Chromebook touchpad stopped functioning

[Hil-Mar]

My Chromebook touchpad has stopped working.  I followed instructions online including a powerwash.  There is still no cursor appearing and the touchpad does nothing.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Hil-Mar After you determine you have a touchpad problem, and not something larger going on with your Chromebook, then you can start troubleshooting the problem. Here are some potential fixes you can try:

1. A good cleaning may be in order. Use a soft cloth to wipe away any dust or dirt that's on the touchpad. Also, use a can of compressed air to puff out anything that's in the cracks or under the touchpad.

2. Drumroll your fingers on the touchpad for ten seconds. Drumming your fingers on the touchpad causes vibration, which can loosen specks of dirt and jostle the debris out of the way.

3. Press the Esc key several times. The Esc key stops loading the current page. If something on the page is causing your computer to malfunction, pressing Esc a few times can interrupt the process and get things back to normal.

4. Turn the Chromebook off, then back on again. restart the device as It often works. Press and hold the Power button until the Chromebook turns off, give it a full minute, then turn it back on.

5. A hard reset of your Chromebook doesn't affect any files on the computer, but it can resolve several problems. Hold the Power button until the Chromebook turns off, then press the Power and Refresh buttons at the same time to reboot and reset the computer.

6. Check the Chromebook manual. Some Chromebooks have function keys that can turn off the touchpad, You may have inadvertently turned off the touchpad, and if that's the case, all you need to do is turn it back on.

7. Change how the touchpad works. Go to Settings > TouchPad and turn off features like tap-to-click, touchpad acceleration, and touchpad speed. Changing that behavior might get the touchpad working again.

8. If you have more than one account on a Chromebook, delete the account that's having the problem or switch to a different account to see if that alleviates the issue.

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Let me know how that pans out,

If you feel I was helpful, simply click on Accept as Solution to help the community grow,

That said, I will have someone follow-up on this to ensure you've been helped,

Just in case you don't get back to us, 

have a good day, ahead.

[Hil-Mar]

Thanks for the help.  I had tried pretty much everything and ended up powerwashing the Chromebook (I'm still working on getting my settings back to where they were).  Nothing seemed to help.

One thing in your list that I was unable to do was to go to Settings > Device > Touchpad.  When I went to Device, there was no "Touchpad" as an option.

I ended up buying a mouse and used that.  When I went to Device, "Mouse" was an option. After several days, I unplugged the mouse, and realized that I was operating the Chromebook using the touchpad. Now when I go to Settings > Device the "Touchpad" option appears. I still have no clue what happened, but it works.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Hil-Mar Well, that's good, perhaps, I worked as the lucky charm 😉 Jokes apart, I suggest you observe the device for a few days, and let us know if you need anything else,

And If you wish to thank me for my efforts, you could click on "Accept as solution" on my post as the solution should help others too.