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How to Fix Inverted Touch Screen in Windows 10

Published in Windows Troubleshooting 4 mins read

Fixing an inverted touch screen in Windows 10 typically involves recalibrating the touch input, ensuring your touch points align correctly with what's displayed on the screen. Adjusting display settings can also sometimes help resolve alignment issues.

Primary Fix: Calibrating the Touch Screen

The most direct way to fix an inverted touch screen is by running the built-in touch screen calibration tool in Windows. This process helps the operating system understand the correct orientation and mapping of your touch input relative to the display coordinates.

Here are the steps to calibrate your touch screen:

  1. Open the Control Panel. You can do this by typing "Control Panel" in the Windows search bar and selecting the app.
  2. In the Control Panel, search for "Tablet PC Settings" and click on it.
  3. In the Tablet PC Settings window, navigate to the "Display" tab.
  4. Under "Configure your pen and touch displays," click on the "Calibrate..." button.
  5. A User Account Control prompt may appear; click "Yes" to allow the calibration tool to run.
  6. The screen will change to a white background with calibration points (crosshairs). Use your finger or stylus to tap precisely on the center of each crosshair as it appears on the screen. The tool will guide you through a series of points.
  7. After you tap the last point, a dialog box will ask if you want to save the calibration data. Click "Yes".

This calibration data tells Windows how to interpret your touch input correctly, which should resolve the inversion issue.

Checking Display Settings

While calibration is the primary fix for inversion, sometimes ensuring your display settings are configured correctly can prevent or help with touch-related issues, including alignment problems that might mimic inversion or cause related glitches.

Based on the provided reference, checking and adjusting your display settings is another step you can take:

  1. Right-click on ANY vacant area of your screen. (Do not right-click on ANY icon).
  2. Click on Display Settings. This will open the Windows 10 Display Settings page.
  3. Under the Scale and Layout section, please select 100% (if it has the note "Recommended"). While other scaling percentages are available, 100% often provides the most accurate mapping for touch input unless a higher scaling is genuinely needed for readability.
  4. Under the Resolution section, please select the item there with the note "Recommended". Using the recommended display resolution ensures that the touch coordinates align correctly with the pixels on your screen. Using a non-recommended resolution can sometimes cause display or input mapping issues.

These display settings are crucial for overall display clarity and can indirectly affect touch precision and mapping.

Why Does This Happen?

Touch screen inversion can occur due to various reasons, including:

  • Incorrect calibration data being saved.
  • Driver issues (outdated or corrupted touch screen drivers).
  • Changes in display resolution or scaling that aren't properly compensated for by the touch driver.
  • External monitors or projectors confusing the system about which display is the touch-enabled one.

Calibrating the touch screen and ensuring correct display settings are usually sufficient to fix the problem.

Additional Troubleshooting Tips

If calibration doesn't immediately work, consider these steps:

  • Restart your computer: A simple restart can resolve temporary glitches.
  • Update or Reinstall Touch Screen Drivers:
    1. Open Device Manager (search for it in the Windows search bar).
    2. Expand "Human Interface Devices" or "Monitors" (depending on how your touch driver is listed).
    3. Find your touch screen device (it might be listed as "HID-compliant touch screen").
    4. Right-click and select "Update driver." Choose to search automatically.
    5. If updating doesn't work, right-click and select "Uninstall device." Check the box that says "Delete the driver software for this device" if available. Restart your computer; Windows should automatically reinstall the driver.
  • Check for Multiple Displays: If you have external monitors, ensure the touch input is correctly assigned to the touch-enabled display in the Tablet PC Settings > "Display" tab by clicking "Setup...".

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the inverted touch screen issue on your Windows 10 device.

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