How To Unlock Keyboard On HP Laptop Quickly

According to google trends, HP laptops are growing more and more popular over the years, and it seems a majority of people complain about their keyboards getting locked.

A locked keyboard on an HP laptop is ubiquitous, and not everyone understands how to unlock it.

To unlock the keyboard on an HP laptop can be complex at times because it depends on how the keyboard got locked in the first place.

Apparently, this issue does affect everyone except people using these particular HP laptop models: the Pavilion, Chromebook, Envy X360, Elite X2, Zbook, Spectre, and other HP Envy laptops.

Many of the users who have used such HP laptop models specify that the problem occurs primarily with Windows 10 but we don’t know if it will affect Windows 11 as it is too soon to carry out a proper study.

Depending on whatever HP laptop model you use, so far as you have a locked keyboard, I’m going to share with you how you can unlock it.

It may take several trials, and you have to keep up with my solutions to unlock your HP laptop keyboard permanently.

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The moment you have successfully unlocked the keyboard, you can go ahead to turn on HP laptop after shutting it down.

To avoid wasting any more of your time, follow the instructions below to unlock keyboard on HP.

How To Unlock Keyboard On HP Laptop

Unlocking the keyboard on HP includes several methods because your problem might differ from someone else. Above all, if you stick with the solutions one after the other, you will eventually find the one that will work for you.

Here’s how:

1. Restart Your HP Laptop

The first thing you should do is restart your HP laptop because the solution could be as simple as that.

There’s a possibility that your HP keyboard must have gotten locked after installing or uninstalling an application.

If you installed software or an application recently, that software might have required you to restart your HP laptop, and you didn’t notice.

When you decide not to restart your computer when a recently installed program demands it, it may affect your keyboard if that software has anything to do with your keyboard.

The same thing goes with an uninstalled application recently because it may also require you to restart. And if you don’t, it may also cause your keyboard to be locked.

What you should do to resolve this is to restart your HP laptop simply. If you don’t know how to restart your HP laptop, you should simply shut down your computer and turn it back on as you usually would.

To restart, click on the Windows logo located at the bottom left-hand side of your taskbar and select the power button.

Once you click on the power button, you will see the power option and restart among them. Click on restart once you find it.

When your HP laptop is done restarting, test your keyboard out to see if it is unlocked. If it is not unlocked, proceed with the next solution.

2. Reinstall Keyboard Drivers

Your HP keyboard drivers must be installed correctly because that is the only way your computer will recognize your keyboard.

An improper keyboard driver installation can confuse your HP laptop, leading to your keyboard being locked. But a proper installation of your keyboard drivers will enable your HP laptop to make sure your keyboard works as it should.

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Right now, a keyboard driver is already preinstalled on your HP computer, but it is probably corrupt because your keyboard is currently locked. To eliminate all keyboard errors, you will need to reinstall the keyboard drivers to restore them to their default settings.

Here’s how to reinstall HP keyboard drivers:

1. Search for device manager through Windows search.

2. Click on device manager among the results.

3. Inside device manager, click on keyboard to expand its drivers.

4. Right-click on the first driver.

5. Click on uninstall.

6. Click on uninstall again when you see a pop-up box.

7. Now, make sure you uninstall the rest of the drivers for the keyboard section.

8. Once you are done uninstalling, restart your HP laptop.

9. Your keyboard driver will reinstall the moment your computer boots back up.

Now you can test your keyboard to know if it is unlocked. Continue with the solutions if it is not.

3. Change Keyboard Layout

On an HP laptop, several types of keyboard layout is available to use, and each of the keyboard layouts has its style on how it functions.

All the keyboard layouts on your HP laptop don’t have the same function because their inputs operate differently.

The keyboard layout is just a way of specifying your country and region to your computer to give you the proper format for the country.

Majority of people type with an English keyboard layout which is the most common keyboard for everyone.

Suppose you switch your HP laptop keyboard layout to Arabic. In that case, you will discover how strange typing will become, except if you are an Arabian, of course.

So, you may already have the wrong keyboard layout on your computer, which is why you believe your keyboard is locked.

But to unlock your HP keyboard, you would need to change the keyboard layout to the standard layout, which is English (United States or the United Kingdom).

Here’s how to change the keyboard layout on an HP laptop:

1. Press the Windows key, and I simultaneously to open windows settings.

2. Click on time and language.

3. Navigate to the language tab.

4. Click on Add a language.

5. Choose English (United States).

6. Restart your computer.

Your HP keyboard should be unlocked once it boots up. If t’s not, keep on testing the rest of the solutions.

