How to Enable or Disable Touchpad in Ubuntu Linux

Disabling your laptop touchpad stops the mouse cursor from jumping around while you type. A touchpad is the touch-sensitive pad below your keyboard that lets you move the pointer without a separate mouse.

Most laptops let you turn the pad on or off instantly with a keyboard shortcut, such as pressing the Fn key together with F9. The exact key differs between makes and models. Look for a function key with a small touchpad icon on it. Some of these shortcuts only work when the vendor’s driver or hotkey support is present, so on some machines they do nothing under Linux.

If your keyboard has no shortcut, or it doesn’t work, you can switch the touchpad off in the Ubuntu settings under Mouse & Touchpad. This guide covers that method and a second one, a third-party app called Touchpad Indicator.

How to turn off laptop touchpad when using Ubuntu Linux

The quickest way to enable or disable the touchpad in Ubuntu is the built-in Settings app. Open the Activities overview, search for Settings, and go to the Mouse & Touchpad section. From there you turn the touchpad switch off or on. Turning it off stops the cursor from jumping around when your palms brush the pad while you type.

The change takes effect at once. You don’t need to log out or restart. To undo it, go back to the same switch and turn it on again.

Most configuration options live in one place. The Settings app handles system options such as user accounts, networking, displays and system updates, as well as mouse and touchpad behavior. There are two ways to open it. Both are shown below.

The first way is through the Activities overview:

1. Click Activities in the top-left corner of the screen, or press the Super key (the Win on most keyboards). The overview opens.
2. Start typing Settings. The Settings⚙️ icon appears in the results.
3. Click the Settings icon, or press Enter to open it.

The second way is through the System menu. It is handy if you already have a window open and don’t want to switch to the overview.

1. Click the System menu at the top-right corner of the top bar. This is the area with the network, volume and battery icons. A panel drops down.

2. In the panel, select Settings, as highlighted below. The Settings⚙️ window opens.

With the Settings app open, go to the mouse and touchpad options:

1. In the Settings⚙️ window, find the Mouse & Touchpad tile in the sidebar and click it. The mouse and touchpad options appear on the right.

If you don’t see a touchpad section on this page, Ubuntu hasn’t detected a touchpad. That is normal on a desktop PC. On a laptop it can point to a driver or hardware problem.

The page has a dedicated switch for the touchpad hardware. The label and layout can vary a little between Ubuntu versions, but the switch works the same way.

1. Find the touchpad switch and slide it to On to enable the touchpad.
2. Slide it back to Off to deactivate the touchpad surface. The pointer should stop responding when you touch the pad.

Touchpad Indicator lets you disable the touchpad on demand. It can also disable the touchpad automatically while you type and whenever a mouse is plugged in. This is useful if you use an external mouse at a desk and the laptop on its own elsewhere.

To install Touchpad Indicator, open a terminal and run the commands shown below. You can open a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T. The commands need administrator rights, so you will be asked for your password. Nothing shows on screen as you type it, which is normal.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
sudo apt update
sudo apt install touchpad-indicator

Once the installation finishes, start the app and find its icon:

1. Open the Activities overview and search for Touchpad Indicator.
2. Click the app to open it. Its icon is added to the top bar.
3. Click the app’s icon in the Top bar to open its menu.

If the icon doesn’t show up, log out and back in, then start the app again.

Open the app’s preferences and go to the Actions tab. Here you can choose how the app controls the touchpad on your device, for example turning it off when a mouse is connected or while you type. Pick the options that fit the way you work.

That completes the setup. Changes in the Settings app apply as soon as you flip the switch, so you can close the app. If you are using Touchpad Indicator, it keeps running in the top bar. To go back to the defaults, turn the touchpad switch on again in Settings, or change the options on the Actions tab.

Conclusion:

• Disabling or enabling the touchpad on a laptop running Ubuntu Linux is a straightforward process. You can use the Settings app or a third-party app like Touchpad Indicator.
• The touchpad can be toggled on and off easily. You can turn it off when you use an external mouse, or to prevent accidental pointer movement while typing.
• You can choose between the Settings method and the Touchpad Indicator app, depending on your preferences and needs. Settings is simpler. Touchpad Indicator adds automatic rules, such as turning the pad off when a mouse is plugged in.
• The step-by-step instructions and screenshots should make it simple to manage your touchpad settings in Ubuntu Linux.