In this article, I will show you how to reinstall the touchpad driver if you have uninstalled it by mistake from your Windows laptop.
A touchpad driver establishes communication between your laptop’s touchpad and the operating system. The touchpad does not work if the touchpad driver is uninstalled or corrupted. Sometimes, we may need to uninstall a driver. Windows installs the missing driver when you restart your system. However, this did not happen for some users who accidentally uninstalled the touchpad from the Device Manager.
Accidentally uninstalled touchpad from the Device Manager
Some users have accidentally uninstalled the touchpad from the Device Manager and now they are unable to reinstall it. According to the reports, the Scan for Hardware Changes feature of the Device Manager did not work for the affected users. Moreover, their laptops also fail to reinstall the driver after a restart.
Use the following suggestions to fix this issue:
- Download the latest touchpad driver from the official manufacturer’s website
- Use the dedicated software to reinstall the touchpad driver
- Restore your system
- Reset your laptop.
I have explained all these fixes in detail below:
1] Download the latest touchpad driver from the official manufacturer’s website
All the compatible drivers for your laptop remain available on the official website of your computer manufacturer. You can download and install the missing drivers from there. Visit your computer manufacturer’s official website and search for your laptop’s drivers. You need to enter the model number or serial number of your laptop. Once you download the touchpad driver, double-click on the installer file to install the driver.
If the driver is downloaded as an INF file, you can install it through the Device Manager.
2] Use the dedicated software to reinstall the touchpad driver
Computer manufacturers also develop dedicated software that helps users diagnose issues on their computers and keep them up to date. Depending on the brand of your laptop, download and install the dedicated software. Some of these software include:
Run a diagnostic checkup on your system (if available in the software) and see if the problem is fixed. You can also use them to check for driver updates.
3] Restore your system
I also uninstalled the ELAN touchpad driver from my HP Notebook. Windows installed the HID-Compliant Device driver for my touchpad when I performed the Scan for hardware changes. After that, my touchpad was working but it lost all its gestures. I was not able to use two-finger and three-finger gestures on my touchpad.
Fortunately, I created system restore points, which helped me restore the ELAN touchpad driver on my HP Notebook. By default, Windows creates system restore points automatically whenever it notices changes in the Registry or when you install/uninstall a program. Check if a restore point with the previous date exists on your system. If yes, your problem will be fixed.
Use any of the previous restore points to restore your computer. This will also reinstall the touchpad driver on your system.
4] Reset your laptop
If the restore points do not exist on your system, you can reset your laptop to the factory default settings without deleting data. This will bring back the touchpad driver. To reset your laptop without deleting data, select the Keep my files option.
If nothing helps, you can also contact the customer support of your laptop manufacturer to resolve this problem.
Read: Touchpad not working in – ASUS | Acer | Dell | HP | Lenovo laptops.
How do I fix my Touchpad not showing in Device Manager?
If the Touchpad does not show in the Device Manager, it means that it is missing from your system. Go to Action and select the Scan for hardware changes option. This will reinstall the missing touchpad driver on your laptop. If this does not help, you can download the latest version from the official website of your laptop manufacturer.
How do I roll back my Touchpad driver?
The process to roll back the driver on Windows 11/10 is the same for all device drivers. Open the Device Manager and then open the properties of your touchpad driver. Now, go to the Driver tab and click on the Roll Back Driver button. Follow the on-screen instructions. If the Roll Back Driver option is greyed out, you can try some alternate methods.
