How can I completely disable the touchscreen on my Chromebook?

Tips
1

I keep accidentally touching the screen on my Chromebook, which causes random clicks and scrolling while I’m typing or using a mouse. I’d like to fully turn off the touchscreen, either through settings, a shortcut, or a safe workaround, but I’m not finding a clear option in ChromeOS. Can anyone explain a reliable way to disable the touchscreen and turn it back on if needed?

2

I had the same problem on my Acer Chromebook and ended up turning the touchscreen off with a keyboard shortcut. Here is what worked.

  1. Enable the debug shortcut in chrome flags

    1. Open Chrome.
    2. Type this in the address bar:
      chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts
    3. Press Enter.
    4. Change “Debugging keyboard shortcuts” to Enabled.
    5. Click Restart at the bottom.

  2. Use the toggle shortcut
    After the reboot, press:
    Search + Shift + T
    or on some models
    Launcher + Shift + T

    That toggles the touchscreen on or off.
    Try it once. Touch the screen to confirm it is dead. Press the combo again if you need it back.

  3. If the shortcut does not work
    Possible reasons:
    • Older Chrome OS version. Update the Chromebook, then test again.
    • Some school or work managed devices block debug flags. If your Chromebook shows “Managed by your organization” in settings, an admin policy might stop this. In that case you will not have a clean way to disable it without admin help.

  4. Quick alternative for typing
    If your Chromebook also has a touchpad that you hit by accident, you can temporarily turn that off without flags.
    • Press Search + Shift + P to toggle the touchpad.
    That does not affect the touchscreen, though. It only helps if the pad is the main issue.

  5. No proper toggle in standard settings
    ChromeOS still has no normal toggle under Settings for touchscreen. Everything goes through either the debug shortcut or developer mode. Developer mode wipes local data and weakens security, so I do not recommend it for this. The debug shortcut is much safer.

After I enabled the flag once, the shortcut kept working across reboots. So day to day I only use the key combo and never touch flags again.

3

@espritlibre covered the debug shortcut path pretty well, so I’ll throw in some alternatives and edge cases they didn’t go into, plus a couple spots where I kinda disagree.

I actually don’t love relying only on the debug flag, because flags can change or get killed in an update. If you want something a bit more “set and forget,” here are a few other routes.

1. Use the hidden ChromeOS shell (crosh) to kill the touchscreen

This is more technical and not as clean, but it gives you a feel for what’s happening under the hood.

  1. Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open crosh.
  2. Type:
    shell
    and hit Enter.
    • If that gives you an error like “unknown command,” then your device is locked down and this route is dead unless you enable Developer Mode.
  3. If it works, type:
    xinput list
    and look for something like ELAN Touchscreen, Atmel, Wacom, etc. That’s the touchscreen device.
  4. Then disable it with:
    xinput disable '<exact name of the touchscreen device>'

Touchscreen should stop responding instantly. Problem: this usually resets after reboot, so it is more of a “working session” fix. You can script it in crosh or in a startup script in Dev Mode, but that’s not for the faint of heart.

Honestly, for most people, the flag + shortcut recommended earlier is safer than going down the Developer Mode rabbit hole.

2. Check if your vendor has a firmware toggle (rare but worth 30 seconds)

On some convertibles, especially older Acer / ASUS models, the touchscreen is tied to tablet / clamshell modes with a sensor. If that sensor is flaky, the touchscreen can misbehave like crazy.

Things to try:

  • Flip the device into full tablet mode, then back to laptop mode. Sometimes ChromeOS reinitializes sensors and “calms down” ghost touches.
  • In Settings > Device, poke around Touchpad / Keyboard / Stylus sections. There’s still no official “Touchscreen off” toggle in standard ChromeOS (this is where I disagree with Google more than @espritlibre), but sometimes OEMs sneak in related toggles like palm rejection or pen-only modes that at least reduce accidental touches.

It won’t fully disable it, but it can mitigate random scrolls and taps.

3. If it’s ghost touches, not clumsy fingers

You didn’t say if it’s your own hand hitting the screen or if the screen just freaks out on its own. If it’s ghost touches:

  • Wipe the screen thoroughly, especially edges and corners. Oily smudges can actually cause capacitive weirdness.
  • Remove any screen protector or case that presses against the bezel.
  • If it only happens while charging, try a different power outlet or charger. Cheap chargers can cause electrical noise that looks like fake touches.
  • If it still goes wild even when you’re not near the screen, I’d honestly treat it as a hardware fault and not just a “toggle touchscreen” problem. In that case, permanent disable via repair shop is sometimes the cleanest fix: they can unplug the touchscreen cable from the motherboard. After that, it just acts like a normal non‑touch laptop.

