function keys would turn it on either. Tried to Restore back a week, but my computer couldn’t find the file.
There are two general ways your laptop's touchpad can break bad. The first is the nuclear option where it just stops working, which is uncommon but can happen after a software update. The more common occurrence is where your the touchpad on a new laptop feels finicky or skittish, registering unintended gestures while failing to recognize your intended swipes, pinches, taps and clicks. Acting in ways you wish it wouldn't.
I'll cover both cases for Windows 10 ($100 at Amazon)laptops -- dead and acting poorly. I'm using a Dell Latitude laptop with Windows 10 for this post, but touchpad settings vary by manufacturer. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
Revive a dead touchpad
If your laptop doesn't feature a touchscreen display, then you will need a mouse to revive a disabled touchpad. With your touchscreen or mouse, open Settings and go to Devices > Mouse & touchpad. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click Additional mouse options.
The Mouse Properties window will open. Click the tab that lists your laptop's touchpad -- mine is labeled Dell Touchpad. If you don't see such a tab, then look for a tab labeled ELAN or Device Settings, where you'll see your touchpad listed under Devices. Click on the touchpad to select it and then click Enable. On my Dell Latitude, the Dell Touchpad tab featured a link that opened a custom Dell settings window whose main page had a toggle switch for turning the touchpad on and off.
One other thing to try is to see if your laptop has a function key that enables/disables the touchpad. It should look like a tiny touchpad with a diagonal line through it (it may be Fn + F5, Fn + F6 or something else entirely). Try toggling this key if you have it before you freak out about possible touchpad woes.
Settle down a skittish touchpad
There are a number of ways a touchpad can feel wonky. Perhaps your cursor is moving too fast or too slow. Maybe the touchpad feels too sensitive, registering phantom clicks and gestures. Or maybe it's not sensitive enough, making you repeat yourself. Thankfully, Windows 10 offers a number of settings to fine tune how your touchpad reacts to your clicks, taps and swipes.
First up, set the speed of your cursor. On the Mouse Properties windows, click the Pointers Options tab and play around with the slider for Select a pointer speed until you find a speed you can work with. You can also speed up or slow down the double-click speed; the slider for this setting can be found on the Buttons tab.
Next, let's get your touchpad gestures in order. On my Dell Latitude, the settings for all touchpad settings are located in Dell's custom Pointing Devices shell, which is accessible from the Dell Touchpad tab in the Mouse Properties window in Mouse & touchpad settings.
On any Windows laptop I use for any length of time, I always disable two touchpad settings: tapping and zoom. Tapping lets you tap the touchpad to perform a click instead of using a mouse button. I find it's more a nuisance than convenience because it makes a touchpad constantly think I'm tapping when I'm not. I also find a touchpad regularly thinks I'm pinching to zoom when the only time I use that gesture is when I'm using Google Maps. Since I don't use Google Maps all that often on my laptop, zoom is out. When you disable the zoom gesture, you may see a setting for rotate. I disable that too, since I don't use that gesture either.
I also change the default direction for swiping vertically. On my Dell Latitude, it offers a checkbox for Reverse Scroll Direction.
Lastly, if you back out of the Mouse Properties window and return to the Mouse & touchpad panel in Settings, you'll see a Touchpad delay setting. By default, it's set to Medium delay. I suggest moving it to Long delay, which helps to keep the touchpad from registering your palm as a tap as you type and jumping your cursor to a new spot in your document. Dell also offers a slider for TouchGuard, which performs a similar function of preventing unwanted cursor jumps from your palms when typing.
Update your drivers
I'm using a 2017 Dell Latitude and when I tried to update the touchpad driver, I was told that the driver was up-to-date; the driver is from 2006. So, the odds are your touchpad driver is current and not the source of your touchpad problems. Still, it's worth checking if your touchpad is acting up. To do so, search for Device Manager, open it, go to Mice and other pointing devices, and find your touchpad (mine is labeled HID-compliant mouse, but yours may be named something else). Right-click on your touchpad and click Update Driver Software.
