Can we disable the charms bar in Windows 8?

Anonymous
2013-01-22T14:37:05+00:00

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?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Email and communications

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Anonymous
2013-06-05T09:31:15+00:00

"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.

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Anonymous
2013-01-23T10:24:36+00:00

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.

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Anonymous
2013-07-31T18:02:19+00:00

"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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-06-10T15:13:40+00:00

    I sympathize. As I said on this or another thread, in January 2014 I emailed Synaptics asking why the "enable edge swipe" option was not in the late driver supplied with my new laptop, but got no reply. I downloaded and installed an old Synaptics driver which has this feature.

    Are you saying we may suddenly find the touch pad driver updated as part of windows update?

    Big Brother Microsoft thinks he knows best.

    Yes, I never used to trust Microsoft to install updates but instead left it to tell me when they were available, recently I let them do it automatically as I get fed up doing the security definition updates manually and really want my security as fresh as possible........ and this is what happens when you trust big brother!

    They also keep updating my video driver, I think some of the big manufacturers use Microsoft to roll out new drivers.

    The problem is, even though I have hidden this update, who knows when the next one will be along.

    Its really not on, Microsoft should have driver updates as optional not essential updates and allow users to decide if they want to install them.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-06-10T09:13:26+00:00

    I sympathize. As I said on this or another thread, in January 2014 I emailed Synaptics asking why the "enable edge swipe" option was not in the late driver supplied with my new laptop, but got no reply. I downloaded and installed an old Synaptics driver which has this feature.

    Are you saying we may suddenly find the touch pad driver updated as part of windows update?

    Big Brother Microsoft thinks he knows best.

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