Random touchpad pointer slowdown

[gl1000007]

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that the mouse cursor randomly slows down and then returns to its normal speed when I use the built-in touchpad. This frequent change in speed is annoying and distracting. I haven’t yet identified a pattern that explains how to reproduce the issue. for now, it’s just a matter of trial and error.

Issue description:
- The cursor slows down suddenly and unexpectedly, sometimes for a few seconds, other times for several minutes.
- During these slowdowns, the cursor moves slower than usual and is difficult to control when trying to place it at a specific spot.
- The phenomenon appears and disappears intermittently, with no clear link to opening or closing specific programs.
- The slowdown has even occurred just seconds after logging into Windows following a full restart (not hibernation).

There are also occasional display-related symptoms:
- Microsoft Word sometimes flickers and becomes sluggish with very long documents, when using in Web Layout view. Switching to Print Layout significantly reduced the problem.
- On one occasion, Task Manager displayed partially missing or incorrectly rendered content for approximately 5–10 seconds, then recovered on its own.

What I’ve tried:
- Two-finger scrolling appears to work normally, even when the cursor is slowing down.
- Adjusted the cursor speed in Windows settings - mouse and touchpad setting.
- Toggled the "Enhance pointer precision" setting off and on again. The first time I did this, there was a temporary improvement, but subsequent attempts had no effect.
- Pressed the Caps Lock key several times while the cursor was lagging; the indicator light on the key responded immediately (functioning correctly).
- Using Windows Task Manager, monitored CPU, memory and disk usage when the issue occurred; I did not observe any abnormal load during the cursor lag.
- Ran updates via myHP and Windows Update, followed by a full system restart (not hibernation). Both utilities now indicate that no further updates are currently available.
- Tested the keyboard shortcut Win + Ctrl + Shift + B to reset the graphics driver; this did not result in any consistent improvement.

List of updates installed via myHP today:
- HP Connection Optimizer
- HP Notifications
- HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI
- HP Universal Camera Driver
- Intel Bluetooth Driver
- Intel Chipset Installation Utility Driver
- Intel Management Engine Driver
- Intel Platform Monitoring Technology
- Intel Video Driver and Control Panel
- Intel WLAN Driver

The laptop is still under HP warranty, but posting on this forum was the ONLY ASYNC METHOD I found active in my area.

Before starting this thread, I
- Ran both the "Quick" and "Comprehensive" tests using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics 3.3.3.0. Both tests displayed a battery calibration warning after I had selected "Maximize My Battery Health" in BIOS. However, the battery test result was still "Passed". No error codes were returned by any of the tests. This BIOS setting had already been enabled before the pointer issue started.
- Searched the forum for 'slow pointer' and 'slow mouse'. Found the following threads:
REMOVED THE LINKS to avoid auto flagging my message as spam.
- Found versions of Intel software referred to in those threads:
intel graphics software, 26.36.2702.0, 2026-10-17
intel graphics command center, 1.100.5688.0, 2025-03-17
Intel Graphics Driver, supplied by Intel Corporation, 32.0.101.9028, 2026-09-11
- Found BIOS‏ version and date: HP W70 Ver. 01.10.00, 2026-06-12

Thanks in advance 💯

[gl1000007]

Update: Reinstalling the touchpad driver (HID-compliant touch pad)

DID NOT work. Uninstalled the driver, performed a full restart, then got a cursor delay right after login.

DO NOT MARK THIS REPLY AS AN ACCEPTED SOLUTION ON MY BEHALF.

[gl1000007]

I noticed another occurrence of the pointer slowdown immediately after moving the cursor to close a screensaver that had been active for at least 15 minutes. There were no resource-intensive background processes running at the time.

[Meghana_10]

Hello @gl1000007, Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding the HP EliteBook 840 14-inch G11 Notebook PC (8M4X3AV).

We appreciate the opportunity to assist you and are glad we could help work toward a resolution. We hope our support has been valuable.

Thank you for documenting your observations and troubleshooting results in such detail. I also noted your request not to mark your update as an accepted solution.

Could you please try one additional test?

Test using an external mouse

1. Connect a USB mouse and use it alongside the built-in touchpad. When the touchpad pointer slows down, check whether the external mouse also becomes sluggish.
2. If the external mouse remains responsive, this points more toward the built-in touchpad or its driver/firmware.
3. If both pointers slow down together, we should investigate Windows or broader system responsiveness.

Please also check the following:

1. Open Device Manager and expand Human Interface Devices.
   Open the properties of HID-compliant touch pad.
   Under the Driver tab, note the provider, version, and date.
    
2. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad and confirm whether the pointer speed changes when the slowdown occurs.
3. You can find the model-specific drivers and BIOS updates through HP EliteBook 840 14-inch G11 Notebook PC (8M4X3AV). Select the operating system and exact product before installing anything

Please perform UEFI Touchpad Test
 

Steps to Run the UEFI Touchpad Test
 

1. Shut down the laptop completely.
2. Turn on the computer and immediately start tapping the Esc key repeatedly (about once every second) until the startup menu appears.
3. Press  F2 to open HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI.
4. Use the arrow keys (or a plugged-in USB mouse/keyboard) to select Component Tests (or System Tests depending on your version).
5. Select  Mouse / Touchpad (or Input Devices / Pointer Devices).
6. Choose  Touchpad Test (or Pointer Test) and select Run once.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to move the pointer, click, or drag across the touchpad. 

Please let us know the external-mouse test result. That will help determine the most appropriate next step.

Have a great day!