Laptop keyboard and touchpad not working on windows 10. Please help

Ronalzhe · 27 Mar 2017

Hi, I have been using windows 10 for a couple of months. However, the keyboard and touchpad on my laptop just stopped working yesterday on login screen. I plugged in an external USB mouse to login and tried to reinstall the drivers, unfortunately, it didn't fix the problem. Then today I turned on my laptop to give it another try, but now even the external USB mouse is not working. I noticed the external mouse is still working in recovery mode, however, I can't recover the laptop. It asks me to type in the password but my keyboard is not working. Can anyone please help me? Thanks

Caledon Ken · 27 Mar 2017

Hi Ronalzhe. Welcome to the TenForums @Ronalzhe.

First I'm going to recommend unplug your laptop, remove the battery, hold the power button down 25 secs, unplug all USB devices. Let it sit five minutes. Reassemble, do not plug in any USB devices. Boot.

If that doesn't work then you could try Advance Startup options. To get this power up computer, when you start to see the circle of dots press and hold power button down until laptop powers off. Power up and when the circle of dots appear again hold the power button until it powers down. On the third pass it let it boot.

Boot to Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10

Hopefully at this point your mouse will work and you can click trouble shooting, then Advance options. At this point I would try a System Restore. If mouse isn't working there are the arrow keys but that doesn't help much if keyboard is dead.

You sound familiar with device, you could go to Safe mode but if keyboard isn't working there will be an issue. If on any screen you see the Ease of access icon you could click on that to get onscreen keyboard but that assumes external mouse is being responsive.

Please post back.

Ronalzhe · 28 Mar 2017

Hi Caledon, thanks for your reply. I can't really remove the battery since it is an ultrabook. Maybe I can try to drain the battery?

The external mouse is working in advanced startup options. However, I can't do a system restore since I can't use the keyboard to type in my account password. I also can't go to safe mode because Keyboard is not responding. Ease of access icon only appears on the login screen, but both touchpad and mouse are not working, so couldn't click it.

I will borrow an external keyboard and mouse from a friend tomorrow to see if they will work. Please help me if you have other suggestions. Thanks in advance.

AndreTen · 28 Mar 2017

Check that you are not in Tablet mode. Or some button to switch off keyboard isn't pressed.

Ronalzhe · 29 Mar 2017

Hey guys, the keyboard and touchpad still not working after I restore the system, I also did a clean reinstall the system. The cap lock light is on all the time though. The driver says keyboard error code 10. Does anyone any ideas what I should do now?

Caledon Ken · 29 Mar 2017

What error are you getting on Touchpad if any?

If it recognizes it at all, has it loaded correct driver made by correct manufacture?

Since you really can't reset the system with removal of power you might want to try to load defaults in BIOS in the hope it resets devices. Before doing this please document what you have for each setting, maybe take some pictures with phone.

It is starting to sound like hardware error, one opinion. Could be something simple like a ribbon cable coming loose. That said getting at that cable could be rather tricky. Everyone has different levels of comfort taking things apart. There are videos on disassemble for most devices. Of course you could wind up with dozens of pieces, (screws), and you may need special tools.

To really get at the root as to whether this is hardware or software I would look into resetting BIOS.

My next step would be to download and create an Ubuntu disk or key. Boot from it, don't install, there will be an option to test drive. If keyboard and touchpad still dead then hardware is cause. Ubuntu is free, get from source. When you boot you will likely need to disable secure boot.

I will be offline for a week. Post back, I would like to hear what you find.

Ken