There are two often overlooked ways you can display touchscreen input: direct device-level touch controls and swiping input. The Question Why is my touchpad not working? is quite common.
Direct touch controls
When you slide your finger across the touchpad. The touchpad’s actual sensing Technology is only detecting the horizontal edge of your finger, rather than your finger itself. This means that when you slide your finger down. You’re actually sliding the sensor bar to a different position, rather than actually sliding your finger directly across the surface.
Swiping
In the rare cases where the touchpad’s sensing technology can detect your finger directly. Then the touchpad uses your finger to determine where your finger is touching, rather than the touchpad itself. So when you swipe, the touchpad moves the sensor bar to that point.
So what’s the problem?
It could be that you’ve moved your mouse closer to the touchpad. Or that your mouse has rotated too far to the left or the right, and is now actually in the middle of the touchpad. In either case, don’t panic! You can easily fix it.
To update the position of the sensor bar. Head into the main touchpad settings menu, and click the “View” button at the top right. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a slider with your current sensor bar. Hit “Update” and slide the slider up until your sensor bar is centered in the middle of your touchpad, then click “OK.”
Then head back into your main settings menu. Click the “View” button at the top right, and drag the slider back to zero. This lets you know if you’re actually touching the touchpad with your finger or not.
If you’re now touching the touchpad with your finger. Then it’s time to make sure the touchpad has the appropriate amount of sensing technology for its specific position. If you’re using the touchpad at the end of the mouse scroll wheel. For example, then it probably needs a bit more than simply a surface area adjustment to match the sensor bar’s location. Here’s how to adjust the position of the sensor bar:
Press down on the touchpad. There’s a white dot about a quarter of an inch (6mm) up from the touchpad’s top edge. Look at the touchpad for a moment. Drag your finger across it. Don’t move it directly across the sensor bar – only the touchpad itself should move. The sensor bar should move up. You can see how far it moved in the image above. Drag your finger across the sensor bar again. You can see how far it moved in the image above.
Why is my touchpad not working?
This time, slowly drag your finger up. If it stays in place, it means the sensor bar is set accurately. If it doesn’t, then make sure your mouse has rotated exactly 180 degrees (make sure you’re looking at the mouse itself. Not the touchpad itself), and then drag it up a bit more. It should slowly move up the sensor bar. You should see the sensor bar move a little more each time you drag. Just keep dragging, until it’s centered at the edge of the touchpad.
Note: If you’ve made it to this step and the sensor bar is already centered, then it’s time to head back to the “View” page and select the “Update” button again to update the sensor bar.
If you’ve done everything correctly and the touchpad’s sensor bar is now perfectly centered. Then your touchpad should no longer be affected by your mouse’s motion. The sensor bar will then determine where your finger touches naturally on your touchpad. And you can continue to use the touchpad without your mouse moving an inch.
If the sensor bar’s position is still off by 1 or 2 millimeters. You may want to try dragging the sensor bar upwards until it’s exactly centered. You can then position the sensor bar again. I try to explain to you Why is my touchpad not working?
What does it mean if the mouse moves too much?
Just as you can adjust the touchpad’s position to match the sensor bar. You can also adjust the mouse’s position to better reflect the position of the sensor bar. Most people can get away with adjusting the mouse’s position just a little bit (say, 5 degrees up or down). Here’s how to adjust the mouse’s center of gravity:
Press down on the mouse. The cross hairs should line up with the blue image in the upper right. Move the mouse by 5 degrees up or down. Which puts it in line with the red image in the lower left.
If it’s not quite in line with the red image. Then you may have to compensate slightly by moving the crosshairs a bit higher or lower. Keep adjusting the mouse until you’ve got it centered between the two.
If you did everything correctly and the touchpad’s sensor bar is now perfectly centered. Then your touchpad should no longer be affected by your mouse’s motion. The sensor bar will then determine where your finger touches naturally on your touchpad. And you can continue to use the touchpad without your mouse moving an inch. If you’re using a mouse with a scroll wheel that’s perpendicular to the touchpad. You may have to manually adjust the position of the mouse’s scroll wheel and use a slightly larger amount of force. When pushing it up and down make sure the scroll wheel sticks to the touchpad. Now, Why is my touchpad not working? is not difficult for you.
What about vertical mouse movements?
If you’re using a vertical mouse. There’s another important adjustment to be made before using a Mouse that’s designed for right-handed people: You have to lift your thumb off the touchpad a bit higher before moving your mouse. That’s because the touchpad is located below the position of your thumb. If you lift your thumb off the touchpad while you’re pushing the mouse around. It’ll drop back down and you’ll find your mouse stuck underneath the touchpad again.
To fix this, you’ll have to adjust the horizontal position of your thumb. A bit higher while the mouse is in the lower left position. That’s the same direction that your mouse pointer is facing. So you just have to lift up a bit more of your thumb before the mouse will move.
Hope You know the answer Now: Why is my touchpad not working?
