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Known Participant
October 30, 2023
Question

InDesign Touchpad Scrolling and Zooming Issues

  • October 30, 2023
  • 8 replies
  • 7147 views

InDesign Touchpad Scrolling and Zooming Issues.

I'm experiencing two major issues:

  • First, when I try to scroll using two fingers on my touchpad, the movement is not smooth at all, and each "single swipe" moves the project by about one centimeter. This makes it impossible to precisely control the position on the project, and I find myself constantly using Ctrl+0 to center the page on the screen. However, when I use the scroll bar on the right or the touchscreen, it works smoothly.
  • The second issue pertains to zooming. When I attempt to pinch with two fingers on the touchpad, it does absolutely nothing, but it works perfectly with the touchscreen.
    I have tried to uncheck and recheck "Enable Multi-Touch Gesture" in the preferences, but it hasn't made any difference. I also attempted to reset the preferences, but this didn't solve the problem either.

 

I don't have any issues with any other program outside of the Adobe suite.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.

I've also noticed that there are existing posts about similar issues, but they are all dated and haven't provided a solution to my problem. Like these two:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-reader-discussions/touchpad-scroll-speed/m-p/10541925#M56734
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/problem-with-touchpad-gestures/m-p/9384228#M116862

 

InDesign 18.5
Win11 22H2
Galaxy Book pro 360
i7-1165G7



 

8 replies

Mike Witherell
Braniac
February 4, 2025

All these comments almost suggest that this might be a problem with Windows 11 and use of a trackpad.

Googling "Windows 11 and trackpad problems" turned up a LOT of pages. Some of them suggest solutions, like this one:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-touchpad-problems-in-windows-30b498e5-0caa-9740-2b21-336ea75ee756

Mike Witherell
Participating Frequently
February 4, 2025

It’s possible, but unlikely. As I mentioned, the issue is exclusive to Adobe programs, and even within the Adobe suite, it isn’t consistent (though it does occur in InDesign).

If this were a known issue in Windows, would Adobe be the only company unable to make it work properly? Probably not, I doubt they lack the resources.

There aren't enough complaints for them to care, so they simply ignore it.

 

Also, to clarify, if you Google "macOS Sequoia trackpad issue," you'll find plenty of results too.

The reality is that Windows is the most widely used OS. Almost any search for "Windows 11 [random word] issue" will return some results.

 

Thanks anyway for keeping the thread active.

 

 

Participating Frequently
February 4, 2025

Also, I've already mentioned this, but I'll say it more clearly: I regularly keep my PC updated, both the OS and drivers. This is true now, it was true when I created the thread, and it was true when I posted the various updates.

 

 

New Participant
February 4, 2025

Anyone find a solution for this yet?
I'm experiencing the same issues on a Asus ProArt using InDesign 20.1 x64 (running Windows 11 24H2)

Participating Frequently
February 4, 2025

Nope, they just don’t care.

Mike Witherell
Braniac
March 16, 2024

Try searching for (in this forum) Reset InDesign Preferences and Other Troubleshooting

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/reset-indesign-preferences-and-other-troubleshooting/td-p/11990234

and try one of four reset methods. Who knows? It might help.

Mike Witherell
Known Participant
March 18, 2024

I've already tried resetting the preferences and reinstalling InDesign, I believe I mentioned it somewhere in this thread. If not, here it is. As expected, no difference.
Also, under the post about the 19.0 touchpad bug, now ""resolved"", someone commented on the same issue as mine, so it's definitely not an issue specific to my system. I'll repost the screenshot of one of the comments.

Thanks for the response though.

 

Known Participant
March 16, 2024

Update: "From bad to trash to bad again"
Now on 19.2, basically the problem is back as described in the original post (October 2023).
That is: 1) Scroll using two fingers is not smooth at all (to say the least) and 2) Pinch to zoom doesn't work.
The crazy thing is that compared to 19.0/19.1 this is actually a big upgrade.
Excellent job guys!

Win11 23H2 22635.2915

AnityEx
New Participant
February 12, 2024

I also have this problem on windows 11 home 22h2 and also the limited workaround of putting the mouse pointer over the scrollbar works

 

leo.r
Braniac
February 12, 2024
quote

I also have this problem on windows 11 home 22h2 and also the limited workaround of putting the mouse pointer over the scrollbar works

 


By @AnityEx

 

I wonder if you updated to InDesign 19.2? (It's rolling out right now so it's possible it's not available in your country yet.)

 

As far as I understand this should be fixed there:

 

https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/indesign/kb/fixed-issues.html#:~:text=%5BWin%20Only%5D%C2%A0Unable%20to%20scroll%20using%20two%20fingers%20on%20the%20Trackpad/Touchpad.

Known Participant
February 13, 2024

Update:
Win11 23H2 22635.2915
Id 19.1
Ai 28.1
Ps 25.3.1

I checked and unfortunately 19.2 is not available for me yet.
However, for information purposes, the current situation is identical to the one described at the beginning of the thread.
And judging by the comments on the "fix" you posted, it will remain that way for a while.
I'm happy that at least they're trying to resolve it.

Known Participant
November 10, 2023

UPDATE:
Upgraded today to 19.0.
Now trackpad gestures work even worse. Basically 9 times out of 10 it doesn't even recognize them and in the remaining 1/10 they work just as badly as before.

BobLevine
Braniac
November 10, 2023

Have you updated Windows to 23H2? Have you checked for new trackpad drivers?

Known Participant
November 10, 2023

Thank you for answering me.
All drivers are updated.
However I can't update to 23H2 due to a windows update error (0x800f081f) and I'm waiting for info from Windows support.
Unfortunately this can't be the problem: I don't have any kind of problem in any software except indesign (although in general the "gesture" experience is not perfect in all the adobe apps I use) and I have had this problem since I started to use indesing (in 2021), well before 23H2 and Id 19.0.
(I asked for help on the forum only now because honestly I only discovered its existence recently.)

Known Participant
November 7, 2023

Update:
I reopened Illustrator after not using it for a few years, and browsing through the preferences I found this: (Edit > Preferences > General > ) Force Enable Pinch-to-Zoom on Touchpad.
Selecting it solved the zoom problem.

This would at least solve the zoom problem, too bad I can't find anything similar on indesign and I almost only use it.

New Participant
November 1, 2023

I'm also having this problem on InDesign only. Using InDesign 19.0, Windows 11 22H2.

I haven't found a solution to the zooming issue, in fact pinching on my touchpad currently scross left and right. However, I have found that hovering the mouse over the scroll bar, whilst using two fingers on the touchpad, allows me to scroll up and down as normal. Hope this is helpful 🙂

Participating Frequently
November 1, 2023

Exactly same thing for me, it just scrolls left and right. I already knew about hovering on the scroll bar but the problem is that at that point I might as well use it normally. Thanks anyway for your contribution.

 

 

 

 

(I don't have my computer with me right now so I'm replying from my private account.)