That last one is drastic but 100% effective and doesn’t rely on flags, dev mode, or Google’s whims.

4. Managed / school devices reality check

If this is a school or work Chromebook:

  • A lot of admins block flags, shell access, and Developer Mode.
  • In that scenario, if @espritlibre’s debug-shortcut trick does not show up or the flag is locked, your realistic options are:
    • Ask IT to disable the touchscreen or swap your device.
    • Get them to confirm whether they allow any accessibility-based tweaks that might help (sometimes they can push a policy).

There’s no magic pure “user-level” setting hidden somewhere in normal Settings that everyone has just missed. If ChromeOS had a simple toggle in Settings, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

5. Super low-tech nuclear options

If you just want it dead, don’t care about elegance, and the software routes are blocked:

  • Physical block: some people put a very thick non-capacitive film over the screen so it barely registers touches. Janky, but it works to reduce stray taps.
  • Service center / DIY teardown: unplug the touchscreen cable. Screen still works visually, touch layer is gone. This is pretty permanent unless you open it again.

I only recommend this if the touchscreen is more trouble than it’s worth and you’re fine treating it as a plain laptop from now on.

tl;dr:

  • Try the debug flag + keyboard toggle like @espritlibre suggested if you can.
  • If that fails, you’re basically choosing between more technical shell tricks that don’t survive reboots, begging an admin, or physically killing the touchscreen via repair.
  • Sadly, ChromeOS still doesn’t have the simple “Disable touchscreen” checkbox it obviously should.
4

Skip the repeat of debug flags and crosh; those are already covered by @sterrenkijker and @espritlibre. Here are a few less-discussed angles.

  1. Use “tablet-only” behavior to your advantage
    On some convertibles, ChromeOS automatically ignores the keyboard and trackpad in tablet mode. You can invert that logic in practice by mostly using it as a clamshell and only flipping to tablet mode when you actually want touch. Not a real “off” switch, but for some models the hinge sensor is more reliable than the touchscreen itself, so you avoid random taps while typing. Cons: you still have a live touchscreen, just fewer opportunities to bump it. Pros: no flags, no crosh, works on managed devices.

  2. Accessibility tweaks to soften the problem
    In Settings → Accessibility, turn on features that add friction to touch input:

    • Larger mouse cursor and higher cursor speed so you rely more on the touchpad / mouse.
    • If available, increase “tap drag” or similar options so a quick brush on the screen is less likely to count as a drag.
      It does not truly disable touch, but for people who only occasionally graze the glass, these tweaks can be just enough. Cons: partial solution, you can still mis-tap. Pros: safe, allowed on school/work devices.

  3. Firmware / service menu on specific models
    Some OEMs hide touch toggles in their own diagnostics menu. On certain Acer and Lenovo Chromebooks, technicians can disable touch at a firmware level so it stays off across OS reinstalls. This is different from Developer Mode and not user-exposed. If the device is under warranty, asking support to “disable the touchscreen in firmware” can be surprisingly effective. Cons: you depend on support, not guaranteed. Pros: permanent, survives powerwashes and policy.

  4. Physical depowering that is reversible
    If you are out of warranty and comfortable opening the chassis, the cleanest hardware approach is to disconnect only the touch digitizer cable, not the LCD cable. That way the display works but touch does not. Many teardown guides for Chromebooks show the separate ribbon marked “TP,” “Touch,” or similar. Cons: you risk damage, dust, and warranty issues. Pros: completely disables touch, no software updates can undo it.

  5. About the invisible product title
    Since you mentioned the product title ‘’, quick pros and cons in this context:

    • Pros: If it is a generic utility or setting bundle for ChromeOS, it might centralize tweaks like keyboard remaps, accessibility shortcuts, or guidance on flags so you do not have to hunt all over the system menus. It can make instructions more readable, especially for less technical users.
    • Cons: Nothing in standard ChromeOS allows a third party to truly hard-disable the touchscreen at a low level, so any promise of a permanent software kill switch is misleading. You would still be relying on the same flags or shell tricks that are already described by @sterrenkijker and @espritlibre, just wrapped in different wording.

  6. Competitor angle
    Compared with what @sterrenkijker and @espritlibre suggest, these options lean more on accessibility, vendor support, or hardware. Their approaches are better if you want quick toggles and are OK with hidden flags or terminal commands. The ones above make more sense if your Chromebook is locked down, or you want a “never coming back” solution that updates cannot undo.

Bottom line:

  • If you want a safe toggle and have full control of the device, the debug shortcut path from the other replies is still the most practical.
  • If your device is managed or you want something permanent, push for vendor/IT firmware changes or physically disconnect the touch layer. Anything else is a compromise.