XPS 15 9520, ghost click problem

Just here to raise my hand too. My XPS 15 9500 has had the same issue for a long time. Started about 1 year after purchase. Never dropped/damaged/etc. Just started. I don't know if it coincided with an update or not. It was happening occasionally for a long time before I realized what was going on and just got progressively worse. I have touch disabled. Also, on a likely unrelated note, my track pad is erratic and registers touch when my palm rests on the edge of the machine (at least 0.25" away from the trackpad). As well as going from too sensitive to not sensitive enough. With touch screen off and a bluetooth mouse, i can work well. Otherwise, there's a lot of "accidental" clicking. Sure could use a fix, it has substantially limited my productivity, etc.

It's disheartening to see that newer models than mine also have this issue.

Hi,

Same here, with my XPS 15 9520, ghost clicks on the right part of the screen. Really annoying and surprisingly not solved since early 2023...

XPS 9520 15.  I have 2 external monitors plugged into this laptop with the laptop screen as a third central screen.

This has been happening since early 2023.  I raised this with remote IT for my company but they were unable to see the issue remotely and therefore couldn't help.

This is particularly annoying when trying to code or type something on one screen and the ghost clicks take focus away to the touch screen.  This is even worse when there are applications running on that touch screen and the ghost clicks line up with the buttons of the app.   This has caused my laptop to call out on teams and initiate voice/video calls to colleagues when I wasn't even at the desk.

In trying to demonstrate the issue to IT support, I opened a full screen copy of MS paint on the middle (touchscreen) screen and used the other 2 monitors and left the ghost touches to draw dots.   the left/right position on the screen some times changes, but the ghost clicks are always in a vertical line and happen very fast.

How do I disable the touch screen?  can this be easily turned on/off because I sometimes need to use the touch screen that extra was paid for...

Same issue, it seems the only resolve that seems to work is to disable the touchscreen. I don't really think this is actually a fix, it is more of a temporary work around until a true solution is found that lets us use our touchscreens without the ghost click issues

I don't understand why there is no updated responses from Dell, as we are on a Dell forum. 

I have my 9520 just over a year and this cursor issue just started. The cursor will disappear then randomly click on various things. If I keep moving the cursor it won’t happen. It also seems to stop briefly when running support assist. I ran the hardware check about a week ago and it stopped. Unfortunately it started again after about a week of running smoothly. I will try disabling the touchscreen. I can live without it in order to have a useable device. 

I just disabled the touchscreen and as of now the problem is gone. Has anyone tried removing and reinstalling the touchscreen driver?  I assume after removing it from device manager and restarting would find and install it. Or scan for devices.  I have not done this yet but wondering if anyone has. 

For me, this was entirely tied to the power adapter being connected to the laptop. It appears that the touch screen is extremely sensitive, and perhaps the power adapter (after-market 130W adapter) is making too much ground noise, screwing up the display.

Right now, I'm running on an external 100W power brick, and the touch screen is also fine, since there's not typically any ground hum coming from them, it's DC.

I don't think it ever had anything to do with the driver, it was dirty power all along. Touch screens are made by measuring very sensitive voltages, and they can be affected by dirty power. Clearly, Dell didn't put enough capacitors in there to shield the touch screen from potentially dirty power.

@Lex Luthier​ I have owned my XPS17 9720 for over 12mths now and what began with wrong excel cell selections has become like the footprints of stampeding bulls vertically, right of center. I've kept my computer up-to-date with DELL and also Norton Utilities. I use a bluetooth trackball most of the time but the problem is still there when I disable to the Logitech Trackball. I've found it can only be fixed when the touchscreen is disabled. Why is it taking DELL so long to fix this? where is their investigation up to?

The Touchscreen is a native part of the DELL XPS and they must know why its happening.

The same issue has just started on my Dell XPS 15 9520 and after removing peripherals one by one, disabling the touchpad, and reinstalling drivers, the actual solution was to disable the touch screen (which I had cleaned first). This is a workaround, not a solution. Dell - this is something you need to address.  

Hey @Per Holmes​, 

Thank you for sharing the solution here. I'm sure it will be helpful to many users!

@DELL-Nat M​ 
I have an XPS 9520 15 which was delivered through my company IT and formerly part of Dell.  The PSUs provided are from DELL, so unless dell is supplying sub-standard/3rd party clone adapters.  I have the supplied PSU and a DELL docking station with USB-C Power, supposedly fit for the task.  I get the ghost clicks with both PSUs if touchscreen is enabled.  I don't accept this "solution" and would imagine that most others would also use officially supplied PSU.

If you need to close a quota of tickets before the end of the year, please open a follow-on ticket so that this DELL issue stays in focus and quietly swept away...

@Lex Luthier​ 

Same here, thanks for pointing this out. I can't understand how this issue can last so long without a real fix instead of a ridiculous workaround. When you payed for a touchscreen, disabling it or blaming an hypothetical third party PSU can't be a solution!

Let's hope it will be one of Dell's good resolutions for 2025...

@Lex Luthier​ I agree. I experience the problem even on a fully charged battery. And I have the original DELL power supply in very good condition as well and also experience the problem. I cannot work unless the touch screen is disabled. This problem has slowed my workflow/productivity quite a bit. I've been living with this issue for a couple years now. I'm just waiting until I can justify/afford a new MSI or similar pro laptop. Which is a shame. Generally, I like the form/function/performance of this machine.

I almost forgot about this issue, as I very rarely use the touchscreen. I disabled the touchscreen about a year ago.

Now after latest big Win 11 update it seems Windows update re-enabled the touchscreen device and the issue was back.

This is ridiculous DELL!

Same as with flaky charging issues.

Same as with audio delay issues.

And all the other issues that never get fixed on these "premium" XPS devices.

I also noticed that the driver was enabled after the last Windows update. However I have not noticed any further issues. I’ve also been updating the Nvidia drivers regularly. Not sure what did it but fingers crossed, it’s doing ok so far.