Touchpad Edge Swipes - Enable or Disable in Windows 8

How to Enable or Disable Touchpad Edge Swipes in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

Edge swipes allows you use a one-finger movement from the edge of the touchpad or trackpad in towards the center to quickly open the Charms bar, app Switcher, and Application bar.

However, when edge swipes is enabled, you find that it may cause an issue of opening them by mistake to easily as you use the touchpad or trackpad. This can get real annoying soon.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the edge swipes on a touchpad or trackpad device for opening the Charms bar, app Switcher, and Application bar in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

   Tip

Edge Swipe usage when enabled:

• A swipe from the left edge to the center switches from the currently open application to the previously open application.
• A swipe from the right edge to the center opens or closes the Charms bar.
• A swipe from the the top edge to the center opens or closes the Application bar.

   Note

Your actual settings will vary depending on the brand and model of touchpad and what driver version you have installed.

Please feel free to post screenshots of your settings if different than the ones in the tutorial to help others.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Synaptics Touchpad
• Option Two: To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Lenovo UltraNav Touchpad
• Option Three: To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Alps Touchpad
• Option Four: Enable or Disable "Precision Touchpad" Edge Swipes in Windows 8.1

OPTION ONE

To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Synaptics Touchpad

NOTE: For the latest Synaptics touchpad drivers, see: Drivers | Synaptics

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Method One

Enable or Disable Synaptics Touchpad Edge Swipes in Properties

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1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Mouse icon.​

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2. In Mouse Properties, click/tap on the Device Settings tab, and click/tap on the Settings button. (see screenshot below)​

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3. Check (enable) or uncheck (disable) the Enable Edge Swipes option, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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4. Click/tap OK in Mouse Properties. (see screenshot below step 2)​

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Method Two

Enable or Disable Synaptics Touchpad Edge Swipes using a REG File

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1. Do step 2 or 3 below for what you would like to do.​

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2. Enable Edge Swipes for Synaptics Touchpad​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Enable_Synaptics_Edge_Swipes.reg​

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3. Disable Edge Swipes for Synaptics Touchpad​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Disable_Synaptics_Edge_Swipes.reg​

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4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.​

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5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.​

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6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.​

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7. Sign out and in, or restart the PC to apply.​

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8. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.​

OPTION TWO

To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Lenovo UltraNav Touchpad

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1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Mouse icon.​

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2. In Mouse Properties, click/tap on the UltraNav tab, and click/tap on the Settings button under Touchpad. (see screenshot below)​

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3. Check (enable) or uncheck (disable) the Enable Edge Swipes option, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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4. Click/tap OK in Mouse Properties. (see screenshot below step 2)​

OPTION THREE

To Enable or Disable Edge Swipes for Alps Touchpad

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1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Mouse icon.​

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2. In Mouse Properties, click/tap on the EdgeAction tab, check (enable) or uncheck (disable) any left, top left, right, and top EdgeActions options you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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OPTION FOUR

Enable or Disable "Precision Touchpad" Edge Swipes in Windows 8.1

   Note

This option is only available on Windows 8.1 PCs that have a precision touchpad. For example, on a Surface Pro 2 tablet with a touch cover attached.

The Windows Precision Touchpad is a new class of input devices that provide high precision pointer input and gesture functionality. By default, these devices generate ultra-high precision scroll wheel messages for desktop application consumption.

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Method One

Enable or Disable Precision Touchpad Edge Swipes in PC Settings

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1. Open PC Settings, and click/tap on PC and devices on the left side. (see screenshot below)​

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2. Click/tap on Mouse and touchpad on the left side, and do step 3 or 4 below for what you would like to do. (see screenshot below)​

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3. Enable Swiping in from the left or right edge of Precision Touchpad​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) On the right side under Touch keyboard, move the slider to the right to turn on Play key sounds as I type, and go to step 5 below.​

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4. Disable Swiping in from the left or right edge of Precision Touchpad​

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A) On the right side under Touch keyboard, move the slider to the left to turn off Play key sounds as I type, and go to step 5 below.​

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5. When finished, you can close PC settings if you like.​

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Method Two

Enable or Disable Precision Touchpad Edge Swipes using a REG File

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   Note

The .reg files below are for the registry key and value below.

   Note

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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchPad​

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EnableEdgy DWORD​

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0 = Disable edge swipes​

ffffffff = Enable edge swipes​

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1. Do step 2 or 3 below for what you would like to do.​

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2. Enable Swiping in from the left or right edge of Precision Touchpad​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Enable_Edge_Swiping_Precision_Touchpad.reg​

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3. Disable Swiping in from the left or right edge of Precision Touchpad​

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Disable_Edge_Swiping_Precision_Touchpad.reg​

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4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.​

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5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.​

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6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.​

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7. Sign out and in, or restart the PC to apply.​

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8. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• Enable or Disable Switcher Top Left Hot Corner in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable Charms Bar Hint Corners in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• How to Turn App Switching On or Off in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable App Switching in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
• Turn On or Off Swipe from Left Edge to Switch Directly to Most Recent App in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off a Precision Touchpad in Windows 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Leave Touchpad On when Mouse is Connected in Windows 8.1
• Turn On or Off Reverse Scrolling Direction of Precision Touchpad in Windows 8.1
• How to Change Delay or Turn Off Taps for a Precision Touchpad in Windows 8.1
• How to Create a "Mouse and Touchpad" PC Settings Shortcut in Windows 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Double-tap and Drag for Precision Touchpad in Windows 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Right Clicks for Precision Touchpad in Windows 8.1

 

[Glenn a Windows]

Just to mention that these instruction are insufficient on my ASUS A55A computer... I couldn't find any different instructions via Google searching... ASUS tech support was able to point out that they have a system tray icon that allows changing of these settings, rather than an extra tab in the mouse control panel applet. Perhaps this info will help others.

