You discovered your keys aren’t working and now you are wondering the ways you can unlock the keyboard on your dell laptop.
A keyboard is bound to have a problem one way or another because it is a computer device on its own. Keep reading to learn more about how to unlock a dell laptop keyboard.
A locked keyboard will definitely prevent you from turning on wireless capability on your Dell laptop with the use of the shortcut keys.
Before I reveal the methods to you, I want to show you why or what caused you to have a locked keyboard on your dell laptop.
Table of Contents
Why Is Your Dell Laptop Keyboard Locked?
There are several reasons why your dell laptop keyboard is locked but you will find the most common reasons below.
These are the reasons:
- Fn Lock.
- Num Lock.
- Outdated keyboard driver.
- Dead wireless keyboard battery.
- Damaged keyboard.
Related Blog: How To Connect Dell Laptop To Wifi Windows 10?
1. Fn Lock
Your Dell laptop’s Fn key is known as the function key on your keyboard that gives you the option to change settings or toggle features by tapping a combination of keys.
It’s possible to accidentally lock the “Fn” key when you drop your dell laptop or your pet sits on your keyboard. The Fn key is located usually beside the windows logo button on your keyboard.
Whenever you press a function key like the F key at the top of your Dell keyboard to either increase or decrease your brightness or volume, they can respond just like they should without the need of holding the Fn key.
If you are facing a situation where all the F keys at the top of your keyboard don’t respond when you click them, this is how you know the Fn key is required and needs to be clicked simultaneously.
All you simply need to do is to press and hold the Fn key first and then click on the primary key for your dell laptop to recognize the command.
2. Num Lock
Num Lock can also be referred to as a Numeric Lock which is a key that can be found on the numeric keypad on your dell keyboard.
The Num lock key is like the Caps Lock and Scroll Lock key which gives you the ability to turn off the numeric keypad entirely.
You can find the Num lock key by the top right-hand side of your dell keyboard which is commonly identified with a closed padlock.
There’s a built-in LED on the Num lock which signifies if the Num lock key is turned on or off. Although you may not find this feature on every Dell laptop, it is worth mentioning.
Most people might begin to get worried when they notice that the number pad on their dell keyboard isn’t working and you may be among these people.
What you should understand is that whenever the right section of your Dell keyboard seems to be locked or not working, it may be an indication that your Num lock key is disabled and needs to be enabled.
3. Outdated Keyboard Driver
Every device connected to your dell laptop must have a driver installed on your Dell laptop and the reason this is to help your computer understand and recognize the device that is connected to it.
Sometimes when a driver is not installed properly or is outdated, this situation confuses your Dell computer to react negatively and not recognize the device at all.
In this situation, your Dell keyboard may be the culprit. Chances are that your keyboard drivers are corrupted and require troubleshooting.
It is important to inspect your keyboard drivers just to know if they truly are corrupted so that you can fix them.
An uncomplicated way to fix your Dell keyboard driver is to simply uninstall it and reinstall it back. After you are done reinstalling, you should restart your Dell. Your keyboard drivers will be reinstalled the moment your Dell laptop restart.
4. Dead Wireless Keyboard Battery
This section is dedicated to those users that use a wireless keyboard with their Dell laptop.
The common problem accompanying a wireless keyboard is the battery. It’s very easy to forget to replace or recharge a wireless keyboard.
When the battery of a wireless keyboard is dead or low, it can cause the keyboard to misbehave when in use. You may experience your keys being stuck or not functioning at all.
Anyone going through this might think that their keyboard is locked or not working which isn’t the case.
The simple way to fix this problem is by replacing the wireless keyboard battery or charging it
5. Damaged Keyboard
Sometimes it is easier to just face the truth. If you have tried every method to unlock your dell keyboard and it’s still not working, maybe you should accept the fact that you have a bad keyboard.
Dropping your laptop and spilling water on your dell keyboard can damage your keyboard.
