How To Turn Off the Touchpad on an HP Laptop: 5 Easy Methods

Touchpads are supposed to make life easier, but more often than not, they end up being a source of frustration—especially when accidental palm touches cause the cursor to jump around or click stuff you didn’t mean. If you’ve got an external mouse plugged in and just want the touchpad out of the way, disabling it is a pretty solid move. But here’s the thing—different HP laptops have different ways of turning it off, and sometimes, it’s not as straightforward as clicking a toggle.

Usually, the built-in options work fine, but if not, or if your model is a bit old-school, you might need to dig a little deeper into Windows settings or even BIOS. Been there, done that—what works on one machine might not on another, and it can be kinda frustrating trying to figure out where the toggle lives. So, here are some common fix pathways that tend to do the trick, or at least get you closer to a solution.

How to Disable the Touchpad on Your HP Laptop

Via Built-in Functions (Physical Buttons or Indicators)

Many HP laptops have a physical way to turn off the touchpad. Usually, it’s either a double-tap on a tiny LED, or pressing a function key combo. Sometimes there’s a recessed dent or a dedicated touchpad icon on a key that you can press, like Fn + F3 or similar. The LED will turn on or off, signaling if it’s disabled. On some models, the icon looks like a little touchpad with a line through it.

• If your laptop has a small LED indicator at the corner of the touchpad, try double-tapping that — it often toggles the touchpad off/on.
• Look for a function key with a touchpad icon (it could be F1, F3, or F5) and press Fn + that key.
• Expect a little icon to appear/disappear on screen confirming whether it’s disabled.

These work because many HP laptops embed quick toggle buttons for convenience. Sometimes, restarting the device or toggling the function key a couple of times helps, especially after driver updates or system changes. It’s weird, but on some models, this method may not do anything, so move on to software options if needed.

Method 1: Disable via Windows Settings

When the physical controls aren’t there or don’t work, the next easy step is to go through Windows. Since Windows 10/11 makes it pretty manageable, you can disable the touchpad directly through its settings—especially handy when you want to keep the physical toggle but find it unreliable.

Here’s how:

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Navigate to Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad.
3. Just toggle the switch to Off. If you see an option like Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected, disable that too — it’ll keep the touchpad off when you connect an external mouse, which is often what’s needed.
4. If you want to be more specific, some models show a drop-down with options like Tap to click and Scroll & gestures. Just turn off the toggle for the touchpad if the option’s there.

This method is pretty reliable for newer systems, but if your device isn’t showing these options or they’re greyed out, it might be a driver issue, or the touchpad could be managed by a separate control panel.

Method 2: Disable Through Mouse Properties

Some HP models with Synaptics or Elantech drivers let you disable the touchpad from the classic Mouse Properties panel. Not all will have this, but if you see a Device Settings tab or something similar, it’s worth a shot.

• Press Windows + R and type main.cpl, then hit Enter.
• In the Mouse Properties window, go to the Device Settings or Touchpad tab.
• Look for an option to Disable or toggle the touchpad off.
• Check the box for Disable internal pointing device when external USB pointing device is attached if you want that functionality.
• Click Apply and then OK.

Note: This isn’t available on all HP laptops, especially if the driver isn’t a Synaptics or Elantech type. Still, it’s worth a quick look.

Method 3: Disable via Device Manager

If everything else fails, diving into Device Manager can do the job. It’s a bit overkill, but sometimes the only surefire way if the system’s stubborn.

• Press Windows + X and select Device Manager.
• Expand Mice and other pointing devices. You might see something like HID-compliant touchpad or Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad.
• Right-click on the relevant device and choose Disable device.
• Confirm any prompts. You might see a warning about the device stopping to work—just accept it.

Be aware: Disabling from Device Manager means the device disappears from Windows, no driver tweaks needed. But if you re-enable, you’ll need to do the same steps and choose Enable device.

Method 4: Disable in BIOS Settings (Last Resort)

If nothing else sticks, the BIOS is where hardware-level disabling happens. It’s a bit more intimidating, and steps vary per model, but here’s the gist.

• Turn off your HP laptop completely.
• Power it back on, and repeatedly press the F10 key to enter BIOS setup. On some, it might be Esc or F2.
• Navigate to the Advanced tab or look for a menu called Internal pointing device or Built-in device.
• Set it to Disabled or uncheck any box related to the touchpad.
• Save your changes and exit BIOS.

Keep in mind, messing with BIOS can be risky if not careful. Also, when disabled here, the OS won’t recognize the touchpad at all—they’re completely turned off at a hardware level. You’ll have to re-enable via BIOS to get it back.