Why the keyboard on the computer does not work: possible causes and their elimination

Have you ever had a situation when you, while working at a computer, suddenly noticed that the keyboard refuses to type? And it doesn't matter if you're texting on social media or typing the most important work of your life: a thesis, a master's degree, or a much more promising professorial one. You are wondering why the keyboard on the computer does not work. You reboot the operating system in the hope that everything will fix itself, but no. The keyboard, as before, does not respond. You start to panic. What to do? Call the master or buy a new keyboard? What if it's a laptop? There is an exit!

To eliminate this unpleasant breakdown, you first need to figure out what type of keyboard you have connected.

Computer keyboard connection type

USB keyboard. This type is the most common in our time. The USB keyboard uses plug-and-play technology ("plug and play"), so the connection is the most common problem. As soon as the keyboard stops responding, first of all, you need to disconnect it and plug it back into the USB port of your computer device. Perhaps the contacts just went away. Usually, doing this will fix the problem. But it also happens that the breakdown is not in the keyboard itself. If these actions did not lead to a positive result, it is likely that the port itself in the computer has broken. Try connecting the device to another device, or at least to a different USB port on your PC. Having done these steps, you can already discard some of the guesswork about why the keyboard does not work on the computer. Windows XP, 7, Linux implement device connection settings in different ways. There is a possibility that the problem is in the software or operating system settings.

PS/2 computer keyboard. This type of connection has been used for a long time and is considered the most reliable, because it does not require the installation of drivers. The keyboard connector has 6 pins for connection. It so happens that if the connector is ineptly connected to the computer port, one of the contacts may bend. It needs to be aligned for the keyboard to work. If the keyboard stops working while working on it with the PC turned on, be sure that the problem is in the operating system or software. Perhaps some process is slowing down its work. The main difference between a PS / 2 computer keyboard and a USB is that if the device fails, you must restart the computer in order for it to work again. After all, this is not a plug-and-play technology.
The wireless keyboard is a modern type of input device, but that doesn't mean it's without flaws. It may also refuse to work, like other types of devices. You can think for a long time why the wireless keyboard on the computer does not work, but the main breakdowns and problems occur most often when something blocks the USB receiver. In this case, you need to clear the computer table of unnecessary things and see if it works now. In fact, a wireless keyboard is the same USB peripheral, with the only slight difference: there are no wires here. In this regard, it is necessary first of all to check the blocking of the signal. If no changes have occurred, then you must follow the steps described in the paragraph USB computer keyboard.

Troubleshooting through the BIOS

You have taken the steps to fix the problem mechanically, but, unfortunately, this did not help. Panic sets in. Why doesn't the keyboard on my computer work? Windows 7, first of all, needs to be rebooted. Perhaps the problem will fix itself.
Try pressing the Esc button a few times to see if the display's auto-start menu appears. If there is no response from the program, it is necessary to replace the keyboard - the problem is not in the software.
If the autorun menu worked, press the F10 key to bring up the BIOS menu. In the settings, you need to set the default values, this is done by pressing the F5 key. Some devices may have other hotkeys.
After making changes to the BIOS, you must restart the operating system.
If, after the steps taken, you still have not solved the problem and are wondering why the keyboard on the computer does not work, then you need to reinstall the keyboard software in Device Manager.

Reinstalling and configuring keyboard software

In the control panel of any operating system in the Start menu there is an item "Hardware and Sound", under which there is a view of devices and printers. This is the section we need. By right-clicking in the window, you must select "Device Manager". Do not forget that you must have administrator rights, otherwise you will not be able to change the settings of hidden devices. So, in a new open window, we are looking for the necessary item Keyboards and trying to solve the problem of why the keyboard does not work on the computer. Windows 7, 8, XP are slightly different in their interface, so the path to the setup menu may not be the same. When calling the object's control panel, select the option to reinstall and update the hardware configuration and drivers. After rebooting the computer, the hardware should work correctly.