 

[robmar0se]

Microsoft/Synaptics have got this all wrong for laptops without touch screens. How many people actually look at the touchpad when using it? How many folks perhaps erroneously alight to the right of the pad, and then just move to the left to locate where they want to be? Now with this traditional and reasonable human nature, we get responses which are totally unacceptable.

The option in Synaptics clickpad v8.1 is not as simple as above. There are no options to turn the swipes on/off, only options to change the "region" and the speed (Lenovo Z580)

I have found the register settings - hkcu\software\synaptics\synTPEnh\ZoneConFig\TouchPadPS2\ if you change the ActiveType Dword from 2 to 0 on RightEdgePull, RightEdgePullExtendedZone, TopEdge Pull etc then the swipes will go away. However it does apparently cause some delay in booting(rotating blue circle adjacent to pointer), which I am investigating - anyone else with their experience?
+--------------------------------------

 

[Bongo]

Thank you Shawn this was driving me crazy, downloaded the latest Synaptics drivers then unchecked Edge Swipes

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Jerry. Glad it could help.

 

[Daryl]

I need some help with this. I tried to disable this exactly how you instructed, but it doesn't give me the option to enable or disable the edge swypes. My laptop says I have the latest drivers. What gives?

 

[Brink]

Hello Daryl, and welcome to Eight Forums.

What brand is your touchpad?

If Synaptics, then install the latest 16.3.15.1 driver at the link below to see if that may help. OEMs rarely have the latest driver versions available at their site.

Drivers | Synaptics

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Daryl]

Hello Daryl, and welcome to Eight Forums.

What brand is your touchpad?

If Synaptics, then install the latest 16.3.15.1 driver at the link below to see if that may help. OEMs rarely have the latest driver versions available at their site.

Drivers | Synaptics

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Yep it's the Synaptics brand. I downloaded the driver you linked to, restarted my laptop, and the option was there to disable it. Thanks for the help I appreciate it!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Daryl.

 

[sakeishadenee]

I created an account just to tell you THANK YOU! I just got this computer on Christmas (yesterday) and that feature was driving me INSANE! I almost gave it back to my mom because I couldn't deal with it! Again, thank you!

 

[Brink]

I created an account just to tell you THANK YOU! I just got this computer on Christmas (yesterday) and that feature was driving me INSANE! I almost gave it back to my mom because I couldn't deal with it! Again, thank you!

You're most welcome Sakeishadenee, and welcome to Eight Forums.

 

[Routeplanner]

Above is a screenshot of the options I get when I try to disable the touchpad swipe for the charm-bar...Basically everything I have tried has failed. Any other help would be great. Thanks


Also I have tried updating my touchpad with the latest driver from Drivers | Synaptics but nothing seems to work. I keep getting install failed


Any help would be appreciated

 

[Brink]

Hello RoutePlanner, and welcome to Eight Forums.

What is the model number of your Toshiba laptop?

Perhaps they may a driver on Toshiba's driver download page for your model available that may allow you to after installing.

 

[Routeplanner]

Hello RoutePlanner, and welcome to Eight Forums.

What is the model number of your Toshiba laptop?

Perhaps they may a driver on Toshiba's driver download page for your model available that may allow you to after installing.

Thanks for the quick reply. My model is 'satellite C655' I have already downloaded the latest version but the option needed to disable the charm is not there.

The one available on Drivers | Synaptics is the newer version which is not available on toshiba site.

 

[Brink]

Since it's a Synaptics touchpad, you might see if you may be able to disable edge swipes by merging the .reg file below I attached below from the site below, and restarting the PC afterwards.

Source: Disable swipe on synaptics touchpad in Windows 8 - Shawn Cicoria - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

View attachment Disable_Synaptics_Edge_Swipes.reg

 

[Routeplanner]

Since it's a Synaptics touchpad, you might see if you may be able to disable edge swipes by merging the .reg file below I attached below from the site below, and restarting the PC afterwards.

Source: Disable swipe on synaptics touchpad in Windows 8 - Shawn Cicoria - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

View attachment 34245

screen shot above shows the content and value...option for "ActionType"=dword:00000000 is not avialable


Am I suppose to change the value data from ''a to 00000000''?

 

[Brink]

No. The .reg file is for adding the ActionType DWORD with it set to 0.

If you merge the .reg file, it'll add them automatically for you.

 

[Routeplanner]

Still not working changed the values to '0' and restarted...still shows up when I swipe from right...

 

[Brink]

Did you merge the .reg file?

 

[Routeplanner]

NO...How exactly do I do that? Can it be done under registry editor or do I have to locate the .reg under system 32?
If you can give me instructions on how to...that would be great. Thanks