How can I disable the multitouch gestures in Ubuntu?

I have solved this issue by setting the following configuration values (initial values were 0):

synclient ClickFinger3=2
synclient TapButton3=2

The trackpad is configured by default to ignore three-finger taps (and three-finger clicks), and can be set it to regain control of it, thus overriding the window move association to three-finger taps. This is how it can be done:

1. Look for the relevant property - open a terminal and type in:

   xinput
   

   Locate the line containing the trackpad details (e.g. ↳ CyPS/2 Cypress Trackpad id=12 [slave pointer (2)] ), and note its id value. Now type in:

   xinput list-props [id]
   

   where [id] is replaced by the id value (which is 12 in the given example). Now locate the Synaptics Tap Action property (e.g. Synaptics Tap Action (282): 2, 3, 0, 0, 1, 3, 0) and note its number, it will be enclosed inside round brackets (here it's 282). Also note the property values, we will use them later.

2. Assuming you want this behavior at startup, create a shell script and add it to the startup programs. Let's call this script trackpad.sh. Our goal is to replace the last value with a new one, e.g. for middle click. Edit the script to contain the following:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   xinput set-prop [xinput-prop-id] [prop-number] [TR] [BR] [TL] [BL] [F1] [F2] 2
   

   Our concrete example command will than look like this (just for the sake of demonstration):

   xinput set-prop 12 282 2, 3, 0, 0, 1, 3, 2
   

   Notice that we replaced only the last value from 0 to 2, to signify middle click. You can choose any between 1 (left click), 2 (middle click), or 3 (right click).

3. Grant the script with execution permissions, and run it. You're good to go!

Reference

• Synaptics man page

Install Compiz config manager:

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

then run compiz config manager (ccsm in terminal) or simply type ccsm in dash.

and find at the bottom of plugins list:

Unity MT Grab Handles to disable it.