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
    2014-02-19T14:29:36+00:00

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-13T17:47:57+00:00

    I have a Dell Inspiron 15 and had the same problem. My solution was to go to the Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Device and Printer, Mouse, Click Dell Touchpad, Click Dell Touchpad setting, Gestures,  Click Gestures Off. It worked for me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-11T21:22:56+00:00

    THANK YOU!!!! 

    THANK YOU!!!!

    THANK YOU!!!!

    Thanks for this solution. Windows 8 or 8.1 drove me completely crazy. Mainly because of the charm bar popping up being completely useless. After 8 months of agony I dropped my PC in the corner and went to the store to buy an Apple. The Lenovo with windows is for my kids but you make my life as Admin :-) a lot more pleasant!

    I bought a Lenovo Iaptop Z580 with Windows 8 four weeks ago. BIG MISTAKE! I can't get rid of this

    (UN)charm(ING) black bar at the side and the popup clock which jumps out frequently and annoyingly

    when I'm trying to get work done. Did Microsoft ever test this heap of junk on consumers before they

    released it? I'll wait till next month, when they release Windows 8.1 (Blue), in the hope that they've actually listened to their customers and fixed these and other issues before I take the OS out.

    If you install the default Windows touchpad drivers. then you don't have the features of the manufacturer's drivers. Which includes swipe. It's the easiest way to get rid of this annoying feature, which is NOT a Windows 8 feature.

     

    If you have a synaptics touchpad and you don't have these options in the control panel, then you have to install the synaptics drivers.

    http://drivers.synaptics.com/Synaptics_v16_3_15_1_C_XP32_Vista32_Win7-32_XP64_Vista64_Win7-64_Signed_Acme_Inc.zip

    Can i say a massive thank you for this link. I just received my Lenovo z580 (same laptop as the other guy) today and after less than an hour that bar was driving me insane. Anytime I swiped from right to left it would appear and often take me back to Start.

    Not only this but the Lenovo mousepad software seems to be a bit "sticky" and sluggish at the best of times however this link seemed to solve both of these issues.

    Thanks.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-01T19:46:43+00:00

    Thank you Jules, I didn't fancy doing all that technical stuff that others have listed and also have a lenovo- your simple solution has worked for me

    1, bottom right of desktop (nxt to battery level and wifi connection) click on the tiny triangle 'show hidden icons'

    2, click on ELAN pointing device (like you say looks like a monitor with a blue light in the centre)

    3, one finger - edge swipe (4th down) - disable it

    4, voila no more stupid charms

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