How to Change Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture in Windows 11
A Windows 11 three-finger tap gesture is a shortcut that lets you open apps or run tasks by tapping three fingers on your laptop touchpad at the same time. You can change this gesture in the main Settings app to do different tasks, like opening Search, playing or pausing music, or showing your notifications.
This trick only works on laptops that have a precision touchpad built in, which comes on almost all Windows 11 laptops made in the last few years.
Navigate to Settings, then Bluetooth & devices, and click Touchpad. Expand Three-finger gestures and select your desired action from the Taps dropdown menu.
Change Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture in Settings
- Open Settings (press Win+I).
- Click on Bluetooth & devices on the left side. Then click on Touchpad on the right side.
Press Win+I to open Settings . Select Bluetooth & devices from the left menu, then click Touchpad on the right. Expand the Three-finger gestures section to view the available choices.
- Click on Three-finger gestures to expand the section.
- Select one option from the Taps drop menu: Nothing, Open search (default), Notification center, Play/pause, or Middle mouse button.
- You can now close Settings.
Option Two
Change Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture using Registry
Power users can reconfigure gestures through the Registry Editor (a database for low-level system settings). This method disables the tap entirely or forces specific actions like search. Applying these changes requires adding designated values to the registry keys.
Set Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture to “Nothing”
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad" /v ThreeFingerTapEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Set Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture to “Open search”
Configure the gesture value to disable the tap entirely or revert to Open search (default).
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad" /v ThreeFingerTapEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Set Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture to "Notification center"
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad" /v ThreeFingerTapEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
Set Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture to "Play/pause"
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad" /v ThreeFingerTapEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f
Set Touchpad Three-finger Tap Gesture to "Middle mouse button"
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad" /v ThreeFingerTapEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f
Summary
Customizing touchpad behavior relies on either the graphical Settings application or direct registry modifications.
How do you customize the Trackpad gestures on a Mac?
Mac users can access similar controls by selecting System Settings from the Apple menu and clicking Trackpad. From there, toggling behaviors, adjusting sensitivity, and reviewing supported shortcuts takes only a few clicks. Tapping with one finger performs a standard click.
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Richard
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Richard, a writer for Geek Rewind, is a tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex IT topics into simple, easy-to-understand ideas. With years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, he’s developed a knack for offering practical tips and solutions. Richard aims to make technology more accessible and actionable. He's deeply committed to the Geek Rewind community, always ready to answer questions and engage in discussions.
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