Windows 8 swipe from left problem on touchpad / laptop [solved]
Q. I have a brand new Asus laptop with all the latest drivers but one thing is DRIVING ME CRAZY! When I am dragging something around using the trackpad or even just scrolling sideways sometimes my laptop randomly switches apps 🙁 I am running Windows 8 and any help is appreciated!!! –Ambra D
A. Thank you for your question Ambra, I believe I know what is happening and how to solve your problem:
Your trackpad is inadvertently triggering the Windows 8 ‘swipe from the left edge’ gesture which switch apps. 🙁 This gesture is actually pretty useful on touchscreen laptops and tablets. However, it can be very annoying if the trackpad emulates this behavior . Thankfully since you have an ASUS laptop and the latest drivers you should have an easy option to disable that gesture on the trackpad. Here are the steps to take:
#1 Go to the ‘Desktop’ in Windows 8
#2 Move your mouse to the lower right hand corner of the screen (to the taskbar notification area) and look for a small ‘trackpad’ icon, you may have to click the ‘^’ arrow to show the hidden icons:
Doubleclick the trackpad icon to open the trackpad settings window
#3 After a Windows security prompt you should be greeted with a window similar to this:
Uncheck (as shown) the ‘Switch Running Applications’ to disable the swipe from left edge feature
All you should have to do now is uncheck the appropriate box (‘Switch Running Applocations) and your issue should be resolved!
+At your convenience, please let me know if this tip works for you Ambra and what you rate it on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Thank you 🙂
UPDATE from Ambra:
THANK YOU!!! It worked just like you said and now I can truly enjoy my laptop without that annoying hiccup, thank you again and bless you. Also I rate it 5 stars because it fixed the problem exactly. 🙂 -Ambra D
UPDATE from JD:
You are very welcome Ambra and thank you for your kind rating!
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Hey what version of Asus Smart Gesture is this??? I don’t see those options. My PC is an upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Hi Jay,
Thank you for your comment. I believe the driver version is 2.0.1:
ASUS Smart Gesture (Touchpad Driver) Version V2.0.1
23.28 (MBytes) 2013.03.07
Please note that ASUS recommends uninstalling the old driver before installing the new one.
Best regards,
-JD
This is the best advice yet, I finally have some control over the frustration I’ve had since I purchased this thing! Thank you!
Hi Heather!
Thank you for your nice comment. I am really glad that this page helped some 🙂
Best regards,
-JD
Yes, you can disable the right-to-left swipe giving you the charms, but it comes back after your computer sleeps, and you must reset the Smart Gesture. Is there a way to keep the changes in Smart Gesture more permanent?
Hi SteveG,
Thank you for your comment. On my laptop the changes were permanent (even after sleep/reboot etc.) Are you sure your account has administrator privileges? Other than that I cannot think of any reason why the changes would not stick 🙁
Sorry to not have a better answer for you!
Best regards,
-JD