Turn off the built in touchpad when a mouse is attached
All laptops today feature a touchpad, that enables you to move the pointer on the screen. It can be very annoying when your thumb accidentally moves the cursor when you type, even if an external mouse is connected to the computer.
Windows 10 provides a checkbox to automatically disable the internal pointing device when you connect a mouse.
- Open the Control Panel,
- Select Mouse,
- On the Device Settings tab check the Disable internal pointing device when external USB pointing device is attached checkbox.

Doesn’t answer the question of what to do if this option is not available.
Hi Kenneth,
You are right, this option was provided by the Synaptics touchpad driver. If there is no similar option for your touchpad, most laptops have a function key on the top of the keyboard to turn off the touchpad.
– Asus laptops it is usually on the F10 key,
– MSI laptops usually on the F4 key.