My Touchpad Mouse is Acting Strange

Overview

This article is to provide basic troubleshooting steps in the case a laptop touch pad stops functioning.

Environment

Any laptop

Troubleshooting/Resolution
  1. Update drivers if available (may only be Microsoft drivers, as opposed to specific touchpad drivers).
  2. Update BIOS (download from Dell support and drivers).
  3. Turn off finger gesturing settings (Control Panel > Mouse).
  4. Lower mouse sensitivity to Low (Control Panel > Mouse).
     
Additional Information or Notes

If your touchpad is not working, and an external mouse is not a good long-term option for your situation, or you do not have one immediately available to you, you can use your keyboard to nagivate around computers. You can find all keyboard shortcuts for navigation and more for Windows computers here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/keyboard-shortcuts-in-windows-dcc61a57-8ff0-cffe-9796-cb9706c75eec and Apple computers here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102650

For additional questions you can contact the JMU IT Help Desk at helpdesk@jmu.edu or 540-568-3555.