How to Activate the HP Laptop Touchpad

by Moriah Chesler
HP laptops come with a touchpad as an alternative to a mouse.

HP laptops come with a touchpad as an alternative to a mouse.

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The HP laptop touchpad is an alternative to a physical mouse device. You can navigate your screen by moving your finger on the touchpad and double-tapping the touchpad to highlight text. Clicking on the left button below the touchpad will simulate clicking on the left mouse button. Similarly, clicking on the right button below the touchpad will simulate right-clicking on the mouse. The touchpad is located below the keyboard panel and is driven by the Synaptics TouchPad software. You can enable the touchpad by hardware or software.

Hardware Instructions

Step 1

Click on the "ON/OFF" button located near the touchpad to toggle between enabling or disabling the touchpad. If the light near the touchpad is red, the touchpad is disabled. If the light is white, the touchpad is enabled. If the "ON/OFF" button isn't available, refer to the next step.

Step 2

Touch and hold the top-left corner of the touchpad for about five seconds to toggle between enabling or disabling the touchpad. If the touchpad is enabled, an icon will briefly appear on the touchpad. If the touchpad is disabled, the icon with a line through will appear briefly on the touchpad and a small light on the touchpad will turn on.

Step 3

Refer to the software instructions to activate the touchpad via software.

Software Instructions

Step 1

Right-click on the desktop. Select "Personalize." This will open up a pop-up window.

Step 2

Select the "Device Settings" tab. If the "Enabled" column states "Yes," the touchpad is already enabled.

Step 3

Click on the "Enable" button to enable the touchpad.

Step 4

Click the "OK" button to close the window.

Step 5

Select the "X" tab to remove the "Personalize" window.

Tip

  • The software instructions will only work if the Synaptics TouchPad application is installed.

About the Author

Moriah Chesler began writing professionally in 1989. She started as a software engineer documenting projects and company products. She has also contributed to the "Joomla!" community magazine, blogged for Teach Me Programming and JoomlaIsrael.net and authored several e-books on Bible vocabulary. Chesler has a Bachelor of Engineering from Dartmouth College and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and electrical engineering from Smith College.

Photo Credits

  • Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images