Your laptop will check the internet for updated driver software and, hopefully, update accordingly. If your computer can't find an updated driver, you may need to look for the updated driver by yourself. Look at the downloads sections of your laptop manufacturer's website or just Google '[LAPTOP MODEL] Windows 10 touchpad driver.' You may need to uninstall your old touchpad driver (Device Manger, right-click on touchpad, Uninstall) before installing the new driver.
Get Amazon Prime Day deals without being a member: You won’t have to pay a thing -- unless you buy something, of course.
7 best Prime Day shopping tips: Master these to snag the best deals on July 15.
Related Articles
- 1 Remove a DOT4 Printer Port
- 2 Disable Zoom on a Logitech Keyboard
- 3 Enable & Disable an HP Touchpad
- 4 Troubleshoot a Computer That Scrolls by Itself
Dell Laptop Mouse Stops Working
When using a Dell computer with a trackpad or touchpad, you may find the on-screen cursor unresponsive or erratic in its movements. According to Dell's support information, trackpad issues may be caused by a variety of issues, including faulty device drivers, maladjusted trackpad settings or a dirty trackpad. You'll have to explore each of these issues to address Dell trackpad problems.
Check Your Dell Trackpad Drivers
A number of Dell trackpad issues are caused by incomplete or faulty drivers. To check if your Dell trackpad driver is installed, click on the 'Start' button or Windows orb if using Windows Vista and Windows 7. Right-click on 'My Computer' if using XP. Right-click on 'Computer' if using Vista or Windows 7. Click 'Properties.' Click on the 'Hardware' tab in Windows XP or click on 'Device Manager' in Vista and Windows 7. In the window that appears, click the '+' icon next to the 'Mice and Other Pointing Devices' entry. The Dell trackpad driver will be listed as a 'Touchpad' or 'Trackpad' driver, likely made by Synaptics, the developer of these devices. If the driver entry has a '!' icon, '?' icon or an 'x' icon next to it, you will need to uninstall and reinstall the driver. If these icons are not present, your trackpad's drivers are properly installed.
Reinstalling Trackpad Drivers
If your Dell trackpad drivers are not installed properly as indicated in the section 'Check Your Dell Trackpad Drivers,' right-click on the driver entry and click 'Uninstall.' Once the driver is uninstalled, right-click on the entry again and click 'Scan for Hardware Changes' to reinstall the appropriate drivers. Restart your Dell computer when the driver is reinstalled to test if the trackpad issues have been resolved.
Fixing Faulty Cursor Movement
Dell Wireless Mouse Not Working
If your trackpad device's drivers are working properly, you may still encounter problems with the movement of your mouse cursor when you use the trackpad. To address this, Dell recommends turning off your computer and disconnecting every single cord except the power cord. Wipe down the surface of the trackpad until it is free of dirt and grease. Then, turn back on the computer without any of the cords except the power cord connected. Test the trackpad to see if the issue has been resolved.
Adjusting Trackpad Settings
For any other cursor or movement problems with your Dell trackpad, a readjustment of the trackpad settings can address the issue. Click on the 'Start' button, then click on 'Control Panel.' Click 'Mouse,' then click 'Dell Touchpad' or 'Device Settings.' This will open the Dell trackpad settings menu. From here, you can adjust the trackpad settings to your desired sensitivity. Often, trackpad problems and erratic cursor movement result from sensitivity settings set too high or too low. Adjust the settings and test out your trackpad to find the right settings for your needs. When finished, click 'OK.'
References (2)
About the Author
Michael Batton Kaput began writing professionally in 2009. He is an editor at two magazines and a freelance writer. He has been published in 'Egypt Today,' Egypt's leading current affairs magazine, and 'Business Today Egypt,' Egypt's number one English-language business magazine. He attended Denison University where he earned a degree in political science and English literature.
Cite this Article