How to lock touchpad while typing

Question

I'm using Ubuntu 11.10 on Dell Inspiron N5110. As the touch pad is a bit large in this model it’s frequently getting in my way while typing. Although I try my best to not touch it, the cursor still gets moved and ruins what I am typing.

I remember an option in the "Mouse and Touchpad" utility which let us lock the touchpad while we are typing but I couldn't find that option in this utility now.

Any clue?

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 18 '11 at 12:39

15

Use syndaemon to disable while typing. Syntax is syndaemon [-i idle-time] [-d]
So something like syndaemon -i 4 -d Or, you could disable it completely with this command synclient TouchpadOff=1
Add them to your startup applications

answered Dec 18 '11 at 12:39

duffydack

7,344

1

This solution works with all Desktops and Window Managers, xubuntu lubuntu kubuntu, gnome xfce kde fluxbox icewm. Great job. – Sepero Jul 01 '12 at 23:44
3

syndaemon -i .5 -K -t -R -d will just disable clicking, while allowing movement – Jared Forsyth Nov 11 '13 at 16:21

desert_unbound · Answer 2 · 2015-03-09T15:33:29.397

5

I could fix this using dconf-editor, under org > gnome > settings daemon > peripherals > touchpad. There's an option to disable the touchpad while typing.

enter image description here

I also don't have the "touchpad" tab in system settings. Let me know if works for you.

UPDATE: I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and the "touchpad tab" issue is fixed. At least with my laptop.

edited Mar 09 '15 at 15:33

answered Dec 18 '11 at 12:24

desert_unbound

136

1

Not working under Ubuntu 14.04 LTS – Yasen Dec 09 '14 at 06:44
2

I found it in Ubuntu 18.04 under /org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/touchpad/. – MS Berends Dec 07 '18 at 08:24

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 04 '11 at 11:19

4

Open System Settings.

Go to "Mouse and Touchpad"

Click on the Touchpad tab.

mark "Disable touchpad while typing."

enter image description here

answered Dec 04 '11 at 11:19

martin

1,801

2

I don't have the Tcouhpad tab. I do remember this tab as this is actually what I used in past but it's not available now. – mustu Dec 05 '11 at 04:22
what's your output of xinput list – martin Dec 05 '11 at 13:33
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)] ⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)] ⎜ ↳ ImPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint id=13 [slave pointer (2)] – mustu Dec 07 '11 at 19:54
I think it has detected it as ImPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint – mustu Dec 07 '11 at 19:55
1

I have the "disable touchpad while typing" option CHECKED and still I'm having problems. What's wrong? Mine is an integrated Synaptics PS/2 touchpad. – Martin Oscar Caballero Dec 16 '12 at 14:50

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 07 '18 at 08:35

All above suggestions did not work for me on Ubuntu 18.04. I have some touchpad settings in the Settings application, but not a checkbox to disable the touchpad while typing. I did found it with dconf-editor, but it was already enabled, making no difference.

I opened Startup Applications and added syndaemon -i .5 -K -t -R -d to turn off the touchpad 500 milliseconds (.5) after every keystroke:

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 09 '15 at 15:40

I personally find that the mouse an touchpad settings that come with Ubuntu don't quite do the job and my mouse is always moving around. I use the following program to manually turn off the touchpad when I want. Not quite as elegant as turning off when typing, but for me much more effective.

sudo apt-get install gpointing-device-settings

How to lock touchpad while typing

5 Answers5

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