How to Turn Off the Touch Screen on a Chromebook

Chromebooks are brilliant devices, if you don’t need a laptop that can handle demanding programs. If you’re in it for the browser experience, getting a Chromebook is a brilliant idea. However, some features can get to be a bit too much.

The touchscreen is a prime example. It’s fine for easy browsing and makes for a great combination of smartphone- and laptop-like navigation. However, you’re going to want to turn off the touchscreen and touchpad on your Chromebook at times. Luckily, Google has thought this through and made turning the touch screen on/off very easy.

Here’s how to deal with the touchscreen and touchpad, as well as some extra touchpad tips.

Why Disable the Touchscreen?

Having a touchscreen on a laptop is great. You can use the screen without resorting to the touchpad, while still being able to type using the keyboard. At times, though, you’ll want to point at the screen and have nothing happen. This is why Google has made the option to turn it off and on at will.

Why Disable the Touchpad?

Let’s say that you use the touchscreen feature instead of the touchpad option. Or maybe you’ve plugged in the regular mouse into your Chromebook. Every once in a while, you’ll accidentally touch the touchpad while typing and the pointer will annoyingly move. Even worse, you may click and perform an action that you didn’t want to do.

This is why the touchpad feature can be readily turned on or off on Chromebooks.

Disabling the Touchscreen/Touchpad

Chromebooks aren’t like your regular laptops. They have simpler features than Windows devices and MacBooks. In fact, most tweaks are done from the actual Chrome browser on the laptop. This may sound a little annoying, but it certainly adds to the simplicity aspect here.

1. To disable the touchscreen and/or touchpad, open the Chrome browser on your Chromebook.
2. Then, type in chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts in the address bar.
3. Now, locate Debugging keyboard shortcuts, click on the dropdown menu, and select Enable to enable this option.
   
4. Now, restart the device and use the Search + Shift + T to disable the touchscreen function.
5. To disable the touchpad function, press Search + Shift + P.

Extra Tips About Using the Touchpad

It may not seem that way, but the Chromebook touchpad has more functionalities than your regular laptop touchpad. So, before disabling the touchpad forever, check out these tips and give them a go.

• To click, tap or press the bottom half of the touchpad.
• To perform a right-click action, simply press/tap the touchpad using two fingers at the same time. Alternatively, press Alt and then click/tap with one finger.
• To scroll, place two fingers on the touchpad and move them left/right to perform a horizontal scroll or up/down to perform a vertical scroll.
• If you want to go back to a page you were on, swipe left with two fingers. Swipe right using two fingers to go forward.
• To see all open windows, use three fingers and swipe down or up.
• To close a tab, hover your pointer over it and tap/click the touchpad using three fingers. To open a web link in a new tab, hover over the link and tap/click the touchpad using three fingers. Swipe left/right using three fingers to switch between multiple tabs.
• Finally, to move an item from point A to point B, click it and hold it using one finger. Then, drag the item to the desired location.
• To change how the touchpad works, go to Settings and change the settings in the Touchpad/Touchpad and mouse section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn’t the keyboard shortcut disabling the touch screen?

If the Search + Shift + T command isn’t working, then you’ll either need to enable the shortcut in the Chrome browser, as mentioned above, or you’ll need to enable the Search key if you previously disabled it.

How do I enable the touchscreen after disabling it?

To enable the touchscreen, simply use the Search + Shift + T command again.

Turning Off the Touchscreen and Touchpad

As you can see, turning off the touchscreen and touchpad on your Chromebook is fairly easy. All you need to do is enable the Debugging keyboard shortcuts option. Shuffle between touchpad and touchscreen and use the mentioned tips for a seamless browsing experience on your Chromebook.

Did you find this tutorial useful? Did you learn how to work the touchscreen and touchpad on your Chromebook? Let us know in the comments section below. And don’t be afraid to ask any questions or add some extra tips.