Touchpad Gestures on Windows 11: I still remember the day I would open the Mouse connected to the desktop in my school and take out the Tracker Ball, which looked pretty much like an Egg yolk. Time and Technology have changed a lot today. From the tracker ball on the peripheral mouse to laser tracking and then to the built-in touchpad on laptops, technology has come so far. In this article, let’s check out how to configure Touchpad Gestures on Windows 11. Let’s get started.
Are Touchpad Gestures New to Windows 11?
From the Tracker Ball Mouse to the Modern Touchpads
Not at all. Though Gestures weren’t a standard part of Windows XP as we know it today, it had the basic touchpads with a gesture-like experience. It was on Windows 7 when the first OS Level gesture support began, such as two finger scrolling, pinch to zoom gesture, etc. On Windows 11, Gestures are refined and enhanced for a smoother, more intuitive, and well integrated UI experience.
How to Access Touchpad Gestures Settings on Windows 11?
To access Touchpad and Gestures Settings on Windows 11, kindly follow the steps below.
- Go to the Windows Settings using the keyboard combination WinKey + I.
- In the Windows Settings, click on Bluetooth & Devices from the left pane.
- Once you are on the Bluetooth & Devices, you can find the option Touchpad. Select Touchpad.
- Here, we can configure various settings related to the Gestures, Interaction, Advanced Gestures, Scrolling, etc.
- We are now in the Touchpad and Gestures Settings. Let’s check out each option in detail below.
Configure Three-Finger Gestures on Windows 11 (Template-based)
Three-Finger Gestures, as the name suggests, is how the Touchpad responds when we use Three Fingers at the same time on the Touchpad. The most commonly used fingers in the three-finger gesture are the Point Finger, the Middle Finger, and the Ring Finger. However, it varies with users. The following are the steps to configure three-finger gestures on Windows 11.
- Drop-down Three-Finger Gestures, and you can find the following options. Switch Apps and Show Desktop, Switch Desktops and Show Desktop, Change Audio and Volume, and Nothing. Let’s explore each option in detail.
Switch Apps and Show Desktop
When this option is selected, swiping up, down, left, and right will have the following impacts.
- When we swipe up, it will show the Multitasking view. It will show a cascade of all the active applications.
- Upon swiping down, it will show the Desktop. All the applications are minimized.
- When we swipe left and right, we can switch between the Applications.
Switch Desktops and Show Desktop
The only difference when selecting this option is that when we swipe left and right, we can switch between different Desktops instead of Applications.
Change Audio and Volume
Upon selecting this option as the Three-finger Gesture swipe, swiping up and swiping down will increase and decrease the volume, respectively, and swiping left and swiping right will switch between the previous and next audio tracks.
Nothing
When the Nothing option is selected, the Three-Finger Gesture is turned off. This is how we can turn off the Three-Finger Gesture on Windows 11.
Configure Three-Finger Taps on Windows 11
Here, we will configure three-finger taps on Windows 11.
- We can configure Three-Finger Tap for the following settings. Open Start menu search, Notification Center, Play/Pause, Middle Mouse Button, and Nothing.
- If you want to turn off the three-finger tap gesture, then you can select the action Nothing.
Configure Four-Finger Gestures on Touchpad on Windows 11 (Template-Based)
Very similar to the three-finger gestures, four-finger gestures can also be configured for several actions on your Windows 11. The functionalities remain the same, like the ones in the three-finger gestures. You can choose any one of the following functionalities. Switch Apps and Show Desktop, Switch Desktops and Show Desktop, Change Audio and Volume, and Nothing. You can choose the one that’s convenient for you.
If you ask me, I would use the three-finger gesture settings for Switch Apps and Show Desktop, and four-finger gestures for Change Audio and Volume. In this way, I can make use of these gestures to my convenience. How about you? Kindly let us know in the comments.
