Why is my keyboard not typing?
Press the keys that are failing in the test below. If a key lights up, the keyboard is sending it and something else is swallowing it. If it never lights up, the keyboard is not sending that key at all — and that is a hardware problem.
Last key
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Code
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Unique keys tested
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Blue = pressed right now. Green = already detected. Click this page first so it receives keyboard input.
This runs locally in your browser. No device data is uploaded.
If nothing at all registers
Check the connection first. A wired keyboard should be tried in a different port, ideally straight into the machine rather than through a hub or monitor. A wireless one needs its battery, its dongle, and a re-pair before you conclude anything.
Click on the page before typing, too. The browser only sends key events to a focused window, so a keyboard that looks dead can simply be typing somewhere else.
If some keys work and others do not
A key that never lights up is a dead switch, debris under the keycap, or a broken connection in the keyboard matrix. Debris is worth ruling out first — it is common, and it is the only one you can fix in a minute with compressed air.
If a run of adjacent keys fails together, that points at the matrix or a ribbon cable rather than individual switches, which on a laptop usually means the whole keyboard assembly.
If keys only fail when pressed together with others, nothing is broken at all: that is ghosting, and the rollover test measures where your keyboard's limit sits.
If keys register here but not in one app
Then the keyboard is fine and that application is intercepting or remapping them. Check for macro software, accessibility features such as Sticky Keys or Filter Keys, and any remapping tool you may have installed and forgotten.
A few keys never reach a web page by design, because the operating system claims them first — Alt+Tab, the Windows or Command key, and Print Screen on some systems. Those not appearing is expected, not a fault.
Frequently asked questions
- The test shows the wrong letters for my keys.
- It reports the physical key your keyboard sends, not the character your layout produces, and the on-screen labels follow a US layout. On an AZERTY or QWERTZ board the key in the same physical position lights up, which is the correct behaviour.
- A key types twice when I press it once.
- Usually a worn switch bouncing as it closes. Check your key repeat delay first, since an aggressive setting looks similar — a bouncing switch repeats at random, while a repeat setting is consistent.
More about this test
The full keyboard test page covers how the test works and what the common faults look like.
Open the Keyboard Test →