How to Disable Chromebook Touchscreen: Step-by-Step Guide

Touchscreens are a big part of why people like Chromebooks, but for everyday life, you might not want them now and then as it can be annoying if you wish to use them like a normal laptop. So how do you turn it off?

Turning off the touchscreen on your Chromebook is easy, all you have to do is enable the debugging keyboard shortcuts by copying and pasting this URL into Chrome: chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts then just enable the debugging shortcuts. Now restart your device and you can then use Shift + Search + T to toggle the touchscreen or Shift + Search + P to toggle the touchpad. For an in-depth tutorial, keep reading!

How To Turn Off Touchscreen On Chromebook Tutorial

Turning off the touchscreen on your Chromebook is really easy, so follow along as I’m going to try and keep this as simple and easy to understand as possible.

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1. Open Google Chrome:n
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   • Launch the Google Chrome browser on your Chromebook.
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2. Access Chrome Flags:n
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   • In the address bar at the top, copy and paste the following URL and press Enter: codechrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts
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3. Enable Debugging Keyboard Shortcuts:n
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   • The Chrome Flags page will open.
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   • Locate the flag labeled “Debugging keyboard shortcuts”.
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   • Next to it, you will see a dropdown menu currently set to “Disabled”.
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   • Click on the dropdown menu and select “Enabled”.
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4. Restart Your Chromebook:n
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   • After enabling the debugging keyboard shortcuts, restart your Chromebook to apply the changes.
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5. Use Keyboard Shortcuts:n
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   • Once your Chromebook has restarted, you can use the following keyboard combinations:n
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     • Shift + Search + T: Enable/Disable the touchscreen.
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     • Shift + Search + P: Enable/Disable the touchpad.
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Troubleshooting Tips

If this didn’t work then don’t worry, because there are a few things you might have looked over or didn’t do well in the prosses. So I’m going to show you exactly how to fix those issues.

Here are some common issues and how to fix them:

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1. The Flags Aren’t Correctly Enabled.n
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   • Double-check that the “Debugging keyboard shortcuts” flag is set to “Enabled” in chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts.
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   • Make sure to click the “Relaunch” button or restart your Chromebook after enabling the flag.
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2. Restart Your Chromebook Again.n
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   • Sometimes it doesn’t work on the first go, try restarting your Chromebook again and see if the keyboard shortcuts I previously mentioned now work.
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3. Check If Your Chromebook Is Updated To The Latest Version Of Chrome OS.n
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   • To do this, follow these steps:
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   • Go to Settings > About Chrome OS and check for updates.
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4. Reset Your Chromebook’s Settings.n
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   • If the issue is still there then it might be due to your Chromebook’s settings.
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   • Go to Settings > Advanced > Reset settings > Powerwash and follow the prompts. Note that this will erase all local data, so back up important files first.
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5. Test That You’re Keyboard Fully Worksn
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   • This is probably not going to be an issue for a lot of people, but still worth checking if you’re stuck.
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   • Test some other keyboard shortcuts and see if they do work.
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FAQ

I hope this post helped you with turning off the touchscreen on your Chromebook, and be shure to check out some of my other blog posts.