Synaptics custom gestures for Windows using registry

Question

I am a huge fan of mouse gestures and the ones introduced in Windows 10 are great.

However, I used to be able to use three-finger swipe right/left as back and forth gestures in my browser in Windows 8.1 and now the same gesture is used for task switching. I can install the old drivers, but then I will loose the three-finger swipe up gesture to show all windows open.

I use a Synaptics ClickPad which can detect up to four fingers.

Is is possible to change the registry to enable to following gestures:

• Three finger left/right: Back/forth in browser
• Four finger left/right: Switch between Virtual Desktops

For instance, switching between Virtual Desktops is using the key combination CTRL + WINKEY + RIGHT/LEFT ARROW. How do I apply this combination to the registry?

Answer 1

DISCLAIMER: This answer doesn't cover current versions of the driver but the general direction of tweaking the gestures for them.

To customize swipe behavior, you should dig in registry. Action settings are stored in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugins\SynTP\, each key's name is ID. There are some unused keys, which can be used for custom key combinations, I've edited default arrow keys (IDs 23-26) templates for this.

To change behavior of action, you should change KeySequence value (which consist of behavior of key pressing and the keys itself). Here's the list for actions you've asked:

• Browser back - 0x00000a6
• Browser forward - 0x000000a7
• Switch to left desktop - 0x30115b25 (ctrl+win+arrow left)
• Switch to right desktop - 0x30115b27 (ctrl+win+arrow right)

After you've made changes to these "plugins", you need to assign their IDs to user settings, which are stored in HKEY_**CURRENT_USER**\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTP\*name-and-connection-type-of-device*\, there are separate keys for 3- and 4-finger gestures. ActionID1,3,5,7 are matching swipe up, right, down and left, Action11 for tap, so you should assign ID (in decimal form) of customized plugins for ActionIDs 3 and 7 (note: my touch pad can't recognize 4-finger swipe, so I don't have these ActionIDs available).

To use new settings you should stop all SynTP*.exe processes and start service named SynTPEnhService. Powershell one-liner for that:

Stop-Service "SyntpEnhService"; kill -name SynTPEnh; kill -name SynTPHelper; Start-Service "SynTPEnhService"

Answer 2

I created a reg file starting from chupasaurus answer.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTP\*edit here*\3FingerGestures]
"ActionID1"=dword:00000017
"ActionID3"=dword:00000019
"ActionID5"=dword:00000018
"ActionID7"=dword:0000001A

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\23]
"KeySequence"=dword:000000a6

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\24]
"KeySequence"=dword:000000a7

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\25]
"KeySequence"=dword:3A115b25

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\26]
"KeySequence"=dword:3A115b27

It works for me, just find out the proper name of your folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTP*this-one*.

Mine is a 5 years old laptop, its not fluid, and sometimes it opens the windows menu for no reason. I cannot ask more but other solutions are welcome.

Answer 3

The original answer didn't work on my Windows 10 HP Spectre but azote's answer led me to the solution.

I modified actionid's 3 and 7 under Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTP\Win10\3FingerGestures

Then restarted with the powershell command from chupasaurus (below) and voila! Works like a charm and the 3 finger up and down swipes still work too.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTP\Win10\3FingerGestures]
"ActionID3"=dword:00000018
"ActionID7"=dword:00000017

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\23]
"KeySequence"=dword:000000a6

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPPlugIns\SynTP\24]
"KeySequence"=dword:000000a7

Run PowerShell as Admin:

Stop-Service "SyntpEnhService"; kill -name SynTPEnh; kill -name SynTPHelper; Start-Service "SynTPEnhService"