Some people might prefer the mouse to the touchpad, but honestly, that’s pretty uncommon. The touchpad is the primary means of navigation for most Lenovo Ideapad users. So, when the touchpad stops working, it becomes tedious to control the laptop.
This problem is common as we’ve seen many users report it. As such, this article has brought proven troubleshooting steps that will fix this touchpad problem in no time.
If you’re a Lenovo Ideapad user and your touchpad has stopped working, this article will end the problem. Read along as we offer the best solution for this problem without babble.
Lenovo Ideapad Touchpad Not Working: Possible Causes
There are a few common reasons your Lenovo Ideapad touchpad may stop working. Although the likelihood differs, below are the possible causes of the problem:
- Touchpad is disabled
- Outdated system software
- Connected external devices
- Wrong touchpad settings
- Dirty of a faulty touchpad
Lenovo Ideapad Touchpad Not Working: DIY Fixes
If you checked the list of possible causes we discussed above, you’d have noticed that most reasons are not complicated. You only require simple diagnosis and tweaks to fix your laptop touchpad. So, follow along as we proffer the best solutions to each of these problems. Note that you’ll need to connect an external mouse for some methods.
1. Restart Your Laptop
You’ve probably heard this tip many times. The reason is not far-fetched. It’s effective not only for fixing laptop problems but other technological devices. When you reboot your Lenovo laptop, you’re giving it a chance to start a new blank state and fix other minor issues that can happen because of improper booting. It works for any operating system, whether you’re using Windows 7, 8, or 10.
So, because delving into other troubleshooting methods, restart your laptop. You can even switch it off entirely and leave it idle for a few minutes before restarting it. After the reboot, press your touchpad and check if it’s working.
If it doesn’t, continue to the following method.
2. Enable Your Touchpad
There’s a key combination on your laptop keyboard that you can press to disable your touchpad. There’s a possibility that while you’re using your computer, you might have pressed these functions by mistake, thus disabling your touchpad.
It’s happened to many users, and it could be the same for your situation. Fortunately, you can re-enable your touchpad in multiple ways, one of which is by pressing the same keypad keys used to disable it.
- Search for the keyboard key with the touchpad icon on your laptop. The key varies across Ideapad models, but it’s definitely between F6, F8, or Del key.
- Also, search for the Fn key at the bottom left corner of the key, close to the windows key.
- Now, press the Fn key and the touchpad icon key simultaneously to re-enable your touchpad.
Alternatively, you can re-enable the touchpad feature from the settings app as follows:
- Press the Windows + I key on the laptop.
- From the options display, navigate to the Bluetooth & Devices tab
- Head to the Touchpad menu
- Ensure the toggle next to the touchpad is turned on
If you have the latest drivers on your laptop,
- Go to the Settings menu and click on Control Panel
- Click on Mouse and switch to the Brand name tab or Device Settings in the Mouse Properties menu
- Synaptics: Press Disable. You will see a warning window. Click Ok to confirm
- Elan: Select Stop Device or Enable Device
- Press “Disable when external USB pointing device plugs in.” This option will disable the touchpad when you plug in a USB mouse
- Click Apply, then Ok to confirm the option
- Now repeat the process, then click Enable to enable your touchpad.
You can restart your laptop now and check if the touchpad will work.
3. Update System Driver
If you have an outdated or incorrectly installed driver, it could be the reason your touchpad stopped working. You should check the Device Manager to check whether there’s no exclamation mark before your driver.
If there is, then you need to update your driver immediately to restore your laptop touchpad. You can update the driver from Lenovo’s support page or use a third-party app. Follow the steps below carefully to update your laptop drivers from the Lenovo app:
- Open your laptop internet browser
- Jump to support.lenovo.com
- Type in your laptop’s model name to access all services and resources for your laptop
- From the Menu option, select Drivers & Software. Ensure the operating system display on top of the list is correct. If otherwise, choose the right OS from the drop-down menu
- Enter the touchpad in the search bar. You can recognize the driver from the name such as Elan or Synaptics
- Click on Mouse and Keyboard from the components menu to display available drivers.
- Download the available drivers and select Run
- Follow other on-screen prompts to complete the process.
It’s essential to be patient for the process to complete. Once it’s complete, restart your computer to apply the changes. Check the touchpad to see if it’s working.
However, if Windows can’t download the drivers, your touchpad might not function. So ensure you disable any active antivirus on your laptop and try again. Furthermore, verify that you have an active internet connection and sufficient disk capacity to download the updates.
If you don’t want to download the drivers manually, you can use third-party applications such as DriverFix and DriverEasy. With them, they save time and the risk of downloading the wrong driver.
If you’re still having the problem, your touchpad sensitivity might be set too low. The touchpad receives a little signal from your finger and makes you think there’s a problem. To clarify the doubt, if you’re using Windows 10:
- Type touchpad in the search box and jump to the touchpad settings.
- Use the drop-down list to adjust the touchpad sensitivity.
4. Contact Lenovo support
If none of the above methods help, the problem might be from faulty hardware. There’s a possibility your touchpad is spoiled or defective. You should seek the help of a technician for repair and diagnosis. However, we mostly recommend you contact Lenovo Customer Service to get a lasting solution to the problem.