Another way you can change the keyboard layout is by holding down the Windows logo button and then clicking on the spacebar to switch between layouts.

4. Disable Filter Keys

Filter keys are not very common but have a significant impact on the behavior of your keyboard. When filter keys is turned on your HP laptop, it can negatively affect how your keyboard functions, which may make you think it is locked.

But when filter keys is disabled, your keyboard will function as it should without any special feature running in the background.

But what exactly is filter keys?

Filter keys is a feature on Microsoft Windows that enables your HP laptop to ignore repeated strokes for helping people with hand tremors.

Now, there’s a possibility that you may have turned on filter keys by mistake, which is why your HP laptop keyboard is locked. Turning it off will simply help you to unlock your keyboard.

Here’s how to turn off filter keys on HP laptop:

Hold down the right shift key for more than 8 seconds until you see a pop-up box. The pop-up box will ask you if you want to turn off filter keys, so you click on yes.

Another way to turn off filter keys is by going to Ease of Access through Windows settings and navigating to the keyboard section. In the use filter keys section, make sure you toggle it off.

5. Replace Wireless Keyboard Battery

This section is for people using a wireless keyboard for their HP laptop. A wireless keyboard can be fun to use alongside your computer, but when they run into a problem, it can get very frustrating.

It is very common for a wireless keyboard to freeze, which can make you jump to the conclusion that it is locked, but it is not the case in many situations.

Wireless keyboards run on either a detachable battery or an inbuilt battery. Regardless of whichever you are using, batteries are prone to lose power over time which might be what your wireless keyboard is facing.

A wireless keyboard with a low battery can let your HP laptop preserve that it is locked and all you have to do is unlock it.

You can unlock it by replacing the battery of your wireless keyboard if the batteries are detachable. But, if they are inbuilt, you should simply charge it for an extended period.

Once enough power is back on your wireless keyboard, you should test it to know if your keyboard is unlocked. If it’s not, you may want to consider getting a new wireless keyboard for your HP laptop.

If your wireless keyboard is using a Bluetooth, you have to make sure that your computer needs to also support Bluetooth before it can connect to it. Connecting your Bluetooth wireless keyboard to your HP laptop is the same as connecting your computer to an AirPods.

6. Update Keyboard Drivers

I mentioned before the importance of a keyboard driver to enable your HP laptop keyboard to function correctly.

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You may have already reinstalled your keyboard driver, and that didn’t work. What you can do is to update your HP keyboard drivers to the latest version available.

Suppose your HP laptop is still running on an outdated keyboard driver. In that case, there’s a chance that your computer is missing out on an important feature that is necessary for your keyboard to function correctly.

In fact, it could be the reason why your HP keyboard is locked. So, if indeed your drivers are outdated or it’s been a very long time that you have updated your drivers, you must update your keyboard drivers now.

Here’s how to update keyboard driver on HP laptop:

1. Right-click on the Windows logo.

2. Click on device manager.

3. Look for keyboards and click on it.

4. Right-click on the first keyboard driver.

5. Click on update.

6. Continue with the update to fully update your HP keyboard driver.

7. Once your are done, update the rest of the keyboard drivers.

8. Restart your HP computer.

Your HP keyboard should be unlocked by now, but if it is not, continue with the solutions below.

7. Check Keyboard Connection

At this point, if your HP keyboard is still locked, then you may want to start checking your cable connections.

A bad cable connection for your keyboard may be why you are going through this problem. It is hard to detect, but when you have tried all the tricks in the book, and nothing seems to work, it means it’s time you start inspecting your cables.

If the keyboard you use is not wireless but attached to your HP laptop, you would have to open your computer until you can disconnect your keyboard cable.

You can easily spot it when you see a wide cable attached from your keyboard and connected to your motherboard.

Disconnect the cable once you find it and then clean it along with its port. Reconnect the cable back to see if your HP keyboard is unlocked because if it is not, then it means you may have a damaged cable. And its impossible to fix a damaged cable except you replace the full keyboard entirely.

If you are using a wired keyboard, you should easily test your keyboard with another cable as long as it is detachable.

Suppose it is not detachable but connected permanently with your keyboard, and you have figured that the cable isn’t working. In that case, you may have to purchase a new keyboard.

But this time, make sure you either get a wireless keyboard or a detachable keyboard.

Why Is My HP Keyboard Locked?

There are many reasons why HP keyboards can be locked, and many of the ways might not be common to you. But I was able to put together some of the reasons that cause your HP laptop keyboard to be locked after online research.

