HP Laptop Keyboard not Working? Try These Fixes

HP laptops are well-known for their robust design and premium builds. Although being quite good, their laptop keyboards do occasionally experience problems. Some of these have been known to malfunction and completely fail to register the keystrokes.

This usually happens as a result of driver problems or incorrect keyboard settings. To fix this, you must identify the real cause and apply the solution accordingly. In this article, we’ll look into the issue in-depth and offer a variety of solutions to get your HP laptop keyboard working again.

Why is the HP laptop Keyboard not Working? 

How to Fix HP Laptop Keyboard not Working?

Before you begin with the fixes, restart the device to check if the Keyboard issues have been brought by the temporary glitches in the Windows. While using any of the suggested fixes, if you need to use the Keyboard at any point, you can try using an external Keyboard or else even enable the On-screen keyboard. 

To enable the on-screen Keyboard,

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Accessibility > Keyboard.
3. Find the On-screen keyboard and change the slider to on to enable the virtual keyboard.
   

Thoroughly cleaning your Laptop’s keyboard is what you must do next. The dirt and debris could be clogging up underneath keys and affecting your Keystrokes. Use a toothpick or Q-tip to gently remove particles. Finally, take a microfiber cloth and clean the keyboard.   

Reinstall Keyboard Driver

Most often, problems with the drivers cause the keyboard to stop functioning. The driver may be incompatible with the Operating system or may have corrupted and failed to function properly. To get it solved, you can reinstall the driver from the Device Manager. Windows installs the generic drivers after you uninstall the current drivers and restart the computer. 

1. Right-click on the Start menu Button.
2. Click on Device Manager.
3. Click on the Keyboard to expand the list of the devices under it.
4. Right-click on the Device and click on Uninstall Device.
5. Give your confirmation to remove it.
6. Restart the device. Windows will install the generic keyboard drivers instead of the uninstalled one. 
7. Check now if the Keyboard works properly.

Update Keyboard Driver 

It is also possible that the Keyboard driver might be out of date and incompatible. Generally, these Keyboard drivers get updated with the Windows updates, but if they get left out for some reason, you can update them on your own. 

1. Right-click on the Start menu button and Go to the Device Manager.
2. Expand the list of devices under Keyboard.
3. Right-click the device and select Update driver.
4. Select the Search Automatically for Drivers option.  
5. If you have already downloaded the driver, you can update it by choosing to Browse my Computer for drivers.
6. Follow the prompts and update the drivers to the latest version.

You can manually update the drivers by downloading them from the HP drivers download center.

1. Go to the HP support page.
2. The page will automatically detect your HP laptop. If it fails to detect, enter the product name and search for the device.
3. Select the OS and Version. 
4. Expand the list under the Driver-Keyboard, Mouse, and Input Devices.
5. Download the Keyboard driver, run the installer and update it.

Stop Collaborative Translation Framework

Ctfmon (Collaborative Translation Framework) is the Microsoft process that provides text support for speech recognition and other alternate inputs (for instance, stylus) on Windows. This process can interfere with the Keyboard inputs and lead to keyboard malfunction. 

You can stop the ctfmon.exe process to resolve the issue with the keyboard.You can end the process Ctfmon.exe from the Task Manager. 

1. Right-click on the Start menu and Open the Task Manager.
2. Go to the Details tab and search for ctmon.exe
3. Right-click on the process and select the End process tree.
4. The process will end and restart automatically.  

Switch Off Cortana 

Users have found to resolve the issue of their Keyboard even by switching off the Cortana. It seems that this Voice assistant interferes with the Keyboard drivers and affects its functionality. 

1. Go to the Task Manager by right-clicking on the Start menu button.
2. Go to Startup Tab.
3. Find Cortana under the list of Apps.
4. Right-click on it and select Disable.
5. Now, go to the start menu and find Cortana.  
6. Right-click on it and select Apps settings.
7. In the apps configuration Window, go to the Runs at log-in section and change the slider to off.
   

Perform Windows Update

As stated earlier, the Windows updates install the generic drivers for your Laptop Keyboard, and hence it is important that you keep the system up to date. These system updates also get rid of the bugs with the drivers and improve the keyboard’s functionality as well. Running older Windows builds also brings some glitches, which can be fixed with the updates. 

1. Navigate to the Settings. 
2. Go to the Windows update section.
3. Click on Check for updates. 
4. Windows will start to search for the latest updates. Click on Download and install if Windows finds the latest updates to the system. 

Check the Language Settings 

If only a few of the keys on your keyboard are not working, it also can be that the region and language settings are misconfigured. The keyboard layout used in different countries may differ, and you might be using the wrong layout the whole time. You can reconfigure the language and region settings if this is the case.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Time & language > Language & region.
3. Ensure that the preferred language is set to English (United States).
4. If not, click on the Add a Language button and select English (United States). 
   

Disable Filter Keys

Filter keys is an accessibility feature on Windows that does not register repeated keystrokes, designed for people having disabilities. It slows down the key repeat rate, which may seem like the keyboard is not functioning well. You can disable it to get a better keystroke input. 

1. Navigate to Settings from the Start menu.
2. Go to Accessibility > Keyboard. 
3. Change the slider of the Sticky keys to off in order to disable the option.

Run Keyboard Troubleshooter

Windows troubleshooter is an inbuilt utility of Windows that assists the users in detecting a variety of issues like internet connectivity, Bluetooth, and other hardware and system-related problems. You can use this utility to diagnose the issue with your Laptop keyboard as well.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to System > Troubleshoot.
3. Select Other troubleshooters.
4. Find the Keyboard section and click on Run to start the troubleshooter. 
5. It will diagnose and fix the problem with the Keyboard if it finds any. 

Power Drain Laptop

The issues in the keyboard are found if excess power is supplied to the unit. You can power drain the charges kept on hold by the Capacitor. Follow these steps carefully to perform the Power drain.

1. First of all, fully drain the laptop battery. In case you have a removable battery, remove the battery from the compartment.
2. Disconnect all the peripherals connected to the device.
3. Finally, Press and hold the Power button for up to 30 seconds.
4. Reattach the peripherals back to the laptop and see if the keyboard works now. 

Take the Laptop to the Service Center

Even after trying all these fixes, if the issue still persists,  it is advised that you take the laptop to the service center or a repair professional. The problem may exist with the Keyboard panel or the connectors. The internal components of the laptop might require repair or even replacement.