Configure Four-Finger Taps on Touchpad on Windows 11
You can configure four-finger taps for the following actions. Open Start menu search, Notification Center, Do Nothing, Play/Pause, and Middle Mouse Button.
Uniquely Customize Three-Finger and Four-Finger Gestures on Windows 11
In the above section, we saw a bunch of templates of settings that we can choose from. However, Windows 11 offers unique customizations where we can individually choose different actions on three-finger and four-finger gestures. We get access to more actions like Remove Desktop, Forward Navigation, Backward Navigation, Snap Window to the left, Custom Shortcut, Maximize a Window, Minimize a Window, etc.
How does Custom Shortcut Gesture on Touchpad work on Windows 11?
This is an interesting feature. Let’s say I am a user who accesses Task Manager frequently to check for the applications that are eating up my resources, and I am used to the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Esc. Instead of reaching out to this three-button combo shortcut, I can just create a custom shortcut on my three-finger or four-finger gesture actions, and access Task Manager just with a swipe. Here are the steps.
- Under Touchpad Settings, click on Advanced Gestures from the Related Settings.
- Choose your preferred Gesture and Action. For Explanation, I am choosing the Three-Finger Gesture and the Swipe up action. Hence, under Swipe up, choose Custom Shortcut.
- Once you choose the Custom Shortcut, you will get the provision to add the shortcut. Click on Start Recording.
- Now, I will press the keyboard buttons Ctrl, Alt, and Esc, and the system will record this.
- Finally, I will use the Mouse and click Stop Recording. That’s it, the shortcut is recorded.
- Next time, when you use the three-finger swipe down gesture, Task Manager will open. Man, I love Microsoft for such Touchpad Gestures on Windows 11!
Secure Attention Sequence such as Ctrl + Alt + Del will not work as they are handled directly by the Windows Kernel. Such sequences cannot be simulated on Windows 11 via gestures, software shortcuts, or scripts and requires direct key press. Make sure your custom shortcuts are not SAS.
How to Fix Two Finger Scroll Not Working on Windows 11?
Many people have raised this question in our Reddit community. As it is related to the Touchpad, I feel it is best discussed here. When you face the Problem of the Two Finger scroll not working on Windows 11, kindly follow the steps below.
- Navigate to the Touchpad Settings from the Windows Settings.
- Under Gestures & Interaction, Expand Scroll and Zoom.
- Make sure Drag two fingers to scroll option is checked and enabled. If it is not enabled, then two finger scroll will not work on your Windows 11.
- Using the above steps, you can quickly fix the Two Finger Scroll Not Working problem on Windows 11.
Information on the Go! You can also enable Pinch to Zoom and also you can customize your scrolling direction.
Configure your Taps and Touchpad Sensitivity on Windows 11
In this section, we will check out the different customizations available for Touchpad Taps on Windows 11.
- To access this setting, we have to navigate to the Touchpad Settings via the Windows Settings.
- Under Gestures and Interaction, you can find the option “Taps“. Expand it.
- Here, you can adjust the Touchpad Sensitivity. You can choose from Low, Medium, High, and Most Sensitive.
- Then, you can find various tap options such as Tap with a single finger to single-click, Tap with two fingers to right-click, Tap twice and drag to multi-select, and Press the lower right corner of the touchpad to right-click.
- You can enable the tap options as per your convenience.
By using the above settings in this article, you can effectively configure your Taps and Touchpad Gestures on Windows 11.
Take Away
From scrolling, to pinching, three-finger to four-finger gestures, and more, we have made this article with intensive research. We hope you are satisfied with our article on Touchpad Gestures on Windows 11. If you have any queries related to the touchpad gestures on Windows 11, kindly let us know in the comments section.
I am a fan of a traditional RGB Mouse connected to my Laptop, and I always keep my touchpad disabled unless I travel, and I never really like or use a Touchpad much. How about you? Are you a Traditional Mouse Fan or a Touchpad Fan? Let us know.