How To Unlock The Keyboard On A Dell Laptop: All Fixes Explained

Having the keyboard locked up on your Dell laptop seems frustrating, right? Don’t worry; here is how to unlock the keyboard on a dell laptop.

Sometimes you might face a problem with the keyboard on your Dell laptop locked up when you write any assignment or office work; it annoys and frustrates people. But not anymore; unlocking the dell laptop keyboard is not as difficult as you thought.

There are several ways through which you can unlock your Dell laptop keyboard. You can relax now because I’ll cover some easiest ways to unlock your Dell laptop keyboard. After reading the article, you will find an answer no matter your keyboard’s problem.

You can check How to Unlock Toshiba Keyboard Here!

Table of Contents

Why Is My Laptop Keyboard Locked Up?

People face this problem in their daily life. When they are typing on their laptop, writing a school paper, or an email, the keyboard suddenly gets stuck and stops working. It makes people wonder what its problem is.

But this is not a big issue beyond any solution; making your Dell laptop keyboard unlock and start working again is easy. So, to resolve the problem, it is necessary to know the problem with your laptop keyboard and why it occurs.

Some reasons might be causing problems with your Dell laptop keyboard. I’ll cover three of them:

Outdated Keyboard Driver
Accidentally Activating Num Lock
Spoilt Keyboard

Let’s go into the details of why your Dell laptop keyboard is causing a problem for you;

1. Outdated Keyboard Driver

The programs you install on your laptop, like Inspiron, Dell XPS, or Latitude laptop, might be the reason for this problem. These programs help the laptop t connect with any external device.

If you have installed your laptop driver for longer and have not updated it, your keyboard will stop writing anything when you press its keys. So, first of all, check your laptop driver to check that if it is causing a problem.

2. Accidentally Activating Num Lock

The numeric keys are on the numeric pad of the keyboard; you might have seen the Num lock button there. This Num lock button locks the keys of the keyboard if you accidentally press it while writing anything.

So, it might be possible that you accidentally press the Num lock key while writing, and your Keyboard stop working. So, check it before doing anything to your Dell laptop to ensure it is the only problem with the keyboard.

3. Spoilt Keyboard

If, after doing everything, your laptop is still not working, it means anything worse happened to your Dell laptop keyboard. Anything worst means your laptop keyboard gets old; now it is time to replace it with a new one.

So, if you know that your laptop is too old, then spend some money on it and replace its old keyboard with the better one to avoid such issues.

How To Unlock The Dell Laptop Keyboard?

Many methods can help you solve this issue; we will discuss some common methods. Read them carefully to make your keyboard work properly without any more trouble.

Method 1: Restart the Laptop

After noticing that the keyboard has locked, the first thing that you have to do is to restart your Dell laptop. To restart it correctly, follow the steps:

Firstly, click on the Start Menu icon in the below bar of the screen.
Now, you will see the Shut Down option there; click on it.
Wait for some time until your laptop turns off.
You have to unplug the Power cord.
Remove the laptop battery from it by unscrewing a panel.
Hold your power button for a few seconds until you notice it’s power draining.
Leave the laptop for a few minutes to cool down if it is heated.
Turn on the laptop again after a few minutes.
Open the work you were doing and check if the issue disappeared or not.

Method 2: Unlock the Num Lock Key

If the laptop is still not working after restarting the laptop, there might be another problem with it. The num lock key can also cause a problem for the keyboard. To unlock the Num lock key, follow the procedure.

Go to the Start Menu icon.
Click on the Settings.
Go to the Ease of Access section.
Now, select the keyboard option there.
You have to open the Onscreen keyboard settings now.
If on the Onscreen keyboard, there is no Num lock key, then press the Options key.
You have to check the Turn on numeric keypad box.
Press on Ok, and now you will see a Num lock key on the onscreen keyboard.
On the Onscreen keyboard, click the Num lock key.
Check whether the keyboard starts working or not.

Method 3: Unlock the Fn Key

One of the possible reasons is the Fn key locking, is the Fn key is locked, then there might be a possibility that the keyboard stops working. To make your keyboard work again, follow the steps carefully:

Check the location of the Fn key on the keyboard.
If there is a Num lock key on your keyboard, hold the Fn key and Num lock key simultaneously.
It will unlock the Fn key.
If there is no Num lock key on your keyboard, then while pressing the FN key, hold the Esc key simultaneously.
The Fn key will unlock now.
Check if the problem with the keyboard is still there or not.