These are the reasons:

1. Corrupted Keyboard Drivers

Drivers can get corrupt any time, and your HP keyboard drier is no exception. A sign to notice when your keyboard driver gets corrupt is when your HP keyboard gets locked.

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Once it’s locked, you will have to unlock it using the above solutions. But you may also wonder how your computer keyboard got locked in the first place.

Drivers can get corrupted after installing a program downloaded from an unknown source. Chances are that the software might come along with malware affecting your keyboard.

The best ways to deal with such a problem is by deleting any program you installed recently from untrusted sources.

2. Hibernation

Hibernation is a state you put your computer in when you don’t want to turn it off but preserve your battery and current tasks.

In this state, your HP laptop will power everything running down until you put it out of hibernation, which is where the problem begins.

Once it is out of hibernation, there’s a possibility that your computer might not fully recover from hibernation, which may cause some components to stop working.

In this case, your keyboard may not recover from hibernation, leading it to freeze or locked, in other words.

The simple way to recover from hibernation is to restart your HP laptop. Still, you may not be able to achieve that because your power button may not work because it is also frozen also.

What you can do to restart your computer is hold down your power button until it turns off and then click on the power button again to turn it on.

Hibernation mode is almost the same as sleep mode, so if you are experiencing issues with your HP keyboard, simply restart.

3. Low Battery

For people using an external wireless keyboard, battery power is vital to watch out for because it can affect the performance of your keyboard.’

A wireless keyboard with a low battery can cause the keyboard to be locked, which means that the overall keyboard experience would be bad.

Your keyboard won’t even work until you replace or charger your battery in many cases. Low battery is very common, and you must always watch out for it.

Suppose your wireless keyboard is using an inbuilt battery. In that case, all you must do is charge the battery for an extended period of time and then test it to see if your HP keyboard is unlocked.

But if your wireless keyboard is using a removable battery, all you need to do is to replace the old ones with the new ones.

4. Fn Key Is Locked

Fn lock is very common on HP keyboards, and it causes your keyboard to lock entirely. Once the Fn lock is enabled, you will notice that you cannot use your keyboard properly because some keys will stop working.

But when the Fn lock is disabled, your keyboard will work as it should. Your keyboard won’t work properly when Fn lock is enabled because the Fn key is primarily used along with another key like your F keys.

The way it is used is by holding down the Fn key first and then pressing any of the F keys at the top of your keyboard either to control your volume or something else.

So, if your Fn key is enabled on your HP laptop, here’s how you disable it to unlock your keyboard.

Simply hold down the Fn key and click on Esc to disable or enable it.

5. Improper Keyboard Cable Connection

The keyboard attached to your HP laptop works with a cable connected to your motherboard from the keyboard itself.

An improper connection can cause your keyboard to misbehave. Maybe you recently installed the keyboard, or someone installed it for you, and now it is misbehaving.

There’s a possibility that either you or the person might have installed the cable incorrectly, which is why your HP keyboard is behaving this way.

You will have to inspect it properly to see whether you inserted the cable correctly or not. Checking the cable will require you to open your computer and if it is something you can do, do it.

Another thing you may want to check around your computer is dust. It’s very easy for an HP laptop to accumulate dust. Once you open your computer, try to get rid of as much dust as possible.

6. Faulty Keyboard

This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you have tried everything in the world to unlock your HP laptop, but nothing seems to work.

Your HP laptop keyboard may be faulty or has completely gone bad. This can happen when the dust has accumulated inside your computer over a long time without any servicing.

Many ports and cable must have gotten clogged with dust, which eventually damaged your keyboard.

There’s only one way to fix a damaged keyboard, and that is by purchasing a new one. If you have fully tested your keyboard and it doesn’t work, you may want to consider getting a new one.

Why Can’t I Type Letters On My HP Laptop?

You can’t type on your HP laptop because you may be experiencing an Fn lock or a damaged keyboard.

Your keyboard can get damaged when you drop your HP laptop on the ground or when you spill water on it.

Now, it fit was a water spill, it can cause some of your keys to stop working, which is why you can’t type on your HP laptop.

You can quickly loosen the keyboard and try to dry it out for some time, hoping that it will work when you fix it back.

But if you didn’t drop your later or spill water on the keyboard, you may be experiencing Fn lock.

When enabled, the Fn lock will only make some keys work and not all keys because it is used primarily with the F keys at the top of your keyboard.

You should disable the Fn lock before you can type letters on your HP laptop. To disable the Fn lock, hold down the Fn key and then click on Esc to disable it. Once it is disabled, you will be able to type letters on your computer.