Start here: does the key reach the computer?
Open our keyboard test and press the keys that give you trouble, one at a time.
- The key lights up green: the keyboard sends it and Windows receives it. A Windows setting is changing what happens next. Find your symptom below.
- The key never lights up: the signal isn’t arriving. Go to “Several keys or the whole keyboard are dead”.
- The key is flagged as typing twice or stuck: the switch under that key is likely dirty or worn. Go to the hardware section.
The Fn key is handled inside the keyboard, so no website can see it. That one is normal.
Quick presses are ignored, or you have to hold keys down
This matches what Filter keys does. It makes Windows ignore brief or repeated keystrokes, so fast typing loses letters and double letters like “ll” come out as one.
It is easy to turn on by accident: holding the right Shift key for eight seconds switches it on or off.
- Press Windows logo key + U to open Accessibility settings, or go to Start > Settings > Accessibility.
- Select Keyboard.
- Turn off Filter keys.
Shift, Ctrl or Alt stays pressed by itself
That is Sticky keys. It lets you press shortcuts like Ctrl+S one key at a time, so a modifier key stays active after you let go. Pressing Shift five times turns it on or off. To switch it off for good, turn off Sticky keys on the same Accessibility > Keyboard page.
Keys type the wrong characters
If @ and “ are swapped, Y and Z trade places, or letters come out with accents, Windows is using a different keyboard layout from the one printed on your keys.
- Look at the input indicator near the clock on the taskbar. It shows the current layout, and you can select it to choose another.
- Holding the Windows logo key and pressing Spacebar cycles through your layouts. If you pressed this by accident, press it again until your layout comes back.
To stop it happening, remove the layouts you don’t use:
- Go to Start > Settings > Time & language > Language & region.
- Next to your language, select … (the three dots), then Language options.
- Under Keyboards, select … next to a layout you don’t need, then Remove.
If Remove is greyed out, that layout is the only one installed.
The number pad moves the pointer instead of typing
Mouse keys lets you control the pointer with the numeric keypad, so the keypad stops typing numbers. Go to Start > Settings > Accessibility, select Mouse in the Interaction section, and turn off Mouse keys.
If the keypad acts like arrow keys instead of typing numbers, Num Lock is off. To hear when it changes, turn on Toggle keys under Accessibility > Keyboard. Windows then plays a sound when you press Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock.
Several keys or the whole keyboard are dead
Work through these in order:
- Unplug the keyboard, wait a little so Windows unloads it, then plug it back in.
- Try a different USB port on the PC.
- If it goes through a USB hub, make sure the hub has power, or plug the keyboard straight into the PC.
- Look over the cable for damage.
- For a wireless keyboard, charge it or replace the batteries. Unplug the USB receiver, wait about 10 seconds and plug it back in. Some keyboards and receivers also have a reset button.
- Connect the keyboard to another computer. If it fails there too, the keyboard itself is likely faulty.
Single keys that stick, repeat or fail
Dirt under a key can stop it from registering or make it bounce. Turn the keyboard over and gently clear crumbs and dust from between the keys. If one key still fails or repeats in the keyboard test after cleaning, the switch under it is probably worn, which needs a repair or a warranty claim.
Update the keyboard driver
- Search for check for updates on the taskbar and install any updates.
- Search for device manager and open it.
- Find your keyboard and double-click it. On the Driver tab, select Update Driver and follow the steps.
Check that it worked
Run the keyboard test again and press every key you had trouble with. Each one should turn green once per press, with no amber marks. Then type a sentence with double letters, such as “keep all coffee”, in the typing check box to make sure nothing is being filtered.