How do I disable the touchpad while typing?

Question

It's impossible to write this way, text gets deleted, windows change, random tabs open. I've tried every solution I came across but none actually solve it (some don't even work)

I've tried installing touchpad indicator, I've tried adding a syndaemon option from startup application, I tried the same but from the terminal, nothing works.

I Just want to disable the touchpad completely while typing, no scrolling, no moving the cursor, nothing.

Answer 1

I suggest installing libinput it has much better "disable while typing" and "palm detection" algorithms.

Run

sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-libinput

and restart the GUI session, or reboot.

If you need "tap to click", you can add

Option "Tapping" "true"

to the touchpad section of /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-libinput.conf.

All options can be found on the manual page.

If you are using Ubuntu 16.04 with the -hwe-16.94 stack, you will need to install xserver-xorg-input-libinput-hwe-16.04 package instead of xserver-xorg-input-libinput.

You can check which HWE stack is installed by checking if xserver-xorg or xserver-xorg-hwe-16.04 package is installed.

Answer 2

For Ubuntu before 17.10 (Unity)

Open System Settings -> Mouse & Touchpad : in the Touchpad section switch from ON to OFF

Additional information for other users reading this post: The answer was written before the content of the question was changed, originally the question was: "An actual solution to disable touchpad? I just want to disable the touchpad completely, no scrolling, no moving the cursor, nothing.". So the answer from @Pilot6 is the much better solution for what the current version of the question is asking about!

Answer 3

You can also do it with Synaptics.

synclient PalmDetect=1

That will not be permanent, but you can do this by creating or editing the following file and adding Option "PalmDetect" "1"

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf
Section "InputClass"
  Identifier "touchpad"
  Driver "Synaptics"
    Option "PalmDetect" "1"
EndSection

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics#Disable_touchpad_while_typing

Answer 4

In my eyes, palmdetect is not exactly "disable while typing", because this feature doesn't really consider what's happening on the keyboard. In my case, I don't permanently touch the pad while typing, so the detection didn't work properly. On the same link that HarlemSquirrel already posted, there's also a second solution which does exaclty what is requested (in the modified OP):

Using syndaemon syndaemon monitors keyboard activity and disables the touchpad while typing. It has several options to control when the disabling occurs. View them with $ syndaemon -h For example, to disable tapping and scrolling for 0.5 seconds after each keypress (ignoring modifier keys like Ctrl), use

syndaemon -i 0.5 -t -K -R

Once you have determined the options you like, you should use your login manager or xinitrc to have it run automatically when X starts. The -d option will make it start in the background as a daemon.

Answer 5

I don't know exactly when this feature was introduced, but in Ubuntu 20.20 LTS it's very simple.

In the search bar, search Mouse and Touchpad. Then select the Touchpad tab and check Disable touchpad while typing.

That's all!

If you are quick or slow in typing you can also customize the Duration. That is how much seconds the trackpad will be disabled when you press a key. Set it lower if you are quick, upper if you are slow.

If you have not that option, try other answers.

Answer 6

This is very similar to How do I disable a touchpad using the command line? which recommends the synclient program.

If you have a Synaptics touchpad, then you can bind hotkeys to turn the pad off and on with

• synclient TouchpadOff=1
• synclient TouchpadOff=0