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Archives For November 30, 1999

How to Install Touchpad Indicator in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Last updated: April 13, 2018

touchpad

Touchpad Indicator is system tray applet to configure laptop touchpad settings and actions in Ubuntu desktop.

With Touchpad Indicator, you can easily:

  • Disable / Enable touchpad with indicator menu or keyboard shortcut.
  • Disable touchpad when mouse is plugged.
  • Disable touchpad while typing.
  • Also do basic settings for natural scrolling, tapping, touchpad speed, etc.

How to Install Touchpad Indicator in Ubuntu:

The software is available in the developer’s PPA for all current Ubuntu releases.

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, do followings steps to install the indicator:

1. Run command to add the PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

Type in your password (no visual feedback while typing due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then check updates and install the software by running following commands one by one:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator

Once installed, launch it and you’ll see the applet icon in top-right system tray.

Uninstall:

To remove touchpad indicator, run apt command in terminal with remove flag:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove touchpad-indicator

To remove PPA repositories, launch Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab.

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Install Touchpad Indicator in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: November 3, 2016

touchpad

Looking for an app to easily control and configure your touchpad in Ubuntu Desktop? Touchpad Indicator, an open-source system tray applet, is well worth a try.

Touchpad indicator is a great simple applet that indicates your touchpad status, which also offers:

  • Keyboard shortcut to quickly disable/enable touchpad.
  • Ability to disable touchpad on typing.
  • Basic touchpad configuration like:
    • vertical scrolling
    • horizontal scrolling
    • two fingers vertical or horizontal scrolling
    • one finger, two fingers and three fingers tapping actions

touchpad-indicator

How to install Touchpad Indicator in Ubuntu:

The software can be easily installed from the developer’s PPA repository. Simply open terminal from Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut keys, and run commands below one by one:

1. Run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

Type in your password when it asks and hit Enter.

touchpad-ppa-xenial

2. Then update and install touchpad indicator via command:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install touchpad-indicator

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb package from HERE and click install via Ubuntu Software.

Uninstall:

To remove the software, simply run apt command with remove flag:

sudo apt remove touchpad-indicator && sudo apt autoremove

The PPA can be removed by going to System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

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Touchpad Indicator 1.0.0 added ‘disable touchpad while typing’

Last updated: November 25, 2013

install touchpad indicator 1.0 ubuntu

The touchpad indicator 1.0.0 is out! Now it has the ability to disable the touchpad while typing. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.10, Linux Mint.

What’s New in Touchpad indicator 1.0.0:

The first of changes is the ability to disable touchpad while typing. The new release added an option under Preferences -> Actions tab to switch this feature on / off. It also allows you to configure the time to wait after the last key press before enabling the touchpad.

disable touchpad while typing

disable touchpad while typing

Touchpad Indicator 1.0.0 also brings following new features:

  • Vertical scrolling. You can perform vertical scrolling by sliding your finger along the right side of the touchpad.
  • Horizontal scrolling. You can scroll horizontally by sliding your finger across the bottom of the touchpad.
  • Circular scrolling
  • Vertical scrolling with two fingers. You can scroll vertically by sliding two fingers vertically
  • Horizontal scrolling with two fingers. You can scroll horizontally sliding two fingers horizontally
    Natural scrolling

You can enable them under Preferences -> Touchpad configuration.

two finger scrolling, natural scrolling

two finger scrolling, natural scrolling

Install Touchpad Indicator:

The new release is available in developer’s PPA for Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.10 and Linux Mint. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run commands below one by one to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator

Once installed, open touchpad indicator from menu r Unity Dash.

Read the official announcement in Spanish

UPDATE: I just found a bug that when I enabled ‘disable touchpad while typing’ feature and changed the time delay to 1. The touchpad sometimes doesn’t re-enabled after typing. If you get the same problem, run command in terminal to enable touchpad:

synclient TouchpadOff=0

Then change the time delay to 2 seconds.

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Touchpad Indicator Updated: Enable / Disable Touchpad via Mouse Wheel

Last updated: August 28, 2013

Touchpad Indicator has been updated to 0.9.5 with the ability to change touchpad status using Mouse Wheel. The developer announced in his blog:

“It is certainly much more comfortable turning the mouse wheel (regardless of whether it is up or down) to do two clicks to change the status of the touchpad, first to display the menu and the second to select the option.”

touchpad indicator ubuntu

In the new release, keyboard shortcuts now reside in dconf instead of gconf, specifically in org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings. To set a specific keyboard shortcut for toggling Touchpad-Indicator, go to org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybindings in Dconf Editor

Touchpad indicator custom shortcust

Touchpad Indicator 0.9.5 also fixes below bugs:

  • # 1036808 Ubuntu 12.04 Suffers suspension after an internal error
  • # 1062694 Touchpad status resets to ‘ON’ when laptop lid is closed.
  • # 1075029 watchdog.py got some problem
  • # 1099821 keyboard shortcut does not work well
  • # 1111784 watchdog fails to enable touchpad on mouse removal
  • # 1192930 indicator Touchpad not working correctly.
  • # 1197984 Unable to save preferences
  • # 1198003 Cant enable Autostart
  • # 1036529 When unplug enable Wont get my External mouse
  • # 1131179 enabled touchpad indicator shows when it is disabled
  • # 1114511 Touchpad-indicator has gone berserk and Enables and disables randomly

Install Touchpad Indicator:

The PPA has been updated for Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 13.04 users. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands one by one to install Touchpad Indicator:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator

For Ubuntu 12.04 and its derivatives, you may download and install the DEB package (didn’t test).

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