I wiped down my laptop's keyboard and touchpad with alcohol pads while cleaning it and changing the stickers. Afterward, the touchpad stopped responding completely. I can't afford to buy an external mouse or keyboard right now. The laptop uses an Intel processor, but I don't know the exact make or model. What should I check to get the touchpad working again?
2 Answers
If the shortcut doesn’t help, check the touchpad in the operating system’s mouse or touchpad settings and in Device Manager. It may be disabled or its driver may need to be reinstalled. If you can borrow a USB mouse temporarily, it would make those checks easier, but it isn’t required if the keyboard still works.
First check whether the touchpad was accidentally disabled while you were cleaning. Many laptops use an Fn key combination—often one of the F-keys with a touchpad icon—or a double-tap in the touchpad’s corner to toggle it on and off. The exact shortcut depends on the laptop model, so the Intel processor doesn’t identify the right key by itself.
I checked the function keys, but there wasn’t a touchpad icon and it still didn’t work.
I didn’t have a USB mouse available, but the touchpad started working again after I unplugged a USB device and shut the laptop down completely, then turned it back on.