Disable Touchpad on Windows 11 with External Mouse

This post shows students and new users steps to automatically turn off a laptop’s touchpad when a mouse is connected to Windows 11. Most laptops have an integrated touchpad as an alternative to an external mouse.

By default, when you connect a mouse to your laptop, the touchpad will also be available and active. This allows you to use the external mouse or touchpad to perform specific actions on your computer.

However, in some cases, when you have both an external mouse and touchpad active, you may run into situations where you inadvertently move the mouse pointer simply by resting your palm on your device’s touchpad.

This might not be something you’ll want to happen frequently since it can be annoying.

Windows allows you to turn off the touchpad automatically when you connect an external mouse; the steps below will show you how to do that.

Other settings one can perform on a device’s touchpad are; turning on or off the on-screen touchpad, using touchpad gestures, turning off touchpad clicks, disabling your device touchpad, adjusting touchpad sensitivity, and more.

How to turn automatically turn off the touchpad when the mouse is connected in Windows 11

As mentioned above, Windows allows you to automatically turn off your computer’s touchpad when you connect an external mouse.

Below is how to do that:

Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings app. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from the System Settings pane.

To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings, as shown in the image below:

Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it.

Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click Bluetooth & devices and select the Touchpad tile on the right.

On the Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad settings pane, select the tile that Reads “Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected,” then uncheck the box to disable.

That will automatically turn off the touchpad when you connect an external mouse. This will also occur even if you connect a mouse via Bluetooth.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Windows 11 allows you to automatically turn off the touchpad when connecting an external mouse, reducing accidental touchpad interference.
• Additionally, similar settings can be accessed to manage on-screen touchpad, touchpad gestures, touchpad clicks, touchpad enable/disable, and touchpad sensitivity. These settings provide a comprehensive approach to customizing touchpad behavior on Windows 11.