Before concluding if you have a dead keyboard, I suggest you try all the troubleshooting methods I am going to show you below.
How To Unlock Keyboard On Dell Laptop?
There are different methods to unlock your Dell keyboard and I have provided the most important guides below to help you quickly.
- Unlock the Dell Fn key.
- Unlock Num Lock.
- Update Keyboard Diver.
- Drain Dell Laptop Static Electricity.
- Replace Dell Keyboard.
1. Unlock Dell Fn Key
This method is to help you Unlock your dell keyboard by Unlocking your Fn key. This is one of the easiest ways to unlock your dell laptop keyboard.
2. Unlock Num Lock
If the number keys by the right-hand side of your dell keyboard are the only keys not working, then it means your dell keyboard Num Lock is locked and needs to be unlocked.
To unlock the Num Lock key,
Locate the Num Lock key by the top right-hand side of your laptop keyboard. On the key is written Num Lock, clicking on it should unlock the Num Lock Key.
Most times, you might need to hold Fn and the Num Lock key to unlock the Num Lock key.
3. Update Keyboard Driver
- Your keyboard driver might be outdated and needs to be updated.
- To update your Keyboard driver,
- Click on the Windows logo key and search for the device manager
- Run device manager
- Once it opens, locate the keyboards and click on the drop-down
- Depending on the number of drivers in the drop-down list, you will have to update everything.
- Right-click on one of the drivers and click update
- A message will pop up asking you how you want to search for your battery drivers, select Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Now let windows search for your drivers automatically
If your drivers are not up to date, update your drivers and restart your laptop. If otherwise, Proceed to the next step.
4. Drain Dell Laptop Static Electricity
This method is highly recommended and works for most people
- To perform this method,
- Turn off your dell laptop
- Unplug your Dell charger and remove your dell battery.
- If your laptop is using an inbuilt battery, open your laptop with a screwdriver and carefully detach the battery cable
- Now hold your power button for 40 to 50 seconds
- Reconnect your battery and charger
- Turn on your laptop
5. Replace Dell Keyboard
At this point, if your dell laptop keyboard isn’t working, I suggest you replace it.
But before you replace it, seek the help of a professional to help you diagnose your laptop properly and confirm if really your keyboard needs to be replaced.
Related Blog: How To Turn Off Number Lock On Dell Laptop?
Some Important Method
Method 1
Press the Fn key located close to the windows logo key
While holding the key, tap the Num Lock key at the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard to unlock the Fn key.
if this method doesn’t work, press and hold Fn and Esc keys to unlock the Fn key
Method 2
Hold down the Fn key and tap theF3 key to bring up the Dell battery monitor screen.
TapFnandF10together to eject the disk drive.
Method 3
Hold down the Fn key and tap the Parrow key to increase the screen’s brightness, and press the down arrow key to decrease the screen’s brightness.
Now tap on one of the keys to increase or decreases the brightness to its maximum or minimum.
Method 4
Click on the Fn key while tapping on the Page Up key to increase the dell laptop’s volume. Use the page Downkey to lower the volume.
Method 5
Press and holdF2andFnkey to turn on or off the laptop’s wireless card. Press and holdF1andFnkey to put the laptop into hibernate mode.
Conclusion
To wrap this up, with these methods above that show you how to unlock a dell laptop, I believe, by now you must have resolved your problem.
If you are considering replacing your keyboard, I suggest you consult a professional first to help you properly check your dell keyboard and let you know if you should replace it.
FAQs
Q 1. Why is my Dell keyboard not typing?
A. The problem could be caused by a faulty USB port, or it may be due to a bad connection between the keyboard and the computer. If this happens often, try changing the cable.
Q 2. How do you unlock the keyboard?
A. You can use the Fn key to lock/unlock the keyboard.
Q 3. How do you unlock the keyboard on a laptop?
A. On most laptops, there are two keys located below the space bar that can be used to access the function key. Press these keys simultaneously for about 10 seconds until the screen turns off. Then press the power button to turn it back on.
