My touchscreen won't work anymore.

Question

My touchscreen won't work anymore.

Kadre 0

Randomly one day my touchscreen stopped functioning even though I never disabled it. I followed a guide and eventually found the HID-compliant touch screen as a hidden device, there's two of them for some reason. I can't enable them. When I try to update them nothing happens. I would click update device, then browse my computer for drivers, then the ''Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer''. Then I would click on HID-compliant touch screen then next. I've done this for the both of them and nothing seems to work. I went back on device manager and clicked on properties and apparently it's been disconnected. I'm really trying to be as detailed as possible because I'm starting to miss this feature, I just started to get a hang of it and it's been so useful for classes. Please help me.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Since HID-compliant touch screen appears as a hidden device and shows as disconnected, start with the Windows recovery steps that can re-detect and reinstall the touch hardware.

Restart the PC. A restart is the first recommended step for an unresponsive touchscreen in Windows 11.
Check Windows Update, including optional updates. In Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options:
- Make sure Receive updates for other Microsoft products is On.
- Under Additional options, select Optional updates.
- Install all optional updates.
- Go back to Windows Update and select Check for updates.
- Install all available updates, then restart.
Disable and re-enable the touchscreen device in Device Manager.
- Right-click Start > Device Manager.
- Expand Human Interface Devices.
- Right-click HID-compliant touch screen and select Enable device or Disable device as available.
- If there are multiple HID-compliant touch screen entries, repeat for each one.
Reinstall the touchscreen driver. This is the next supported step when touch still does not work.
- In Device Manager, expand Human Interface Devices.
- Right-click HID-compliant touch screen > Uninstall device > Uninstall.
- If there are two HID-compliant touch screen drivers, uninstall both.
- Then select Action > Scan for hardware changes.
- Restart the PC if needed.
- When connected to the internet, Windows should automatically download and install the touchscreen driver again.
If the touch driver is missing, manually install device drivers/firmware from the device manufacturer. Microsoft’s Surface guidance states that when the touch driver or firmware is missing from Device Manager, the next step is to manually install drivers and firmware. For non-Surface Windows devices, use the PC manufacturer’s official driver package for the exact model.
If touch still does not return, reset the PC. Reset is a later recovery step after driver reinstall and updates have failed.

If the device is a Surface Pro X, do not uninstall touchscreen drivers. On that model, uninstalling drivers requires a full system reset to restore them.

Answer 2

Francisco Montilla 31,170 Independent Advisor

Hello,

When a built-in device shows up as a hidden device in Device Manager and its status says disconnected it means Windows is acting like someone physically unplugged it from the motherboard. Usually this points to the main chipset driver crashing so Windows can no longer see the touch hardware, but it can also be a hardware problem like a loose ribbon cable inside the hinge of the laptop.

I need to check if your computer manufacturer has a specific chipset driver or serial IO driver that can wake that bus back up.

What is the exact brand and model number of your laptop? Let me know so I can check exactly what drivers we need to get Windows talking to the screen again.
Did you happen to notice if your system installed any major updates right before this started happening?

I'll be here!

Kadre 0 Reputation points

2026-10-08T20:58:33.8133333+00:00

Sorry for responding late. I'm using an HP laptop (Windows 11) and the model number is HP laptop 15-dy2xxx. Before this issue occurred no major updates happened. As of now there is a preview update installing on my laptop. I've been trying to do a lot to make my touchscreen come back.
Francisco Montilla 31,170 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-09T02:53:30.3466667+00:00

No problem! For this, a hard reset usually forces the motherboard to re-initialize and detect the screen digitizer again.

First, let that preview update finish and restart normally if it needs to. Once that is done, unplug the power charger and disconnect any USB devices. Shut the laptop down completely. Then, press and hold down the physical power button for a full 15 to 20 seconds before letting go. Plug your charger back in and turn the laptop on normally.

Check Device Manager after it boots up to see if HID-compliant touch screen appears normally under Human Interface Devices.
Kadre 0 Reputation points

2026-10-09T17:20:50.1866667+00:00

So I let the preview update finish, I followed your instructions but it still doesn't appear normally. It still appears as a hidden device. Am I going to have to buy a new laptop?
Francisco Montilla 31,170 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-10T01:01:33.0866667+00:00

Do not worry about buying a new laptop over this. Even in the absolute worst case, the laptop itself works fine, and we are definitely not at that point yet. HP laptops have a built-in test screen that runs completely outside of Windows.

Can you restart your laptop, and as soon as it starts turning back on, tap the F2 key repeatedly until the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics screen appears? Once you are on that menu, try tapping the screen with your finger to select something.

Does the screen respond to your touch in that menu at all?
Francisco Montilla 31,170 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-10T01:07:32.7866667+00:00
Kadre 0 Reputation points

2026-10-10T02:17:18.9433333+00:00

No, I've been tapping for a whole minute and it won't respond. I think it might be over for me
Francisco Montilla 31,170 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-10T02:45:35.1533333+00:00

Yes, perhaps the ribbon cable running through the hinge that connects the touch sensor to the motherboard has either wiggled loose or the digitizer itself failed. BUT your laptop is not a brick, it's just an internal piece of hardware failing.

Do you know roughly when you bought the laptop, or if you might still be within HP's 1-year warranty?
Kadre 0 Reputation points

2026-10-10T04:12:30.2533333+00:00

I got it roughly 4 years ago so the whole warranty idea is way out. Some kid threw a ball at the back of my laptop then proceeded to drop the ball on the laptop last week Wednesday. It also started malfunctioning roughly 2-4 days after that. (I'm not good with time but I made sure to record when the incident happened). Could that be a possible explanation?
Francisco Montilla 31,170 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-10T11:10:56.0066667+00:00

I couldn't possibly confirm, but I can tell how it works.

The touchscreen digitizer connects through a very thin ribbon cable that runs directly behind the screen panel and feeds through the laptop hinge into the motherboard. A direct impact to the back of the lid or screen can easily knock that small connector loose or pinch the cable.

Since the laptop is out of warranty, getting the screen assembly opened up to reseat or replace the cable is usually something for a local repair shop if you really want touch back. If not, the good news is that the rest of the laptop is completely fine, and you can keep using it for your classes as a regular laptop without any problems.