The problem of pressing several characters on the keyboard with one key

Sometimes while typing from the keyboard, a situation arises when the keys stick and print several characters at once. And the problem is not that you press the keys for too long. The whole point is in the keyboard response settings. To change these settings, you must manually enter the word "keyboard" in the search bar in the start menu "Start". A new window will appear before your eyes, when you open it, you should correctly adjust the speed of the delay in entering a repeated character. From now on, you will not worry about why the keyboard on the computer does not work correctly.

1 way to fix keyboard inoperability outside the operating system

Often situations of keyboard failure occur due to incompatibility of drivers on the operating system. There are different versions of Windows: 32 and 64 bit. How do they differ and why do they need different drivers? The main difference is in the processing of different amounts of RAM. That is why it is necessary to install various types of drivers so that at the most inopportune moment you do not panic why the keyboard on the computer does not work. Windows 8, 7, XP, Linux require installation of different types of software. But to find out if this is the real cause of the problem, you need to restart your computer and look, by pressing the NumLock and CapsLock keyboard keys, to check their operation using the lights on.

2 way to troubleshoot keyboard through CMOS

Another way to check if the keyboard is working outside of the operating system is to go into the CMOS settings and try the keyboard in safe mode. Sometimes the operating system crashes, safe mode will fix this failure. If the CapsLock and NumLock keys fail, you must go to the first method.

The computer device beeps when typing from the keyboard: solutions

Why doesn't the keyboard on my computer work correctly? There are situations when, when working with a character set, a computer device emits beeps. In this case, you need to change the keyboard settings. To go to the settings, you need to write the word "Keyboard" in the search bar.

In the control panel results that appear, there is an item to change them. You need to follow this link, near the item “Easy typing”, uncheck sticky keys and go to their settings. In the new window that opens, uncheck the box next to Sticky Keys when you press the Shift button five times. We save the results by clicking on the OK button, after which the previous keyboard settings window automatically opens. In it, uncheck the box next to the item of sounding switches by pressing the Num Lock button for 5 seconds. After saving the results of the settings, the computer device will no longer produce meticulous beeps.

Numeric keypad refuses to work

Some users, when buying a peripheral, sometimes wonder why the numbers on the keyboard on the right do not work. On a computer, this situation happens quite often, especially on the Ubuntu operating system. What to do in this case? Try just pressing a combination of two keys: Shift + Num Lock. Most of the time this helps. There is a possibility that the mouse control is configured from the numeric keypad. To disable it on the Windows operating system, you must press the key combination Alt + Shift + Num Lock. There is another more complicated way to get to the optical mouse settings. But why complicate your life when pressing a keyboard shortcut can solve the whole problem?

Why the keyboard on the computer does not work when turned on: solving the problem

To solve this problem, you need to follow these steps:

Check the connection itself. It doesn't matter what type of keyboard: USB, wireless or PS/2. If the problem is connection or signal loss, the keyboard will not work.
If everything is OK with the connection, you need to download a new version of the software that is compatible with your operating system and reinstall it for your keyboard.
When reinstalling the driver did not help, it means that you need to configure everything manually through the BIOS, CMOS or "Control Panel".
If it is possible to connect the keyboard to another computer device, check its performance on it. In each operating system, software settings are located in different paths. You need to know the interface of the operating system well in order to solve the problem of why the keyboard on the computer does not work. Windows 8.1 is arguably the most difficult system to set up software changes. But to change keyboard settings, you don't need much knowledge. It is necessary to strictly follow the instructions, and then your peripheral device will work again as quickly as before.

Possible reasons for the inoperability of some keys on the keyboard

There are times when, due to negligence or negligence, the user of a computer device spills water, tea or other drinks on the keyboard. And it’s good if the owner of the computer did it himself, because he knows where the problems with the peripheral come from. But when someone else did it and did not admit it, the owner will scratch his head for a long time why the USB keyboard on the computer does not work. But most often it happens that certain buttons stop working. Then it is necessary to disassemble and manually clean the keyboard, and if it has already oxidized, then completely change it. After all, there is little chance that it will now work as before.

Note to users

Now you know the possible causes of a broken computer keyboard. It will be new to some users to find out that an on-screen keyboard is automatically installed on any operating system. In the event of a peripheral device failure, it will definitely help you.

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