How to turn off the touchscreen on an Acer Chromebook

Touchscreens are great—until they’re not. Whether your Acer® Chromebook™ touchscreen is acting up, draining your battery, or you just prefer using the keyboard and trackpad, turning it off can help simplify your experience.

At Asurion, we help millions of people take control of their tech every day. If you're ready to disable the touchscreen on your Chromebook, here are the simple steps you need to get it done.

Why turn off your Chromebook touchscreen?

Maybe your touchscreen is too sensitive. Maybe it’s glitching. Or maybe your toddler keeps smudging the display while you’re trying to answer emails. Whatever the reason, turning off the touchscreen can help you avoid unwanted input and focus—without distractions.

If you do turn off your Acer Chromebook's touchscreen, just know it's reversible. You can always turn it back on when you need it. If your screen isn't working at all, you may have to change course and learn how to fix a Chromebook screen.

How to turn off Chromebook touchscreen using keyboard shortcuts

The simplest way to disable your Chromebook touchscreen is by using a keyboard shortcut. 

1. Press the Search, Shift, and T keys at the same time. 
2. Your touchscreen should stop working.
3. You can re-enable the touchscreen using the same key combination.

This method won't work on Acer Chromebooks that don't support it. Try one of the below solutions if the keyboard shortcut doesn't resolve your issue. 

How to disable the touchscreen using Chrome flags

Chrome flags is a developer tool that allows you to enable some features that are not available by default. If you do set Chrome flags, avoid adjusting settings you're unfamiliar with—you could potentially lose data or compromise security. 

Here’s how to use Chrome flags to disable a touchscreen:

1. Open up Google Chrome and type "chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts" into the address bar. Press the Enter key.
2. The Chrome Flags menu appears. 
3. Click the drop-down menu next to Debugging keyboard shortcuts. 
4. Click Disabled > Enabled.
5. A pop-up message appears at the bottom of the menu. Click Restart to reboot the Acer Chromebook.

When the Chromebook restarts, try pressing the Search, Shift, and T keys. The keyboard combination should disable the touchscreen. Use the same combination to turn the touchscreen feature back on.

How to turn off the touchscreen in Chromebook settings

Some Acer Chromebooks do allow you to disable the touchscreen from the settings menu. Here’s how:

1. Click on the Time icon in the right-hand corner to open the System menu.
2. Click Settings > Advanced > Accessibility to see touchscreen options.
3. Toggle off any available touchscreen settings. You can toggle the setting back on to re-enable the touchscreen when needed.