How To Enable Or Disable Touchscreen On Windows

The touchscreen on your device can get really handy, especially on hand-held devices like tablets and laptops. Some may argue that your fingerprint and smudges will ruin your screen. But it can be easily fixed with a simple wipe.

If your device comes with a touchscreen, the touch feature is turned on by default. But if that’s not the case, you can enable or disable it manually.

How to Enable or Disable Touchscreen On Windows

To enable or disable touchscreen on Windows, go through the methods mentioned below:

Via Device Manager

To enable touchscreen on windows using the task manager, follow these steps:

On the Start menu, type “device manager” and click on the most relevant result
Double-click on Human Interface Devices to expand it
Locate and right-click on the HID-compliant touchscreen device
Select Enable device

Now you can enjoy the convenience of a touchscreen on Windows.

And to disable the touchscreen,

Right-click/long-press on an HID-compliant touchscreen device
Select/Tap on Disable device
Click or tap on Yes to confirm

Now the touchscreen will no longer respond to touches.

Through Registry Editor

You can also use the registry editor to enable or disable the touchscreen.

Enable Touchscreen

Press Windows key + R to open Run
Type “regedit” and press enter
Navigate through the path:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Touch
Look for TouchGate. If it does not exist, you need to create it
Right-click on an empty space and select New > DWORD(32-bit) Value
Name the file “TouchGate.”
Right-click on TouchGate and choose Modify
Now, under Value Data: section, change the value to 1 and press Ok

Disable Touchscreen

Right-click on TouchGate and select Modify
Under Value Data: section change the value to 0 and press Ok

Via Windows Terminal (Admin)

Windows Terminal is a multi-tab command-line tool from Microsoft. It is the successor to the Command Prompt and PowerShell.

You can also enable or disable touchscreen on windows using the Windows Terminal with admin rights.

Enable Touchscreen

Press Windows key + X to open a pop-up window
Select Windows terminal (Admin) or press A and confirm
Now enter the following command:
Get-PnpDevice | Where-Object {$_.FriendlyName -like '*touch screen*'} | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false

Disable Touchscreen

Enter the following command:

Get-PnpDevice | Where-Object {$_.FriendlyName -like '*touch screen*'} | Enable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false

Interesting Fact: You might think that the touch screen is a feat that we recently accomplished, but it’s not. The first touch screen was invented in 1960 by E.A. Johnson. It was a capacitive touchscreen used in air traffic control systems and could only register one touch at a time.

Using Control Panel

Press the start button and search/select the control panel.
Find and select Pen and Touch option.
A pop-up will open, select the touch section.
Uncheck the box named “use your finger as an input device”.
Click on apply and select OK.

Is Touchscreen Really Useful?

Depending on the situation, you might want to turn the touchscreen on or off. This all depends on your usability and preferences.

Enable Touchscreen: According to a study conducted at the University of Glasgow, a touchscreen improves the input speed and accuracy by 20%.

Hence, the touchscreen makes it easier to perform actions than traditional devices like keyboards and mouse.
Disable Touchscreen: While touchscreen makes it easier to use a device, there are some instances when it can be a hassle. Then it makes more sense to disable it rather than keep it enabled. Those reasons might be:
- To boost the battery performance
- To remove interference caused by a damaged touchscreen
- To avoid ghost touches

Touchscreen Not Working After Enabling It

If you have a touchscreen device, there can be many reasons why it’s not working or responding. Here are some fixes if you’re facing an issue with your touchscreen on a Windows device.

Check for Pending Updates

Pending Windows updates can cause various issues. So, it might be one of the reasons for your touchscreen not working.

To solve this issue:

Press Windows key + I to open settings
Go to Windows Update
Click on Check for updates
Install all available updates and reboot the device

If the Windows is up to date, move on to the next fix.

Update Touch Screen Drivers

Outdated drivers can cause the touchscreen to function inappropriately. To update your touchscreen drivers:

Press Windows key + X and then press M to open Device manager
Double-click on Human Interface Devices to expand it
Now Right-click on the HID-compliant touch screen
Select Update driver
Select “Search automatically for drivers.”

Restart your device after completion.

Roll Back to Previous Drivers

Not all updates are perfect. Sometimes new updates may contain bugs that were not in the previous versions.

If you’ve recently updated the touchscreen drivers, you can roll back to the earlier version to check if it solves the issue.

To roll back drivers to the previous versions, follow these steps:

Press Windows key + X and then press M to open Device manager
Double-click on Human Interface Devices to expand it
Now Right-click on the HID-compliant touch screen
Select Properties
Go to the Driver tab
Now, click on Roll Back Driver

Reboot your device and check if the issue is resolved.

Run Troubleshooter for Hardware & Devices

To run the troubleshooter:

Click on the Start menu
Type “cmd” and select the most relevant result
Now enter the following command
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic
Click Next to run the troubleshooter.
Select Apply this fix to solve the identified issues.

You should contact the manufacturers if your touchscreen is still not working after trying all of the fixes above.

If these fixes were unable to fix the problem you’re facing, you should consider contacting the system manufacturer. The fault might be in the hardware rather than the system. And they might be able to fix it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Fix Touchscreen is so Slow?

If you feel your touchscreen is becoming slow and unresponsive over time, you can re-calibrate your touchscreen to bring back its speed.

Most of the time, the reasons for a slow touchscreen can be pending windows updates or outdated drivers.

Check for available updates and install them to keep your device in good condition. But if your Windows and drivers are both up to date, another thing you can do is re-calibrate your touchscreen to bring back its speed.

Here’s how you can re-calibrate the touchscreen:

Click on the Start menu and type “calibrate.”
Select “calibrate the screen for pen or touch.”
Under Configure, click on Setup and follow the instructions
After completion, click on Calibrate under the Display options
Select Touch input and confirm

My Microsoft Surface Touch Keeps Going Off?

Surface screens going off can indicate possible problems in the screen & Digitizer, power supply, LCD flex or even motherboard, etc.

The device is not suited for a DIY repair as they are notoriously known for shutting off forever during the repair. We recommend taking the device to Microsoft repair centers or reputed repair stations to better your chances.