Windows 11 includes built-in support for touch-screen devices and 2-in-1 tablets. As part of this support, the operating system features a “Virtual Touchpad” that can be summoned directly from the taskbar, placing a digital trackpad and mouse buttons on your screen. However, if you are using a traditional desktop PC without a touch screen, or a laptop with an excellent physical trackpad, this icon is entirely useless and simply wastes valuable space on your taskbar. Fortunately, Microsoft allows you to hide it completely.
How to Hide the Virtual Touchpad Button
You can remove this icon by adjusting the Taskbar corner behaviours in the main Settings app.
- Right-click anywhere on an empty space on your Windows 11 taskbar.
- Select Taskbar settings from the small pop-up menu that appears.
- The Settings app will open directly to the Personalization > Taskbar page.
- Look for the section titled System tray icons.
- Locate the option labelled Virtual touchpad.
- To the right of it, you will see a toggle switch. Click the switch to move it to the Off position.
The small trackpad icon will immediately vanish from the bottom-right corner of your screen (the system tray area near the clock). If you ever purchase a touch-screen monitor or convert your device to tablet mode in the future, you can return to this exact menu and toggle the switch back to “On” to restore the digital touchpad.