If your Dell keyboard is locked, you may have accidentally disabled the FN key. All you need to do is hold the FN and Numlock buttons at the same time to fix this.
The problem can also be due to a glitch. You should be able to take care of this by restarting your Dell computer.
I've owned my Dell laptop for a while now, and its keyboard recently got locked. I tried unlocking the FN key, and this did the trick.
I ran through how I did this, as well as some other fixes to try.
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There are a couple of tricks to try, and they include:
If you're using a wireless keyboard, there's a chance that its battery is dead. Hopefully, this is what you're dealing with, as you wouldn't have to worry about any complex bugs or glitches. Simply change its batteries.
At the same time, your laptop's battery may be low and causing your laptop keyboard to act up. Put it to charge for around hour and then try again.
Users most of the time face the issue when they lock the FN key. As mentioned, I've accidentally locked my Dell laptop keyboard this way.
Here's what you do:
Instead of your F keys being locked, the issue could be due to your Numlock key.
To unlock your Numlock key, do the following:
The problem might be due to a minor glitch. Restarting your Dell laptop should take care of it.
To restart your laptop:
Once you're done, unplug the power cord from your laptop (if you have it connected), wait a minute or two, then plug it back in again and reboot your device.
If the restart didn't do the trick, you can take things up a notch and remove your laptop battery while it's turned off. Remember to let it rest for a couple of minutes before putting the battery back in, and rebooting.
You might be able to fix the problem by updating your keyboard driver. This should help if it's outdated and has been bugging out.
Now, when you uninstall keyboard drivers, they automatically reinstall with the latest firmware.
To fix your locked Dell keyboard:
As mentioned, once the driver is uninstalled, Windows will automatically reinstall it with the latest software. This will take a minute or two.
Your operating system could be bugging out as well. To stop it from acting up, download the latest Windows version.
Just remember that you will need a stable internet connection first.
Here's what you do:
If it's a more stubborn glitch that you're dealing with, you will have to perform a full-system scan. It's a multi-step process, and I've run through each part of it below.
To enter Windows Safe Mode:
Check for any error codes, and write down the details. Contact a Dell support agent through their social media channels/official support channel about what appeared. They should be able to take care of the issue for you.
If you didn't see any error message, move on to part 2 of the process. You should get a functional keyboard now.
To unlock keyboard:
If you weren't able to unlock the keyboard in Bios mode:
Hopefully you won't have to deal with a locked keyboard anymore. If you're still facing this problem, I have a couple more tricks for you.
You can try updating your computer's BIOS if none of the above fixes worked.
Here's what you do:
The problem might be due to a broken keyboard. If you're using an external keyboard, you can find out whether it's broken. Plug it into another computer and check whether it works.
Depending on your device warranty, you should be able to get it fixed for free.
If none of the above fixes worked, don't worry. Switching on your onscreen keyboard is a workaround that you can try. You'll still be able to type, but it might be a bit harder.
Do the following:
Answered below are some popular questions.
There are many possible reasons why you may be dealing with a locked keyboard.
If your Dell laptop keyboard locked, the FN key might be locked. You'll have to either press the Fn key and the ESC key, or the FN key and Numlock key at the same time.
All devices connected to your Dell have a driver to identify the device connected. If the keyboard driver acts up, this could be another cause of the problem.
You will need to go to your device manager settings to update driver. Just note that the process to update a Dell laptop keyboard driver can take some work. You'll have to uninstall and then reinstall it.
Of course, you may be using a broken USB keyboard. Try it out on another computer, and see whether you're having any issues.
Hopefully you found all the points mentioned useful, and are able to get your Dell laptop keyboard working again.
You should be able to use the above fixes on any Dell laptop, regardless of the model.
