How to disable gestures (charms bar, edge swipes, etc...) without changing the registry

Anonymous
2012-12-23T17:49:41+00:00

I've had a Windows 8 laptop for a few days and the charms bar/settings pages that kept popping up out of nowhere were driving me absolutely insane.  BUT, I finally figured out how to turn them off. 

I went into control panel>hardware and sound>mouse>device settings>settings.  From there you can adjust a lot of the trackpad settings, including DISABLE EDGE SWIPES. 

I have a Toshiba Satellite with a synaptics mouse/trackpad, so i cant guarantee this works with all models, devices, etc. 

Windows 8 for laptop is now tolerable!  Hope this helps!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2013-05-23T18:33:46+00:00

Try this; maybe it will work:

Control Panel>Mouse>UltraNav>TouchPad Settings>Application Gestures>Edge Swipes>Deselect “Enable Edge Swipes”

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-24T08:47:32+00:00

    Didn't work.  It seems like the only possible way to disable this "function" is to uninstall the synaptics driver which I will do if everything else fails.  Searched on multiple websites for a solution but absolutley nothing will work.  One time a registry file from the internet I tryed worked until I restarted my computer.  Then my computer seemed to be somehow immune to that hack and it never worked again.  It's sad how things like this are meant to improve your experience with windows because they just make it more annoying.  I have windows 8.1 on a Gateway LTP09u netbook which has a touchscreen so I dont need the toucpad swipe to access the charms bar.  I dont even use the charms bar anyway lol.  Please let there be a solution.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-09-24T00:52:29+00:00

    I found a program called Start8 that worked perfectly.  The company who makes it is Stardock. Go to Stardock.com,  they have a free trial. 

    Nothing in any of the answers seems to work for me. I have an Acer V5-473p with a Synaptics trackpad. There is -no- setting available for Edge Swipes. The Preferences screen (from the Tiles screen) also has no switch to turn off Edge swipes (from either direction).

    As long as I use a USB mouse and stay the heck away from the trackpad, that damn charms bar stays away. This is not a good solution. Microsoft needs to publish/distribute a definitive fix for this. We know it's not Synaptics' fault nor Acer's fault as they would have no reason to force these awful charms upon us. Only M$ has motivation for doing so. Well, I've managed to get rid of Metro and restore a Start menu (using Classic Shell). Now, how do I get rid of the charms? (Or, at least, disable Edge swipes?)

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-23T23:51:28+00:00

    I found a solution after trying for 4 months on this Horrific Windows 8.1.

    I tried Classic Shell did not work, the best program that has substantially controlled the Charms menu from making me want to smash my new Acer Inspire M 583P is the program- Onestart from Anvisoft.

    It has controlled the Charms menu better then everything else I tried and returns attributes of Windows 7.

    The fact that Microsoft refuses to fix 8.1 is a sign that they could care less about admitting they tried to copy Apple and failed while aggravating thousands with the idiotic OS 8.1.

    The elan touch pad on this Acer laptop is a train wreck as well, jumpy & unstable.

    Now  8.1 has pulled yet another malfunction, my laptop no longer will install Windows critical updates. Microsoft Level II techs tried to fix it for over 3 hours and could not. DONT BUY WINDOWS 8.1 try to install Windows 7. You have been warned.......again.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-09-23T23:28:42+00:00

    Nothing in any of the answers seems to work for me. I have an Acer V5-473p with a Synaptics trackpad. There is -no- setting available for Edge Swipes. The Preferences screen (from the Tiles screen) also has no switch to turn off Edge swipes (from either direction).

    As long as I use a USB mouse and stay the heck away from the trackpad, that damn charms bar stays away. This is not a good solution. Microsoft needs to publish/distribute a definitive fix for this. We know it's not Synaptics' fault nor Acer's fault as they would have no reason to force these awful charms upon us. Only M$ has motivation for doing so. Well, I've managed to get rid of Metro and restore a Start menu (using Classic Shell). Now, how do I get rid of the charms? (Or, at least, disable Edge swipes?)

    Was this answer helpful?

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