How to disable touch on a display on Windows 10

By Mauro Huculak
last updated

If your device features a touch-enabled display, but you don't need the touch functionality, you can quickly disable it with these steps on Windows 10.

The ability to use Windows 10 with a touch screen has been around for a long time, and it's quite a useful feature especially on tablets (such as Surface Pro 6 (opens in new tab)).

However, if you have a laptop or another kind of device that includes a touch-enabled display, and it's not a feature you like to use, or the touch implementation doesn't work as advertised, you can disable the feature with just a few steps using Device Manager. In addition, disabling the touch screen may give you a little extra boost of battery life when you're on the go.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to disable the touch capability on a laptop or desktop display.

How to disable touch screen feature on Windows 10

To disable the touch screen on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.
  2. Search for Device Manager and click the top result to open the app.
  3. Expand the Human Interface Devices branch.
  4. Right-click the HID-compliant touch screen item, and select the Disable device option.

  1. Click the Yes button.

Once you complete the steps, the screen will no longer respond to touch gestures.

If you change your mind, you can always enable the touch screen again using the same instructions outlined above, but on step No. 4, make sure to the Enable device option. In the rare case that touch is still not working, you can try restarting your computer.

We're focusing this guide on disabling the feature, but you can also use these steps to disable and re-enable touch to troubleshoot and fix related problems with the screen.

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

3 Comments
  • Does disabling touch also disable things like the surface pen. My Surface go is pretty terrible at rejecting touch input when using the pen...
  • I palm rejection doesn't work for you, have a look at Settings > Devices > Pen & Windows Ink, the "Ignore touch input when I'm using my pen" checkbox will automatically disable touch whenever the pen tip is in range of the screen.
  • Disabled touch on my Dell Inspiron 14 i5448-7000SLV due to too much ghost touches.