Touchpad facts for kids
A touchpad (also called a trackpad) is a flat, touch-sensitive area on a computer. It works like a computer mouse, letting you control what happens on your screen. You slide your finger across its surface to move a pointer, called a cursor, on your screen.
Most touchpads have buttons next to them. These buttons work just like the left and right buttons on a mouse. On some newer touchpads, you don't see separate buttons. Instead, you press down on the touchpad itself to click.
Contents
What is a Touchpad?
Touchpads are a type of input device. This means they help you give commands to your computer. Unlike a mouse, a touchpad stays in one place. This makes them perfect for building into devices.
Where You Find Touchpads
You will mostly find touchpads on laptop computers. When you are traveling, it can be hard to use a separate mouse. A touchpad is built right in, making it easy to use your laptop anywhere. Most laptops still let you connect a regular mouse if you prefer.
Touchpads were also used on older mobile devices. This included MP3 players like the iPod and some mobile phones. Today, most smartphones and tablet computers use a touchscreen instead. A touchscreen is like a touchpad built right into the screen itself. You just touch the screen directly to choose things, so you don't need a cursor.
Cool Touchpad Features
Most touchpads let you "tap" on the surface. This tapping acts like a left-click on a mouse. It's a quick way to select things.
Newer touchpads can do even more. They can sense if you are using more than one finger. This is called multi-touch. With multi-touch, you can do cool things like:
- Scroll up and down a page
- Zoom in or out on pictures or text
- Rotate images on your screen
You can often change what these multi-touch gestures do in your computer's settings. For example, you might change a two-finger tap to act as a right-click instead of a left-click. This lets you customize your touchpad to work best for you.
Related pages
Images for kids
-
Closeup of a touchpad on a MacBook 2015 laptop.
-
A touchpad on an early-2000s-era Sony Vaio laptop, an early example of a modern laptop touchpad.
-
Trackpad of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in the red circle.
See also
In Spanish: Panel táctil para niños
