How To Disable a Laptop Keyboard
After unintentionally dropping or spilling liquid on your laptop, you may have to learn how to disable your laptop's keyboard. If the laptop's keyboard is damaged, you may want to turn it off to prevent accidental keystrokes. Once you've disabled the keyboard, you're free to swap out, clean, or repair the keys as you choose without disrupting your system. Instead of using your laptop's built-in keyboard, you could also utilize an external one.
Can I Disable My Laptop Keyboard?
Wondering if you can disable your laptop's keyboard? The answer is yes. You can either disable your laptop's built-in keyboard permanently or do it temporarily.
How To Temporarily Disable Laptop Keyboard
If you only want to deactivate your laptop's keyboard until you restart it, the steps are simple. All you need to do is remove the device's drivers using the Device Manager. If you only need a temporary repair or don't mind restarting your laptop, this is a simple and quick way to disable the keyboard.
The steps are as follows:
- To begin, launch Device Manager by typing "devmgmt.msc" into the Start Menu's Search box.
- Expand Keyboards.
- Uninstall the Netbook Keyboard Device by right-clicking on it.
- You may reactivate it at any moment by restarting your laptop.
When you remove a device, you will be prompted for confirmation many times. When selecting any of the suggestions, ensure not to restart your laptop. Restarting the laptop will set the keyboard to its default functions and settings.
How To Permanently Disable Laptop Keyboard
It will be a little more difficult to permanently deactivate the keyboard on your laptop. You'll have to disable Windows' ability to reinstall the driver automatically. Otherwise, every time you restart your laptop, the keyboard will come back to life.
To permanently deactivate your keyboard, do the following steps:
- Go to Start and enter 'gpedit.msc' into the search field.
- Navigate to Administrative Templates > System, Device Installation after clicking on the Computer Configuration file.
- Then, choose Device Installation Restrictions from the drop-down menu. On the right, you'll notice a variety of alternatives. Right-click "Prevent Installation of Devices Not Described by Other Policy ” and select enable.
All done. When you restart your laptop, it will not automatically reinstall it, and your laptop's built-in keyboard will no longer work.
How To Disable Laptop Keyboard When an External Is Plugged In
Your laptop's keyboard is broken. Whenever you press a key, it either lags or gives you the incorrect key input. It might have been due to a variety of factors. For example, you may have dropped it or spilled some liquid on the keyboard. However, you can't get any work done if your laptop keyboard is broken. You may address this problem by using an external keyboard. But how can you install an external keyboard while ensuring that the built-in one does not interfere?
To deactivate the laptop keyboard and use an external keyboard, do any of the following:
- Remove the built-in keyboard from the Device Manager. This method, however, is just temporary and will have to be repeated each time you restart your laptop.
- Trick your laptop’s in-built keyboard status in Windows Device Manager. Instead of using compatible drivers, you should the opposite to trick your laptop and disable your internal keyboard.
- Using a batch file, disable and lock the keyboard. If you are comfortable with coding and programming, you may utilize batch files and DevCon instructions in the DevCon.exe file to install, reinstall, update, deactivate, and modify the keyboard and other devices listed in the Device Manager.
How To Disable a Laptop Keyboard in Windows 10
It is possible to disable a laptop's built-in keyboard with Windows 10, the newest and finest in the long series of Windows Operating Systems. You can't truly use any computer (even laptops) without a keyboard, hence why you should attach an external keyboard to the laptop before disabling the built-in keyboard.
To disable the internal keyboard on a Windows 10 laptop, do the following:
- Navigate to the Device Manager. You may do this in one of two ways: right-click on the Start Menu to open the WinX Menu and select Device Manager. You can also press the Windows Logo key + R to open the Run box, type devmgmt.msc into the Run box, then press Enter to launch the Device Manager.
- Find and double-click the Keyboards section in the Device Manager to expand it.
- The Keyboards section will show all of the keyboards that are currently connected to your laptop. Find and right-click on the entry for the laptop's built-in keyboard.
- Click Disable in the following context menu.
- In the following dialog box, click Yes to complete the operation and disable the laptop's built-in keyboard.
If you don't see a Disable option in the subsequent context menu, don't worry, there will be an Uninstall option, which you may use to uninstall the drivers for the built-in keyboard rather than merely disabling it. When you do this, a dialog box will appear asking you to accept the operation. Hit OK to confirm and remove the drivers for the built-in keyboard.
How To Disable a Laptop Keyboard in Windows 11
Some laptop users prefer to utilize external keyboards. There isn't much you can do about the physical built-in keyboard, but there are ways to deactivate your laptop keyboard:
- Uninstalling the driver in Windows Device Manager is the simplest approach to deactivate the laptop keyboard. The disadvantage of this strategy is that Windows will reinstall the driver after a reboot.
- Disabling PS/2 port service. In Windows 11, this will permanently deactivate the laptop keyboard. Although there is a command to reverse this, only use it if you are certain that you want to deactivate it permanently.
So, there you have it. tIt doesn't matter whether you've spilled Mountain Dew on your laptop keyboard or if your built-in keyboard is just too small for you. You can temporarily disable the laptop keyboard to fix and get it working again, or you can disable it permanently and use an external one instead.
