What causes the number keys to stop working on Windows 10?
In recent weeks a new problem has surfaced on my work PC. The number keys along the top of the keyboard, not the numeric keypad, occasionally stop working. Strangely it is not the entire row of keys, only the 1/! to 0/) that stop working. The `/~ key to the left and -/_, =/+ and backspace keys in the same row still work. Both the shifted and un-shifted modes stop working.
I don't believe it is a hardware or firmware fault with the keyboard but some kind of software issue as it is resolved by a reboot. I know that there is an option that can prevent the keys on the numeric keypad from working as normal while controlling the mouse pointer but not of anything that could affect the normal number keys.
Does anyone have any ideas of what might be causing it?
To clarify why I don't think it is a hardware fault, this is happening infrequently; only three times in the last while and each occurrence has been at least a week apart. I don't see how the keyboard would work fine for ages then suddenly exhibit this behaviour only to work fine again after a reboot.
Update: The problem seems to be related to a bug in the Windows 10 PowerToys application. See accepted answer for link to GitHub issue.
43 Answers
I had the same problem and it seems to be the FancyZones part of Microsoft Powertoys that somehow makes the number keys stop working. I solved the problem by closing Powertoys and reopening it.
Hope this helps
Found Issue #410: PowerToys steals my number keys! that confirms this is likely what caused my problem.
5To delete/uninstall the drivers from the registry follow these steps:-
- Press Win + X
- Choose Device Manager.
- In the list of given items,open the keyboard section.
- Right click on the keyboard that is shown and click Properties.
- In the details tab, select the property to Class Guid.
- Now open Windows Registry( press Win + R and type Regedit and hit Enter )
- Press Ctrl + F and paste the value and hit Enter .
Press F3 (Finds the next item) till you find something named “DriverInfName” that has Type “REG_SZ” and has the Data as “keyboard.inf”(This would be found on the right side of the window).
Delete the entire folder which would be highlighted on the left side of the window(It would be a tree structured list).
Close the registry(wait for it as it might be doing some changes).
- Remove the keyboard.
- Restart the computer and before restarting connect the keyboard back again(Note:The start up may take longer than expected as it would be installing the driver).
Note:Your keyboard may not work after this process,It did work for me but only do so if you have an extra keyboard
If you don’t wish to do the aforementioned,to uninstall from the driver from device manager,follow the above steps till 3 and follow these steps after that:
- Right click on the keyboard present and click uninstall driver.
- Restart the computer and wait to see if the problem still occurs and only then risk it for the registry uninstall.
Fancy Zones in Power Toys was indeed the culprit. Disabled the feature and killed the process; all works as before.
2
