Trackpad Gesture Test
Use your trackpad or touchpad inside the test pad: scroll with two fingers, pinch, swipe sideways, click and press firmly. Every gesture the browser receives is shown live with its raw values and ticked off on the checklist.
Last updated:
| Time | Event | ΔX | ΔY | Mode | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No events yet. Use your trackpad inside the pad above. | |||||
How to use the Trackpad Gesture Test
- Move the pointer into the test pad. Scrolling and zooming inside it does not move or zoom the page.
- Scroll with two fingers up, down, left and right. Watch the delta values and the graph.
- Pinch in and out to zoom the card, and on a Mac try rotating with two fingers.
- Swipe sideways quickly, click, two-finger click (right-click) and press firmly for force click.
- Check the list: every gesture the browser detected gets a tick. Copy the event log if you need to report a problem.
What each gesture looks like to the browser
| Gesture | Event the page receives | Values to look at |
|---|---|---|
| Two-finger scroll | wheel | deltaY (vertical), deltaX (horizontal), deltaMode |
| Pinch zoom (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) | wheel with ctrlKey = true | negative deltaY = zoom in, positive = zoom out |
| Pinch and rotate (Safari) | gesturestart, gesturechange, gestureend | scale (1 = no change) and rotation in degrees |
| Horizontal swipe | a fast burst of wheel events | large deltaX with little deltaY |
| Click and tap to click | pointerdown, pointerup, click | button, detail (2 = double click) |
| Two-finger click | contextmenu | secondary button |
| Force click (Mac, Safari) | webkitmouseforcechanged, webkitmouseforcedown | webkitForce: 1 = normal click, 2 = force click |
The pinch zoom factor is estimated from Ctrl + wheel events with zoom × e−deltaY ÷ 100, a common way pages turn pinch deltas into a smooth zoom. Swipe direction assumes natural scrolling (content follows your fingers), so a swipe with your fingers moving left produces a positive deltaX.
Troubleshooting a trackpad or touchpad
- Scrolling works but is jumpy: look at the graph. A trackpad should produce many small bars; large spaced-out bars mean the driver is sending coarse steps. On Windows, check that the device is listed as a Precision Touchpad and update the driver.
- Pinch is not detected: confirm pinch-to-zoom is enabled in your touchpad settings. Some vendor drivers send pinch as Ctrl + scroll only to certain apps.
- Horizontal scroll missing: if Scroll left and Scroll right never tick, two-finger horizontal scrolling may be disabled in the touchpad settings.
- Clicks register twice: watch for two click rows with almost the same time, which can point to a worn button or a tap-to-click setting that is too sensitive.
- Phantom movement: if events appear while you are not touching the pad, try cleaning the surface, removing a metal watch or bracelet and unplugging the charger.
Frequently asked questions
How does the browser see trackpad gestures?
Two-finger scrolling arrives as wheel events with deltaX and deltaY values. Pinch zoom on a trackpad is sent by Chrome, Edge and Firefox as wheel events with the Ctrl key flag set, while Safari sends its own gesturestart, gesturechange and gestureend events with a scale and rotation. Clicks and two-finger clicks are normal mouse and contextmenu events.
What is wheel deltaMode?
deltaMode tells you the unit of the delta values: 0 means pixels, 1 means lines and 2 means pages. Trackpads almost always report pixels. Firefox on some systems reports a mouse wheel in lines, typically 3 lines per notch.
How can the test tell a trackpad from a mouse wheel?
It is a heuristic. Trackpads send many small, smooth pixel deltas, often on both axes and often with fractions. A notched mouse wheel sends larger fixed steps (commonly 100 or 120 pixels, or 3 lines) on one axis. Smooth-scrolling mice and high resolution wheels can look like a trackpad.
Why does force click or pressure not show anything?
Pressure from a trackpad is only exposed in a few browsers. Safari on a Mac with a Force Touch trackpad reports force through its webkitmouseforcechanged event. Other browsers report pointer pressure as a fixed 0.5 while a button is pressed, which only tells you the click was registered.
My trackpad scrolls but pinch zoom does nothing here. Why?
Make sure the pointer is inside the test pad. Some laptops map pinch to a different action in the driver settings, and on Windows the touchpad must be a Precision Touchpad for pinch to reach the browser as a Ctrl + wheel gesture. Check your touchpad settings and try again.
Why does swiping sideways go back a page in my browser?
Many browsers use a two-finger horizontal swipe for back and forward navigation. Inside the test pad this is blocked so you can test the swipe, but outside it the normal browser behaviour applies.
Is my input recorded or sent anywhere?
No. Events are only shown on this page and kept in memory until you leave or clear the log.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.