When we were working or browsing the web, the keyboard suddenly stopped working and couldn’t type anything. There are many reasons for this, it may be a computer system failure, the keyboard is out of power, the keyboard connection is wrong, or the hardware is damaged. In order to fix your keyboard and get it working again, we’ve collected the following 11 methods, most of which apply to both laptop keyboards and external keyboards, hope they help.
1. Turn on Num Lock
If your keyboard just doesn’t work with the number key area on the right, just click the Num Lock button above the number key area again until the first indicator lights up, and you can type numbers normally.
2. Reconnect the keyboard to the PC
If your USB keyboard suddenly fails to type, it may be due to a loose or faulty connection. Unplug the USB cable and reconnect to the computer, if it still doesn’t work, please switch to another USB port and try.
If it is a bluetooth keyboard, turn on the bluetooth device, delete the keyboard from the paired list, then power cycle the keyboard and reconnect to the computer.
3. Restart the computer
If the keyboard does not work on a laptop, there is a certain probability that the computer system is malfunctioning. Shut down and restart the computer, which will allow the computer system to re-run and the error operating state will return to normal. So usually many computer problems can be solved by restarting
4. Fix keys
Check your keyboard to see if any function keys like Alt and Ctrl are stuck. When these keys are stuck, the keyboard will not respond to any other keys except certain shortcut key combinations. If any keys do get stuck, restore them and try again.
Tips: After the keyboard keys are stuck, you can try to press them again, use a thin hard object to insert and fiddle upwards from the gap, remove foreign objects in the keyboard gap, etc. to restore the keyboard keys.
5. Replace the battery with a new one
If your keyboard is using a replaceable battery, it’s likely that the battery has run out of power and can no longer support the keyboard to function properly. Replace your keyboard with a new pair of batteries, a simple but often very effective method.
6. Turn off the Windows filter key function
If yours suddenly doesn’t work, it’s not necessarily a problem with the keyboard or the system, it’s possible that you have the filter key feature enabled. The Filter Keys feature enables Windows to ignore short or repeated keystrokes. Using this feature, users can set the computer to a keystroke speed that suits their habits. When turned on, you need to press and hold the button for 1-2 seconds to enter a character. But in our daily use, each button is usually pressed for less than 0.1 seconds. Therefore, no matter how much you press the keyboard, it will not have any response.
Press and hold the “Shift” key for 8 seconds (to turn off the Windows filter key function)
To enable or disable the Windows Filter Keys feature on Windows 10, 11, press and hold the “Shift” key for 8 seconds. Additionally, you can manage filter key key functionality by following these steps:
- Click the windows icon or press the [windows] + [X] keys,
- Click [Settings] in the window
- Click [Accessibility] in the window
- Click [Keyboard]
- Find [Filter Keys] and click the button on the back to turn it on or off. Click the arrow behind, you can choose whether to enable its shortcut keys, or change its series of parameters
7. Update the keyboard driver
If the keyboard does not work properly, it may be due to a damaged keyboard driver. Connect the keyboard to another computer to test. If the keyboard works fine on other computers, then the problem is on your computer, you can try to update the keyboard driver as follows:
- Right-click [My Computer] and click [Manage] in the menu that appears
- Click [Device Manager], double-click [Keyboard] in the list on the right
- Right-click the keyboard driver, click [Update Driver]
- Select [Search for drivers automatically]
Once done, your computer will search for the latest version of the keyboard driver and install it.
8. Update Windows system
In some cases, the keyboard may not work due to outdated Windows system or file errors. You can try to manually update the Windows system to solve the problem. The steps to manually update the Windows system are as follows:
- Click the [Start] menu, then click [Settings]
- Click [Update and Security]
- Click the [Download] button on the right, wait for the download and complete the update
9. Turn on virus scan
In some cases, if the computer is implanted with programs such as viruses or Trojans, the keyboard may not work properly. Open your computer’s security protection software, run the virus scan function, and remove the viruses that exist in your computer.
10. Disable Fast Fast Startup
Some users have reported that disabling Windows 10’s Fast Startup option can fix a non-working keyboard. Windows 10’s Fast Startup feature can turn off some unnecessary startup items to speed up your computer’s startup, but it may also be the cause of your keyboard’s inability to type. Follow the steps below to disable Windows 10’s Fast Startup feature:
- Click the [Start] button and click [Settings] in the start menu
- Click [System] on the page that appears
- Click [Power and Sleep], and then click [Additional Power Settings]
- Click [Choose what the power button does]
- Click [Change settings that are currently unavailable]
- Uncheck [Enable fast startup]
- Save the changes and restart the computer
11. Replace the keyboard
If none of the above methods get your keyboard working again, you can send the keyboard to a supplier for repair, or buy a new external keyboard. If you want to buy a new mechanical keyboard, please click on our Gaming Keyboards category.
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