# Why dont most laptops have a "tap to click" feature? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986 "2009-01-19T15:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/1 "2009-01-19T15:00:09Z")
I use a mac at home, and it really bugs me that my laptop at work (a vaio) doesn’t have the feature of tapping on the trackpad to click. I have a USB mouse so it it not a big problem, but I was just wondering about it… It seems quite easy to implement. Is it because apple has a patent on it? Is it because most people dont like it? Is there something that will let me do it in windows? ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/2 "2009-01-19T15:09:40Z")
Almost every laptop I have ever used has had that feature. Are you sure it just isn’t turned off in the mouse control panel? A lot of people (like me) turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/3 "2009-01-19T15:09:58Z")
My Dell Latitude has that (had to just try it to check). ---
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/4 "2009-01-19T15:14:36Z")
Hmm, could be my sheer idiocy that I had not checked… I will check tomorrow at work. BTW seodoa, may I ask why you turn it off? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/5 "2009-01-19T15:17:28Z")
> [@chromaticity](#): > > Hmm, could be my sheer idiocy that I had not checked.. > I will check tomorrow at work. > > BTW seodoa, may I ask why you turn it off? To avoid clicking when you just want to move the pointer. Most trackpads don’t have a click sensitivity selector, and some of them are way twitchy. I work in a lab with about 20 different models of PC laptops, and they all have tap to click. ---
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/6 "2009-01-19T15:21:50Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > To avoid clicking when you just want to move the pointer. Most trackpads don’t have a click sensitivity selector, and some of them are way twitchy. > > I work in a lab with about 20 different models of PC laptops, and they all have tap to click. Ok, now I feel like an ass! Cant wait till tomorrow to check. Probably I will find out that I was just too lazy to look at the settings.. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/7 "2009-01-19T15:30:45Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > Are you sure it just isn’t turned off in the mouse control panel? Opposite day at the Dvl household … We have tap-click on the (old) Dell Inspiron, but not the (slightly newer) MacTop G4. Very vexing for me to work on it habit-wise. Is it possible to turn it on? Where would I look (non-Mac person here)? Thanks~ ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/8 "2009-01-19T15:33:00Z")
Some people in our office turn it off because they find their watch-strap or bangles will dangle down and “click” on the trackpad while they are typing. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/9 "2009-01-19T15:36:20Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Where would I look (non-Mac person here)? > > Thanks~ Go to your System Preferences (in the Apple menu) and find the Trackpad (or is it Keyboard and Mouse?) control panel. There should be an option in there for it. ETA: Oh, here is the Apple help for [it](http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2490?viewlocale=en_US#l1). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/10 "2009-01-19T16:01:48Z")
I guess this just proves “to each his own!” I can’t stand “tap to click” - whenever I need to work on someone’s machine who has this turn on, I find I’m moving icons around, rearranging windows, launching programs, etc. by accident. I always ask if I can turn it off, and sometimes, they’re not even aware it’s on, and have been putting up with the flaky behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/11 "2009-01-19T16:45:53Z")
Just chiming in to say that both my AspireOne and my daughter’s Toshiba Satellite have tap-to-click. I am tempted to buy her a travel mouse, though, as her trackpad is really jank – it wants to do whatever it wants, regardless of how softly I touch it. Funny that you hadn’t even tried to see if it worked on yours before asking 😃 that’s something I would do. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/12 "2009-01-19T18:42:51Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I guess this just proves “to each his own!” > I can’t stand “tap to click” - whenever I need to work on someone’s machine who has this turn on, I find I’m moving icons around, rearranging windows, launching programs, etc. by accident. I always ask if I can turn it off, and sometimes, they’re not even aware it’s on, and have been putting up with the flaky behavior. Agreed–I loathe that future with the fiery passion of a thousand Mighty Mouses. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/13 "2009-01-19T19:24:59Z")
I’ve had to turn it off specially on both laptops I’ve owned (as **Ethilrist** says, it interpreted every touch of the trackpad as a click, naturally on the very thing I was trying to move the pointer away from). In the first case a tearful little message popped up, basically saying, “But this is a _feature!_” ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/14 "2009-01-19T23:26:59Z")
Huh. My cheap, sad Compaq laptop has a pretty good tap-to-click pad, even though I usually have the trackpad turned off. Or perhaps I have a light-enough touch so that it seems that way. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/15 "2009-01-19T23:30:46Z")
Another person that had it, and turned it off almost immediately. Waay too twitchy. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/16 "2009-01-19T23:47:47Z")
Whoa, I didn’t even realize this feature existed until this thread! But sure enough, it works on my (new, obviously; I’ve never had a laptop before) Dell. I’ll have to try it out to see whether or not I like it or not, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/17 "2009-01-20T01:15:59Z")
All trackpad’s are not created equally. Some of them are awful and I have to turn it off on those laptops when I’m using them, Mac’s are pretty much the best at it- especially when it comes to things like dragging, compensating for accidental input and using two fingers for right click (which is very useful on a laptop) The newer ones include multiple finger gestures which look pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/18 "2009-01-20T03:22:31Z")
I looked it up on my Powerbook, and it is an option, but I don’t like to use it. I did however, also discover that I could use two fingers on the trackpad to scroll! I never knew that! It’s so cool! ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/19 "2009-01-20T03:59:19Z")
I had trouble with the feature for a few years, turning it off most of the time. But about four years ago I got a new laptop and took the time to learn all of the gestures. It completely turned me around and now it’s the most important navigational boon I’ve ever encountered, far moreso than the mouse wheel. It’s another of the many examples of when “easy to use” and “easy to learn” are at odds. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986/20 "2009-01-20T07:42:52Z")
> [@Litoris](#): > > Just chiming in to say that both my AspireOne and my daughter’s Toshiba Satellite have tap-to-click. I am tempted to buy her a travel mouse, though, as her trackpad is really jank – it wants to do whatever it wants, regardless of how softly I touch it. Funny that you hadn’t even tried to see if it worked on yours before asking 😃 that’s something I would do. Really? Because my Satellite’s trackpad works just fine. Athough maybe I just have an exceptionally light touch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-laptops-have-a-tap-to-click-feature/481986.md?page=2)