Troubleshooting: The Laptop Keyboard Has Stopped Responding on Windows PC



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You are working on your laptop and suddenly the “I” key doesn’t work. Or several keys stop responding. Even worse, the keyboard doesn’t work at all. While this is annoying, especially if you have work to do, there are a few things you can try to do yourself to get back to work.

If your laptop’s keyboard has stopped working, there are several things you can do – some relatively easy, others a little more complicated. Either way, keyboard problems can be solved, depending on how quickly and whether you need to pay for it.

Why does my laptop keyboard stop responding?

Your keyboard may be slow to respond. This can happen for several reasons, but most often it happens when you have a new application installed on your computer.

If you are having problems with certain keys on your keyboard, it may be due to language settings. Once you’ve verified that it’s not a hardware problem, the first thing to do is check it out.

There are several reasons why your laptop keyboard may stop working. Whatever the reason, we’re here to help. Follow one of the tips below and your keyboard will be responding again in no time.

How to resolve an unresponsive laptop keyboard?

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Updating or reinstalling the keyboard driver

  1. Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager.
  2. Scroll down and select Keyboard.
  3. Right-click Standard PS/2 Keyboard, select Update Driver, and automatically search for updated drivers to install.
  4. You can also click Uninstall Device to remove the driver. After restarting, the driver will be reinstalled immediately.

Launching the troubleshooter

  1. Go to the Start -> Settings -> Update and Security menu.
  2. On the troubleshooting page, scroll down to the Keyboard section and select Run Troubleshooter.
  3. You can also run the Hardware and Device Troubleshooter.

Cleaning the keyboard

Cleaning your laptop’s keyboard is tricky because you can’t just shake your computer or tap the back of it without damaging the entire device. Follow the instructions to remove dust and dirt:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Turn it over and tap the bottom.
  3. If the laptop is upside down, run your fingers over all the buttons to remove the dirt.

Turn off filter keys

Windows 10 has a feature called “key filter,” which is supposed to ignore repetitive keystrokes to make referencing easier. But sometimes you can have problems with your keyboard if this feature is enabled on your laptop. If your keyboard doesn’t work, you can turn this feature off.

  1. In the Control Panel (which is displayed by category), click on Usability and Usability Centre.
  2. Click on the “Keyboard Usability” link.
  3. Scroll down and make sure the Enable Filter Keys checkbox is unchecked.
  4. Then click Apply and OK.



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Frequently Asked Questions

The easiest solution is to gently turn the keyboard or laptop and shake it slightly. Usually whatever is under the keys or inside the keyboard is removed and the keys work properly again.

Simply put, if your laptop keyboard stops responding, it could be due to faulty hardware drivers, improper regional settings, bad connections, dirt, and dust, etc. In the next section, you will learn how to solve this problem. If your Windows 10 on-screen keyboard becomes transparent or displays only a frame, you can't access it.

  1. Clean the keyboard.
  2. Restart your computer.
  3. Use a different keyboard.
  4. Check your region or language settings.
  5. Adjust the keyboard input settings.
  6. Run a malware scan.
  7. Reinstall the keyboard driver.

This is usually due to a driver problem. You should always look for this problem first. Fortunately, it's easy to check: simply unplug your keyboard from the USB port and plug in another USB device, such as a mouse or an external hard drive.

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