How to fix a laptop keyboard not working on Windows 10

Have you ever experienced a laptop keyboard not working? You may experience this situation occasionally. In this article, we will introduce several ways to fix your keyboard not working issue, whether your keyboard is not responding, not working, or some key inputs are incorrect.

These solutions work with all laptop brands, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Huawei, and Razer, as well as other Windows 10 laptops.

Our solution is divided into three scenarios: the entire keyboard is not working, some keys are not working, or some keys are not entering correctly. You only need to choose the solution that suits your keyboard.

Each situation is divided into several different steps. You don’t need to try all the steps. Once your keyboard is working, you can skip the rest of the steps.

The laptop keyboard is not working

Sometimes the laptop is running, but the keyboard suddenly stops responding, and none of the keys work. This is the most common situation. Please follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

1. Restart the laptop

Usually, many technical problems are caused by resource depletion in computer systems. At this time, you only need to restart your laptop to fix the keyboard not working issue. This method is usually suitable for most computer issues. The first step is to restart the laptop. After restarting the laptop, if your keyboard is still not working, please continue with the following steps.

2. Enter “Safe Mode”
Restart the system, and start tapping the F8 key. If you can enter safe mode and the keyboard works fine, it means the keyboard is fine, and the issue is likely related to software.

3. Uninstall and reinstall the keyboard driver
In the second step, we determined that the keyboard worked fine in safe mode. Now you need to check if there is a problem with the keyboard driver. You need to do this in the Device Manager.

1. Please click the Start button on your laptop, and you should see the Control Panel in the list. If you can not find the Control Panel in the list, please use Cortana: click Cortana and say (input) ‘Device Manager’. Then, you can open Device Manager directly.

2. Click View by small icons or View by large icons to view all Control Panel items

3. Click Device Manager to open it.

4. Double-click Keyboards to expand it, right-click on your keyboard, then select Uninstall device.

5. After uninstalling the driver, restart your laptop. Windows will automatically reinstall the device driver. Then, check if your keyboard works.

4. Keyboard cable with a bad connection
If the driver is reinstalled and the keyboard still doesn’t work, then we need to open the laptop to check the keyboard cable connection. You need to disconnect the keyboard cable and reconnect it to the motherboard.

5. Defective keyboard
Now it’s time to replace the keyboard. Please purchase a new keyboard from eBay or our parts store and replace it yourself.

Some keyboard keys are not working

Sometimes, specific keys suddenly stop working or cannot be pressed at all. This issue is typically caused by the keyboard itself. Please fix the problems according to the following three steps.

1. Clean keyboard
Maybe there are breadcrumbs hidden under the keycaps. Flip the keyboard and use a brush or air blower to clean it.

2. Key damaged
If some keys are pressed but cannot be reset, it means the key is damaged. You need to replace this key or replace the entire keyboard.

3. Keyboard cable with a bad connection
Please open the laptop and reconnect the keyboard cable.

Some keyboard keys are input incorrectly

When using a laptop, we also encounter some cases where the key input is incorrect, usually due to incorrect keyboard settings.

1. Choose the correct keyboard layout
Go to Start > Control Panel > Regional & Languages; click the Languages tab, then the Details tab. This will open a dialogue where you can select the keyboard layout.

2. Check the NumLock key.
Many laptops convert characters to numbers when NumLock is enabled. Press NumLock or Fn+NumLock to ensure it is disabled.
To turn off the Number Lock on a Lenovo laptop, press Fn + F10. But the key combination may vary based on the manufacturer. On most laptops, it is Fn + Insert.

3. Disable filter keys
Whenever the filter keys have been turned on, and your keyboard has refused to respond to the changes, you’d simply follow these paths:
Windows 10 : Go to Start > Settings > Ease of Access > keyboard > Turn off Filter keys

Windows 7: Go to Start > Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the keyboard easier to use > Turn off Filter Keys

Once the filter key is disabled, restart your laptop and check if the keyboard is working again.

Also Read: How to Clean a Laptop Keyboard

Here are a few tips to fix a laptop keyboard not working and get your laptop working again. In addition to the solutions above, you can also try the installed hardware diagnostic tools that come with your laptop.