Prevent Touchpad Cursor Jumps

Most notebooks have a touchpad to allow cursor control with the absence of an external mouse. Touchpad software had come a long way in replacing a mouse, offering easy ways to scroll, and with the latest Synaptics software also supporting gestures.

But one thing that can be a problem is the location of the touchpad. For ease of use, the touchpad is generally centered on the laptop, just below the keyboard. Although convenient for using it as a mouse replacement, it is not so convenient when you type a lot. During your typing, you need to make sure to not accidentally touch the touchpad surface with a finger (or your wrist), or you will risk the mouse cursor jumping. The typed text will end up in a different location in your document, or keystrokes might suddenly be sent to a different application altogether!

The easy way around this is of course to use an external mouse and disable the touchpad in the Windows device manager. But if you don’t want or have an external mouse, this is not an option.

The better way to deal with this touchpad problem is to use a program called touchpad blocker. This simple little application basically disables the touchpad for short periods of time, starting when you start typing on the keyboard. As a result these accidental touches of the touchpad while typing don’t have any effect anymore!

The program is very simple to install and use. The program has a few configurable options, including an option to configure the delay between a keystroke and the re-activation of the touchpad. That way you can fine-tune the operation of the touchpad blocker to your own personal taste.

Another handy option is the manual keyboard block, which can be invoked using a predefined key combination. Just select the Combination field and then press the desired key combination. The program will automatically pick up the keys pressed and record them in the configuration.