Method 4: Optimization of System

For the optimization of the system, follow the steps below:

Do A System Scan

Go to the Start Menu icon in the below bar of the screen.
Click on the Shut down option.
When the laptop shuts down, restart it.
At startup, press the F12 key; there will be no mechanical problem if the boot menu opens on the screen.
Go to Diagnostics and click on Enter. The entire system scanning will start.
Press the Esc key if you want to pause the scanning.
After clicking on the Next button, you will see the components list; click on the keyboard.
If the error code appears on the screen, then note its details.
Open Facebook or Twitter and contact the Dell tech support team.
If no error appears on the screen, it means there is no problem with it.

Check The Keyboard In BIOS

Go to the Start Menu icon.
Click on the Shut Down option.
Restart the laptop after shutting it down.
When the Dell logo appears on the screen, press the F2 key. It will make you enter into BIOS.
In the menu, click on Security.
Click the Admin Password, and check if the keyboard is working.
If your keyboard does not start working, go to the next step.

Run Support Assist

Go to the Ease of Access icon.
Click on the Onscreen keyboard.
Here you will have to log in to your profile.
Press on the Window icon.
Search Support Assist, and if you find it, click on it.
After going to the home tab, select the Run All option.
Until the optimization process is running, you have to continue the process.
Restart the laptop if prompted.

Method 5: Update the Keyboard Driver

If you notice your keyboard driver is not updated recently and causing a problem, it is time to update it. Follow the procedure to update it:

Remove External Keyboard Drives

First, you must connect your laptop to a Wi-Fi source.
Go to the Device manager on your laptop.
Click on the Keyboard to expand the menu.
If you are using one or more No products found, start locating each external keyboard’s driver.
Right-click in front of every keyboard drive.
Click on Uninstall Device.
Now, click on Reboot to reboot your device.
Check the keyboard to see if it starts working; if not, go to the next step.

Uninstall The Built-In Driver

If you have a built-in driver keyboard, then locate it.
Right-click on the keyboard’s built-in driver.
Click on Uninstall device.
Click on the Reboot option to reboot your laptop.
The new driver will automatically install on the laptop during the rebooting process.
Check if the keyboard has started working; if it is still not, follow the next step.

Update The Built-In Driver

If your keyboard has a built-in driver, right-click on it.
Click on the Update option.
Press on Search automatically for updated driver software.
Keep continuing the process until the new driver installs on your laptop.
If it is a problem, the keyboard will start working now.

Method 6: Update the BIOS

If you still find any solution, then maybe the BIOS is outdated. You have to update it to make your keyboard work properly. Follow the complete procedure described below:

On your taskbar, click on Window search.
You have to search BitLocker.
When the results appear on the screen, click on Manage Bitlocker.
Click on suspend protection option.
If there is a pop appears, then choose yes.
Now, you have to go to Dell Support.
On the website, click on Detect PC.
Now, click on Drivers and downloads.
As a category, you must have to choose BIOS.
You will find the latest BIOS update there, click on it and start updating your laptop BIOS.
Let the process continue until the BIOS update.

What Do I Do If The Mentioned Procedures Do Not Work?

There are many ways to unlock the keyboard; the most common ones are described above; if none works, then switching to your onscreen keyboard is the best option. It will become harder for you to type, but you can still write. To make it possible, follow the procedure:

Press the Windows logo.
In the start menu, click on Settings.
Select the keyboard option in the Ease of access section.
Click on the onscreen keyboard option.
Now you can write anything that you want.

Final Verdict

I hope you have got the answer to your question, “why is my keyboard stuck during work due to a locked situation.” Sometimes we all face this issue while working on our Dell laptops, which annoys us. Knowing what exactly happened to it will make it easier for you to resolve the issue.

This article is a perfect guide if you have the same problem every now and then. Try these methods whenever you or any of your friends face this problem, and your keyboard will start working again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did My Dell Laptop Keyboard Stop Working Suddenly?

Various possibilities can cause a problem for your laptop to stop working. Some possibilities or reasons are an outdated keyboard driver, accidentally pressing the Num lock key, and a spoilt keyboard. If these problems occur, you can efficiently resolve the issue through the mentioned solutions in the article.

Is There Any Keyboard Lock Button That Stops My Keyboard?

There are some lock keys in the numeric portion of the keyboard. Some keyboards have LEDs that identify the lock keys, but some have lock keys between the key splits, so accidentally pressing them can cause your keyboard to stop.