Here’s a simple tip on how to disable / enable touchpad on your laptop with Windows 10 operating system. This is handy if you already have a mouse attached to your notebook or use a touchscreen and want to disable the touchpad to prevent accidental pointer moves while typing on the keyboard.

To do that, go to Settings > Devices > Touchpad. The easiest way to get there is to click the Windows Search icon in the lower-left corner of the screen and type touchpad. A “Touchpad settings” item will show up in the search results list. Click on it.

You will be presented with a toggle button to turn the touchpad on or off.

In addition, you can tell Windows to automatically disable touchpad if a mouse is connected to the notebook. Just uncheck the “Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected” box located below the touchpad on / off toggle button.

Alternative: For enabling / disabling touchpad you can alternatively use the old way, through Windows Control Panel. This can be applied to older Windows versions as well. Click on the Windows Search icon in the lower-left corner and type Control Panel. Click on the Control Panel icon and then go to Hardware and Sound section, then click on Mouse link. The last tab on the Mouse window is for touchpad settings. In case of my HP laptop the title of the tab is ClickPad. Under that tab there are enable and disable buttons. On many notebook models, you can reach the same touchpad settings tab via a touchpad icon in the lower-right corner of the screen (if available).

Also, many notebook models have a keyboard “hotkey” for touchpad enabling / disabling. These touchpad hotkey is usually located in the top row of the keyboard and shares the key with a function button (such as f1, f2, f3, etc).