I am finding my new Framework has an issue that my previous laptop did not have: whenever I click (or double tap) the touchpad and drag, if my finger nears the edge of the touchpad then the mouse will continue moving in that direction without me moving my finger. This happens on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, even having installed the driver bundle on each.
I’ve seen this referred to as Smart Motion (for Elan touchpads) and EdgeMotion (for Synaptics touchpads) as an option in both providers’ settings, but the Windows precision touchpad settings (the only ones which appear to be accessible for Framework) don’t show this as an option.
I would like my mouse to only move when I move my finger on the touchpad. Is it possible to achieve this via any settings option, third-party tool, or physical workaround (e.g. some kind of tape along the edges of the touchpad)?
This issue seems to be present on trackpads on other non framework laptops as well.
It is more likely that this is a “feature” rather than a bug as it allows you to continue selecting something even after your finger is at the edge of your trackpad.
One way I found to solve this is to not click while you are dragging your finger across the touchpad (this is on a non framework laptop btw since I still have to wait a long time for mine to arrive so I cannot guarantee it will work on the framework)
Another option might be to look in Control Panel for more detailed cursor control settings. Because this seems like a software issue, you might be able to find some guides online to turn this feature off.
I believe that’s purposefully what they’re trying to do (as in click and drag to move a window or select text). Yes, it’s a feature not a bug (click and drag on trackpad is kinda painful if you run out of room, but with most trackpads supporting multiple fingers it should be more possible to use 1 finger to “hold” the click and the other to do the drag) , but when you can’t turn of a feature that is sometimes annoying, it’s a bug.
It definitely seems to be a Windows thing because I don’t have that behavior in Linux.
It is a “feature” of windows, but one that is only causing me mistakes and annoyance.
@undermark5 is correct - it happens when I am trying to highlight text or drag-and-drop something, where not clicking is not an option.
I’ve been spending a lot of time looking into this over the past couple of days but wasn’t able to find any answers about disabling it for Windows Precision Touchpads. There aren’t any settings for it in the settings menu, the control panel mouse settings, or even the registry.
Screenshot - Settings
This is Windows 10,but Windows 11 has the same issue.
The only luck I’ve had on Windows so far is by lining the edges of the touchpad with aluminium foil using electrical tape to physically disable them, but that is not an ideal solution.
I know that this is not really an optimal solution but the only way I have found to make the trackpad stop seems to be to angle your finger in the opposite direction the moment your finger reaches the end of the trackpad. Then slightly move your finger in the opposite direction to stop the cursor from moving.
This isn’t a really great solution but hopefully it’s better than aluminum foil and electrical tape. Also I would advise maybe using another type of tape as electrical tape gets really sticky over time.
Another option if you have the space is to just get a mouse.
Hopefully you can find that one of these solutions works.
so I cannot guarantee it will work on the framework)