How To Disable The Built-In Laptop Keyboard in Windows
How To Disable The Built-In Laptop Keyboard in Windows
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Sometimes you don't want your laptop's keyboard to take inputs. This is usually because
you're plugging in an external keyboard, either because the built-in one is broken or you just
want a larger typing space with a full-sized keyboard.
However, since the keyboard is an integral part of your portable computer, disabling its
primary input method is a little tricky. Here, we show you how to temporarily and permanently
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For this, you’ll need to identify the integrated keyboard in Device Manager. Since Device
Manager will list all the recognized keyboards, including external keyboards, here’s how you
can identify your laptop keyboard from the list.
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If you don't find your keyboard listed, make sure you have set Device Manager to show hidden
devices.
1. Right-click on all the HID and PS/2 Keyboard entries with the Properties Location set to
Location 1 or Plugged into keyboard.
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That said, this is a temporary solution. As soon as you restart your system, Windows will look
for the connected but unrecognized devices and install the necessary drivers to make them
functional.
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If you want to disable your laptop keyboard permanently, you can disable your laptop’s built-in
keyboard driver PS/2 i8042prt service using the Command Prompt. We'll use the sc
command-line utility to configure the service and set its start parameter to disabled.
1. Press the Win key and type cmd in the Windows search bar.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator. Click Yes when the UAC
prompt appears.
3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:
4. When the success message appears, close the Command Prompt, and restart your PC. After the
restart, your laptop keyboard will stop registering any inputs.
Note that, for this to work, you will need to uninstall your keyboard from Device Manager as
shown above and restart your PC.
If you change your mind and want to re-enable the keyboard, you can use the following
command in an elevated Command Prompt.
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sc config
Link copied toi8042prt
clipboard start= auto
Once you see the success message, restart your PC to apply the changes.
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After the restart, your laptop keyboard will stop working. If you need to install the correct driver
again to enable the keyboard, right-click on the keyboard device and select Update driver.
Next, select Search automatically for drivers. Windows will look for a compatible driver and
install it.
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update driver search automatically for drivers device manager
Alternatively, select Browse my computer for drivers in the Update Drivers dialogue. Next,
select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer. Make sure the Show
compatible hardware option is enabled. Select an HID Keyboard Device driver from the list
and click Next.
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install compatible hardware driver keyboard device manager
Wait for the driver to install. Once done, reboot your computer, and the keyboard will start
working again.
That said, apart from the hardware issues, your laptop keyboard can act up for many other
reasons. To fix your keyboard, check for pending driver updates, use the built-in
troubleshooter, or simply disable the individual keys.
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Tashreef is a developer and works as a technical writer at MUO. With a bachelor's degree in Computer Applications, he has over
7 years of experience and covers Microsoft Windows and everything around it. When not looking for a missing semicolon or…
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