Keyboard Not Working: Dead Keys, Stuck Keys and No Input

Two questions narrow this down fast: is it every key or only a few, and is the keyboard wired or wireless? All keys dead points to a connection or driver fault. A handful of dead keys points to debris, a spill or a worn membrane.

Step 1 — Check whether the keyboard is talking at all

Press Caps Lock and watch the indicator light.

• The light toggles: the keyboard is reaching the PC, so the fault is software. Skip to Step 4.
• Nothing lights up: the keyboard is not connecting. Keep reading.

Then open the On-Screen Keyboard (Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard). If it types normally, Windows is fine and the physical keyboard is the suspect.

Step 2 — Wired keyboards

1. Replug into a different port, directly on the machine rather than through a hub, dock or monitor.
2. If the cable is detachable, try a known-good cable. A surprising share of "dead" keyboards are a broken USB cable.
3. Test it on another computer. Dead there too means the keyboard has failed.
4. If other USB devices also drop out, the fault is the port, not the keyboard — read the USB port guide instead.

Step 3 — Wireless keyboards

1. Replace the batteries. Low voltage causes dropped and repeated keystrokes long before the keyboard stops entirely. Rechargeable cells sag earlier than alkaline ones.
2. Re-pair the device. Bluetooth: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → remove the device, then pair it again.
3. Move the USB receiver to a front or top port, away from USB 3.0 drives and hubs — those interfere with 2.4 GHz receivers at close range.
4. Check the power switch. Most wireless keyboards have one, and it is easy to knock.

Step 4 — Windows checks

1. Open Device Manager (Win+X → Device Manager) → Keyboards. A yellow warning mark means a driver fault. Right-click the device, choose Uninstall device, then restart — Windows reinstalls it cleanly.
2. Filter Keys and Sticky Keys can make keys feel dead or repeat on their own. Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard → switch both off.
3. Do a full restart with Shift+Restart rather than Fast Startup, which does not fully reset device drivers.
4. If letters come out in the wrong case or wrong characters, the keyboard layout is set to another language. Check the language indicator on the taskbar.

Step 5 — Only a few keys fail

1. Lift the keycap with a plastic spudger. On laptops the scissor clips are fragile — photograph the mechanism before you lift it.
2. Blow out debris with compressed air, then clean the contact pad with a cotton bud dampened with isopropyl alcohol. Let it dry fully.
3. A spill is different from dirt. Power off, unplug, turn it upside down to drain, and leave it 48 hours before powering on. Never test or charge it while wet — that is what causes permanent damage.

Repair or replace

A desktop keyboard is rarely worth repairing; a replacement costs less than an hour of anyone's time. Laptop keyboards are different. A replacement keyboard is usually a $25–$80 part and on many models it is a genuinely doable 30–60 minute job with a teardown video for your exact model. A repair shop will charge 1–2 hours of labour on top.