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Old Title: when I move the mouse around the right hand side bar keeps appearing, when I don't want it to.
I recently bought a new computer with Windows 8 and have managed to work with it OK. The thing is that when I move the mouse around, the right hand sidebar with the Search, Share, Start, Devices and Settings buttons (and the date and time, bottom left), keeps appearing. It is so frustrating as I keep having to click to get rid of it. Ironically, when I am ready to close the computer down, I have to fiddle around with the mouse trying to get the damn bar to appear so that I can get the settings button to shut it down. Are there any solutions for this?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
"I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any option to disable the Charms Bar in Windows 8."
OMG, when I pay hundreds of my hard-earned dollars, especially in this economy, I expect to customize my product after purchasing. Did Microsoft have regular people try Win 8 for awhile before releasing it?
Got it!!! Its simple, go to control panel, synaptics touchpad and disable side swipe function, simples. it was really beginning to annoy me.
Hi Deborah,
Thank you for choosing Windows 8 and posting your query on Microsoft Community Forums.
It seems that you are not happy with the “Charms Bar” in Windows 8 as it always appears when you move the mouse pointer to the right hand side of your computer screen and would like to know if we can disable it.
I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any option to disable the Charms Bar in Windows 8. I can definitely forward your suggestions to the concerned department.
Microsoft has designed it for making things faster and easier. The charms bar help you do the things you do most often, like search, share links and photos, connect devices, and change settings without any difficulties.
For more information, please check this link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/charms#1TC=t1
Hope this information is helpful.
"I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any option to disable the Charms Bar in Windows 8."
OMG, when I pay hundreds of my hard-earned dollars, especially in this economy, I expect to customize my product after purchasing. Did Microsoft have regular people try Win 8 for awhile before releasing it?
Got it!!! Its simple, go to control panel, synaptics touchpad and disable side swipe function, simples. it was really beginning to annoy me.
This issue was driving me crazy with my new week old inspiron 7720 windows 8. I even spent time on the phone with tech support who suggested using an external mouse. I followed your suggestion to disable side swipe function and it worked perfectly. Thank you.
Hi Shenan,
When you want the charms bar (since yours sounds reluctant to appear, the exact opposite of the problem so many of us have had), use the Windows + C keys. For the rest of us, disabling edge swipes in the Mouse properties can disable the charms bar, but we can also use the Windows + C keystrokes to bring it up if we so desire, so we've lost no functionality by disabling the hot corners & edge swipes. (Those functions were unnecessary to me anyway.)
Also, just as an aside, for all of the cheerleaders for 8/8.1, I've tried using the Netflix app: the English subtitles don't work, even when I have clearly selected that option in a movie. On one film, I then stopped watching, went to Netflix in my desktop on the browser and picked up the movie where I left off: and there were the English subtitles. So, no, these new "apps" are not necessarily better/faster than the programs/methods we were already using. Some other apps are also useless (Bing weather, for example).
I have tried every single tip. It still pops up randomly, even when I am nowhere near the right side of my screen. It remains a nightmare, especially when playing games that require edge-scrolling to use them.
Hi Rose,
Just double-checking, in case you missed this particular tip (I never saw it anywhere I looked until one nice, rather self-effacing lady put it forth in this very long thread): on some touchpads, especially Synaptics, you can find an option called "Enable edge-swipes" and uncheck that option in order to disable it. For me, that fixed the problem completely (along with disabling the hot corners as recommended over and over in this thread). (And if you want the charms bar at any time, use Windows + C.)
Here is the sequence for my Synaptics touchpad (I do remember one commenter saying that a driver update for Synaptics took away this option, but so far, I have not been saddled with that update, thank goodness):
Control Panel-->Mouse-->Device Settings tab-->Settings-->Enable edge swipes (uncheck this option)
That should do the trick. I hope it works for you, or if you have a different brand of touchpad that you can find that option. I do feel your pain--it was happening on my laptop the same way that you describe. I, too, was ready at that point to send a $400+ laptop back as a useless piece of junk. Because, ultimately, if the OS makes them impossible to use efficiently, what good are they?
Best of luck!
