I’m looking for a way to quickly toggle the touchpad on/off so that I don’t accidentally move the cursor while typing.
First I thought it would be easy to remap the F12/Framework key, so I downloaded PowerToys. The Keyboard Manager was not helpful for creating a quick setting switch. It allowed me to remap keys. It also allowed me to create new shortcuts to apps or websites. But I couldn’t find a way to make a hotkey that turns the touchpad on and off via the Windows setting.
I wish there was a dedicated function key for this on the Framework keyboard. And I didn’t expect it to be difficult to create this customization. But maybe someone else figured out a way. If you did, I would be grateful if you shared your method.
I’m also looking for this feature and would appreciate any suggestions. I love that I can turn the RGB keyboard animations on/off by just hitting fn+w and would really like to be able to toggle the touchpad on/off from the keyboard.
I’d ideally like to be able to do this at the hardware level, independent of the OS (I don’t want to have to figure out how to setup a hotkey-batch-file combination again everytime I switch distros and I so far I have been unable to get this to work on Ubuntu 24 – I’m sure there is a way but life is short…).
If a newer touchpad/keyboard became available that supported this out of the box at the hardware level I would buy it in a heartbeat. In the meantime, if anyone has a software solution that works on a Framework 16 running Ubuntu 24, I’d love to hear about it.
Yeah, to resolve this issue I’d also pay for a new touchpad or keyboard or both. Accidentally moving the cursor while I type is really annoying. I created a shortcut to the setting. But once you turn the touchpad off, getting back into the setting to turn it on again is where the new time waste happens. This is frustrating. The perfect solution would be an option to designate a touchpad switch with the dedicated key that has the Framework symbol. I’ve had my machine for about 6 months and so far this is my only wishlist item… aside from longer battery life (but when is that not a wishlist item?
What OS are you on?
Touchpad can be disabled / re-enabled by hotkey, but how to set it up will be different depending on your OS. A lot of people with this issue seem to be on windows. I’ve googled and seen methods to both disable and re-enable entirely with a single keypress, but I don’t use windows myself.
Hey thanks for responding. I’m on Windows 11 Pro. I’m searching for a solution now. But if you get back with a link or instructions first, that’s most appreciated. It’s been a couple months since I searched for this.
It seems there are a couple ways to disable and re-enable devices by commandline. Took a little bit to find the ones I recalled seeing. devcon.exe and PnPUtil are 2 options.
Note that both devcon and PnPUtil are windows utilities, not 3rd party applications that one needs to trust & give permisions to which not everyone will be comfitable with.
Below I pasted the Perplexity output. Note that I already tried PowerToys and I can confirm it doesn’t have the capability.
The Framework Laptop 16 does not have a dedicated hotkey to toggle the touchpad on and off in Windows 11 by default. However, users have expressed a desire for such a feature, particularly to avoid accidental cursor movements while typing. Currently, there are no built-in options in Windows settings that allow for a simple hotkey to enable or disable the touchpad. Some users have attempted to use tools like Microsoft PowerToys to remap keys, but they found that it does not support creating a toggle for the touchpad specifically.
If you’re looking for a workaround, you can consider the following options:
Touchpad Settings: You can manually disable the touchpad through the Windows settings:
Go to Settings > Devices > Touchpad.
Toggle the touchpad off when needed.
Third-party Software: Some users might explore third-party applications that allow for more extensive keyboard remapping or macro creation, which could potentially include touchpad control.
Future Updates: Keep an eye on updates from Framework, as user feedback may lead to the implementation of a dedicated function key or software solution in future releases.
For now, if you require frequent toggling of the touchpad, manual adjustment through settings or exploring third-party tools may be your best options.
The pnputil worked. I have batch files that toggle the touchpad off and on with assigned hotkeys. The only hiccup I’m still working on is the User Account Control popup that makes me hit “yes” to “make changes to your device.” I tried some adjustments to the shortcut within Task Scheduler. No luck so far. But this is huge help. TYVM, MJ1! I appreciate your help.
