11 Best Fixes To Fix Corrupted Keyboard Driver in Windows

It can cause a great deal of disruption when one of the hardware components or a driver does not function properly on your computer. One such inconvenient situation is Fix Corrupted Keyboard Driver becomes corrupt and you are not able to type anything when you push any character key on your keyboard.

Here’s everything you need to know about corrupted keyboard drivers and how to fix them on the Windows 10 operating system.

What causes a corrupted Keyboard error in Windows 10?

Damaged keyboard drivers are very common among computers. This can prevent you from using your keyboard to type on the screen or perform other operations, which means that you have to depend on your mouse for everything unless you have a touch screen device. 

These are some of the reasons your keyboard driver becomes corrupt and your keyboard fails to function as before:

1. The keyboard may be physically damaged. A broken keyboard mechanism is of no use to anyone. Only a warranty can help you if this is the factor responsible for your dysfunctional keyboard.  
2. The driver may be missing or corrupt. The absence of a driver or its incompetence to provide any level of system performance can cause the keyboard to not function.
3. Overheating of the computer can cause keyboard and mouse-related issues, especially in laptops.
4. The presence of malware can corrupt system files and also hardware drivers, causing a wide array of problems.

Methods to fix a corrupted keyboard driver error

1. The On-Screen keyboard (Alternative)
2. Check for hardware damages
3. Take a look at the keyboard cables
4. Troubleshoot the keyboard
5. Update current keyboard drivers
6. Reinstall your keyboard drivers after uninstalling them
   1. Uninstalling the Keyboard drivers
      1. Device Manager
      2. Registry Editor
      3. Third-Party Driver Management software
   2. Reinstalling the Keyboard drivers
      1. Device Manager
      2. Manufacturer’s Website
7. Install new keyboard drivers in the Windows Compatibility mode
8. Force your keyboard to detect itself
9. Disable Filter keys on your computer
10. Disable the Fast Startup feature
11. Use your keyboard interface software

Fix Corrupted Keyboard driver in Windows 10

The On-Screen keyboard (Alternative)

Some of the following techniques might require minimal typing. An On-Screen Keyboard is a useful tool in this situation if you do not have a spare keyboard. 

To launch the little keyboard, follow these steps:

1. Bring up the Windows Settings window through the gear icon on the left panel of the start menu or by pressing Windows + I keys together on the keyboard. 
2. Go into the Ease of Access settings tile and click on the Keyboard tab in the left pane.
3. Turn on the Use the On-Screen keyboard toggle switch to enable it on your screen.

Check for hardware damages

Before you start with the following procedures, take a look at your keyboard. If your keyboard is damaged, physically, it may not function as expected. This has nothing to do with your keyboard driver.

You can claim a warranty from the buyer or manufacturer to repair your keyboard. If your keyboard is mechanical or semi-mechanical, you can buy new keycaps for your switches.

Keyboards with removable/interchangeable keycaps have to be cleaned regularly after you remove the keys. If all of the above physical fixes do not fix your keyboard, do as the following procedures instruct.

If this doesn’t work for you, it is time to purchase a new keyboard. Check for keyboard compatibility before you buy it.

Take a look at the keyboard cables

The cable used to connect your keyboard with the computer may be twisted, damaged, or loosely connected. This can happen to the USB pin too, causing your keyboard to not be detected by the computer.

If your cable is damaged, make sure to cover the damage with an insulating material as direct exposure to the ruptured cable can cause shocks. You can also change the cable with the help of tech support. 

Troubleshoot the keyboard

A troubleshooter is a very helpful inbuilt scanner for Windows users, especially used to detect problems with various specific aspects of the computer and fix them without much involvement from the users. 

1. Search for cpl in the search field on the taskbar and choose Control Panel from the results.
2. Go into the Troubleshooting settings.
3. Click on the View all link on the left panel.
4. Locate the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter and launch it.
5. Do as the troubleshooter instructs you to repair the problem with your keyboard. 

In most cases, the troubleshooter will detect the issue and fix it. If it gives you a solution but does not implement it, you have to do it manually. If it has no idea what the error is, follow the methods below.

Update driver software for your keyboard

The simplest way to fix any corrupt driver is to update it. Not only will this fix the malfunctioning issue on your computer but also bring in fixes for other bugs and glitches caused by the driver’s namesake device.

This is the procedure to update your keyboard driver:

1. Launch the Device Manager window on your computer. There are three ways to bring up this window on a Windows 10 PC.
   1. Type in Device Manager in the taskbar’s search menu and select Device Manager on the left.
   2. Open the Run tool (Windows + R) and execute the devmgmt.msc command.
   3. Right-click on the Start button or press the Windows key + X key to open the Quick Link menu on the lower-left corner of the screen and select Device Manager.
2. Click on the Keyboards section to expand it. You’ll see a list of all the keyboards you have ever connected to your computer. 

