[Fix] Keyboard Not Working After Windows Update

Is your keyboard not working after Windows update? This usually happens because your keyboard driver is not compatible with the Windows update. Sometimes, a buggy updated driver could also be causing the issue.

If the keyboard is functioning erratically or stopped functioning altogether after a recent Windows update, we have compiled a list of fixes that you can try to make your keyboard work again.

Why is My Keyboard Not Working?

How to Fix Keyboard Not Working After a Windows Update

Driver compatibility issues are the usual causes for your keyboard not working after a windows update. Sometimes, compatibility issues could be caused indirectly by another application or process that got updates as well.

Before proceeding along with the fixes below, we recommend that you see if disconnecting the keyboard and then reconnecting it again works for you (if your device is not a laptop). Keyboards are plug-and-play devices. If your device drivers are momentarily not loading or responding, this could resolve the issue because PnP devices trigger automatic and dynamic recognition of installed hardware.

Also, try a different keyboard and plug it in to see if that works. You may also try entering the BIOS during boot and see if the keyboard works there.  When you’ve made sure that hardware is not the problem, try the fixes below.

Turn on On-screen Keyboard

Your problem is related to the keyboard not working, but some of the fixes below might need you to type some commands. You can do so by enabling the on-screen keyboard.

You can operate the on-screen keyboard with either the mouse or by touch if your device has touch-screen functionality.

Please follow the steps below to enable the on-screen keyboard.

Windows 11:

1. Click on Start Menu > Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
2. Turn on the toggle next to On-screen keyboard.
   

Windows 10:

1. Click on Start Menu > Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard.
2. Turn on the toggle next to On-screen keyboard.

Run the Troubleshooter

The first solution you can look for is to run the Windows Troubleshooter. It can help you with diagnosing the problem you are having and come up with possible solutions.

Windows 11:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select Taskbar Settings.
2. Navigate to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters
3. Click on the Run button next to Keyboard.
   
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to see if this fixes your issue with the keyboard.

Windows 10:

1. Click on Start, then Settings.
2. Navigate to Troubleshooting, then click on View all.
3. Select Hardware and Devices.
4. Click on Advanced, then Run as Administrator.
5. Click Next and follow instructions.

Uninstall/Update Keyboard Driver

You can next check if your current keyboard driver is problematic by uninstalling the currently installed driver and seeing if the keyboard then works.

You can also try updating the driver and see if that helps. You can perform both these actions by launching the Device Manager:

1. Right-click on the Start button, then select Device Manager.
2. Expand Keyboards, right-click on the keyboard device and select Uninstall device.
   
3. Close the Device Manager and restart your computer. Windows should automatically install generic drivers in the next start-up.
4. To update the driver, you can instead select Update driver in the menu in the previous step. Thereafter, choose between either letting Windows automatically install the best available drivers, or manually locating drivers yourself.
   

Check if the keyboard works now.

Update Driver in Compatibility Mode

Generic drivers for your keyboard might let you use the keyboard, but many specialized functionalities might not work. You will need the hardware-specific drivers from the manufacturer installed for your keyboard to gain its full functionality.

However, the latest available drivers might not be compatible with the Windows update. In such cases, you can download the driver from the manufacturer’s website and install it in compatibility mode.

2. Download the keyboard driver from the manufacturer’s website.
3. Navigate to the download location and right-click the installation file. Select Properties.
4. Switch to the Compatibility tab.
5. Put a checkmark on the box next to Run this program in compatibility mode for.
   
6. Click on the drop-down list and select your preferred version of the Windows OS.
7. Click Apply, followed by OK.
8. Wait for drivers to be installed and check if this fixes the issue.

Rollback Driver

The driver that came with your recent Windows update could have some bugs or compatibility issues, leading to the keyboard not working. If you have tried installing the latest updated drivers already but that didn’t resolve your issue, then you should try to rollback the driver.

1. Right click on the Start button, then select Device Manager.
2. Expand Keyboards, right-click on the keyboard device and select Properties.
3. Switch to the Driver tab and click on Rollback driver.
   

Please note that the option to Rollback driver will be greyed out if:

• You have not installed a previous version of the driver.
• Windows did not retain files from the previous version of the driver.

Run SFC and DISM

If your driver issue did not resolve even after uninstalling, updating, or rolling back the driver, it is possible that damaged or corrupted drivers persisted somehow. In such a case, you can try the SFC and DISM tools to repair and restore working drivers.

1. Bring up the on-screen keyboard.
2. Press Win + R keys, type or copy-paste cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch the elevated command prompt.
3. At the prompt, type or copy-paste: sfc /scannow.
4. Next, type or copy-paste: DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth.
5. Once finished, close the command prompt and restart your device.
6. Launch the elevated command prompt again and type or copy-paste sfc /scannow.

Turn Off Filter Keys

Filter keys is an accessibility feature built into Windows. This feature helps users filter out unintended, repeated, or slow keystrokes. Keystrokes that fit these categories do not get registered with Filter keys active. If your keyboard seems to be working intermittently, Filter keys could be the problem causing it to act this way.

Please follow these steps to turn off the Filter keys.

Windows 11:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.
2. Navigate to Accessibility > Keyboard.
3. Toggle Filter keys to Off.
   

Windows 10:

1. Click on the Start button, then click Settings.
2. Navigate to Ease of access > Keyboard.
3. Toggle Filter keys to Off.

Tweak the Registry

One user who was running VMWare Player 7 found that it placed a setting in the registry that was incompatible with Windows 10. They found that removing the entry made by VMWare Player 7 to configure its virtual keyboard fixed their problem. If you are in a similar situation, you can try the following fix.

1. Bring up the on-screen keyboard.
2. Press Win + R keys and type or copy-paste regedit to launch the Registry Editor.
3. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Windows\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
4. Double-click on UpperFilters:REG_MULTI_SZ value and remove vmkbd entry.
5. Close the registry editor, then restart your device.

Update the Logitech Set Point Software

If you use a Dell machine, then this fix might be relevant to you. Some Dell machines had their keyboard stop working after a Windows update if they also had Logitech Set Point software installed.

This issue can be fixed by updating your Logitech Set Point Software to the latest version available.

Rollback Windows Update

You can also try to roll back the Windows Update, which will fix hardware issues caused by incompatibility between the device driver and the update to Windows.

To rollback Windows Update, please follow these steps –

1. Press Win + I to launch Settings.
2. Navigate to Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates.
3. Right-click the latest Windows update list and click on Uninstall.
   
4. Follow on-screen instructions and wait for Windows to finish the process, then restart the computer.

Use System Restore

If you’ve tried every fix listed in this article above but still have had no luck so far, then it’s time you tried System Restore. You will need to have created a restore point some time before your keyboard stopped working to apply this fix.

1. On your on-screen keyboard, press Win + R and type in or copy-paste rstrui to launch System Restore.
2. Click on Next, then Enable.
3. You can use the Automatic Restore Point if it’s dated later than latest Windows update. Otherwise, click on Show more restore points and select a restore point that was before the update.
4. Click Accept, then Finish.