You can relax! Yes, there are many different issues that could cause your Dell laptop keyboard to be locked, but there are also simple solutions that you can easily do at home. Today, we’ll be covering six different methods for unlocking your Dell laptop keyboard. No matter what your problem is, you’re sure to find at least one method that can unlock your Dell laptop keyboard!
Method 1: Restart Your Laptop
The first step you should take to unlock your Dell laptop keyboard is to restart your laptop.
1 Method 1: Restart Your Laptop2 Method 2: Unlock the Fn Key3 Method 3: Unlock the NumLock Key4 Method 4: Update Your Keyboard Driver4.1 Step 1: Remove External Keyboard Drivers4.2 Step 2: Uninstall the Built-In Keyboard Driver4.3 Step 3: Update the Built-In Keyboard Driver5 Method 5: Optimize the System5.1 Step 1: Do a System Scan5.2 Step 2: Check Your Keyboard in BIOS5.3 Step 3: Run SupportAssist6 Method 6: Update Your BIOS7 Conclusion
To properly restart your Dell laptop, you can follow these easy steps:
Click on the Start Menu icon. Click on “Shut down”. Wait until your laptop is turned off. Unplug the power cord from your laptop. Take out the laptop’s battery. You may have to unscrew a panel to remove it. Push the power button and hold it down until your laptop is completely drained of power. Leave the laptop to cool down if it’s heated. Turn your laptop back on.
Method 2: Unlock the Fn Key
One of the possible reasons your Dell laptop keyboard isn’t working could be that the Fn key is locked. To unlock the Fn key on your Dell laptop, you can follow these simple steps:
Locate the Fn key on your keyboard. If you have a NumLock key on your keyboard: Press the Fn key. While holding the Fn key, press the NumLock key. This should unlock the Fn key. If you don’t have a NumLock key on your keyboard: Press the Fn key. While holding the Fn key, press the Esc key. Your Fn key should now be unlocked.
Method 3: Unlock the NumLock Key
If your Dell laptop still doesn’t work, the problem may be a locked NumLock key. To unlock your NumLock key, you can follow these steps:
Click on the Start Menu icon. Choose Settings. Navigate to the Ease of Access section. Click on the “Keyboard” option. Turn on the On-Screen Keyboard setting. If there is no NumLock key on the on-screen keyboard: Press the Options key. Check the box for “Turn on numeric key pad“. Press “OK“. You should now see the NumLock key on the on-screen keyboard. Finally, press the NumLock key on the on-screen keyboard.
Method 4: Update Your Keyboard Driver
To update your Dell laptop keyboard driver/s, you need to follow several steps.
Step 1: Remove External Keyboard Drivers
Connect your laptop to a secure WiFi source. Open your laptop’s Device Manager. Press the arrow in front of “Keyboards” to expand the menu. If you’re using one or more No products found.: Locate the driver for each external keyboard. Right-click on each keyboard driver. Choose “Uninstall device“. Reboot your laptop. Check if your keyboard is now working. If not, go to the next step.
Step 2: Uninstall the Built-In Keyboard Driver
Locate the driver for the built-in keyboard. Right-click the keyboard driver. Choose “Uninstall device.” Reboot your laptop. Windows should automatically reinstall the keyboard driver. If this still doesn’t work, go to the next step.
Step 3: Update the Built-In Keyboard Driver
Right-click the driver for the built-in keyboard. Choose “Update”. Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software”. Continue the process until your driver is updated.
Method 5: Optimize the System
To optimize the system on your Dell laptop, you will need to follow several steps.
Step 1: Do a System Scan
Click on the Start Menu icon. Press Shut Down. Turn the laptop back on. Tap the F12 key at startup. If the Boot Menu opens, that means it’s not a mechanical problem. Navigate to Diagnostics and press Enter. This will conduct a full system scan. Press the Esc key to pause the scan. Click on the Next button. Choose Keyboard from the components list. This will conduct a scan on your keyboard only. If you receive any error codes: Note down the details. Contact a Dell tech support agent on Facebook or Twitter. If no errors were detected, go on to the next step.
Step 2: Check Your Keyboard in BIOS
Click on the Start Menu icon. Press Shut Down. Turn the laptop back on. Press the F2 key as soon as the Dell logo shows on the screen. This will let you enter BIOS. Click on “Security” to expand the menu. Choose “Admin Password” and use the text field to check if your keyboard works. If your keyboard doesn’t work in BIOS, continue to the next step.
Step 3: Run SupportAssist
Click on the Ease of Access icon. Select “On-Screen Keyboard“. Log into your profile. Click on the Windows icon. Search “SupportAssist” and open the program. Go to the Home tab. Click on “Run All“. Continue the process until your laptop is fully optimized. If prompted, restart your laptop.
Method 6: Update Your BIOS
If nothing else works, the BIOS on No products found. may be outdated. To update your BIOS, you can follow these steps:
Click on Windows Search on your Taskbar. Search “bitlocker“. Click on “Manage BitLocker” from the results. Select “Suspend protection“. Choose “Yes” if there’s a pop-up. Go to www.dell.com/support. Choose “Detect PC“. Click on “Drivers & Downloads“. Choose “BIOS” as your category. Download the latest BIOS update, and run the file when it’s done. Click “Update” in the application window. Continue the process until the BIOS is updated.
Note: If you have an ASUS laptop instead of Dell, then we have a guide on fixing your ASUS laptop keyboard. And if you have a Chromebook – How to Fix your Chromebook Keyboard. If you want to get the most out of your Dell laptop, we have other guides such as How to Connect AirPods to Dell Laptop. and also How to get your Dell monitor out of power save mode.
Conclusion
Although it may seem intimidating, fixing your Dell laptop keyboard can actually be easy if you just follow the instructions above. Whether you just needed to unlock the NumLock key or update your BIOS, we hope that this article helped you if your Dell laptop keyboard was locked!