3. Right-click on the troublesome keyboard device and then select Update device from the pop-up menu.

4. An update wizard appears on your screen. Choose “Search automatically for updated driver software” between the two options. 

After you update this driver, restart your computer to retain the changes you made. Check if your keyboard works.

Reinstall your keyboard hardware drivers after uninstalling them

Removing and reinstalling any driver is a way of fixing driver-related issues and getting the updated driver software. In this case, we will be working with a keyboard driver, which has two ways to delete it and two ways to reinstall it.

Uninstalling the keyboard drivers

You can uninstall the available hardware driver on your computer with three different, easy procedures. They are as follows –

a. Device Manager

1. Open the Device Manager, expand the Keyboards option and locate your keyboard drivers.
2. Right-click on the corrupted keyboard device driver and select Properties.
3. Go to the Driver tab and select Uninstall Device.

4. Choose Uninstall in the Prompt window. 

b. Registry Editor

1. Search for the Registry Editor in the search bar and open the first search result.
2. Open the Edit menu and select the Find option.
3. Type in “kbdclass” and press the Enter key to initiate the search.

4. Look for keys with the name “UpperFilters” and “Data of”.
5. Open it by double-clicking on it and modifying the test to accommodate only the kbdclass element and click on the Ok button to save the changes. 

You have to apply this change to every UpperFilters element and close the registry editor window. 

c. Third-Party Driver Management software

If you are too busy to delete the drivers, manually, or if you find the above processes complicated, you can install an application that manages your drivers for you. There are good tools that will download, install and also delete the drivers, precisely.

Reinstalling the keyboard drivers

a. Device Manager

1. Open the Device Manager window.
2. Click on the Action menu and choose Scan for hardware changes. 

The deleted/missing driver will be detected by the device manager, with little cooperation from the user, and be installed when chosen to.

b. Manufacturer’s Website

The keyboard manufacturer’s website contains the latest driver software. The downloadable driver is usually in the form of an executable file. You can download it and run it to get the latest version of the driver software.

Install new keyboard drivers in the Windows Compatibility mode

The Compatibility mode in Windows is a feature that enables users to emulate applications on their Windows computer, with previous versions of the Windows Operating System (OS). Installing your keyboard driver when the compatibility mode is enabled for a different OS version may get your keyboard working once again.

1. Download the driver update from the keyboard brand’s website. 
2. Right-click on the Setup file and click on the Properties option in the context menu.
3. The Properties dialog box opens. Expand the Compatibility tab.
4. Click on the “Run this program in compatibility mode” checkbox and select the necessary OS in the drop-down menu.

Once these steps are complete, the driver installation has to be carried on as usual. Reboot your computer as a precaution to save your changes. 

Force your keyboard to detect itself

This procedure requires some typing. So you will have to use the On-Screen keyboard or a spare keyboard. You’ll basically restart the keyboard driver with this command prompt script.

1. Launch the command prompt tool on your screen, by typing in cmd in the search bar and selecting the first search result. 
2. Copy and paste the following command onto your cmd.exe window

rem value 3 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt” /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

3. Press the Enter button on the On-Screen keyboard to execute this command. 
4. Restart the PC and see if your keyboard works. 

If it does, it means that you have successfully forced your keyboard to work.

Disable Filter keys on your computer

The Filter keys feature disables the repeated pressing of a button in order to prevent the display of multiple continuous characters on the display.

This is how you can disable the Filter keys attribute in Windows 10:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.  
2. Go into the Ease of Access Center in the Control Panel window. 
3. Scroll down and click on the Make the keyboard easier to use link.
4. In the Make it easier to type section, uncheck the Turn on Filter Keys checkbox to disable it.

5. Select Apply and then, Ok to keep the changes that you made.

Disable the Fast Startup feature

The Fast Startup feature is responsible for the quick booting up of the Windows OS when booting up. You may have to turn it off, in order to see if this action fixes your keyboard. 

Turn off fast startup with these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel window and double-click on the Hardware and Sound options in the main window.
2. Go into the Power Options window and select Choose what the power buttons do.
3. Click on the Change settings that are currently unavailable link to unlock the unavailable settings.
4. Remove the check from the Turn on fast start-up (recommended) option in the Shutdown settings section.

5. Click on the Save Changes button and restart your computer. 

Use your keyboard interface software

Some keyboard brands have interface applications to set key binding and make small changes in keyboard attributes like the hotkeys and media control. This is usually downloadable through a CD ROM that came with the keyboard packaging.

More recent versions of this software can be found on the brand website, usually in the support section. There is no guarantee of this, but there are chances that your keyboard can be fixed through this application.

If all of the above methods do not work, contact technical support. If they aren’t able to fix it.