Keyboard is typing digits instead of letters: what should i do

Sometimes laptop users are facing quite an unusual problem that is pretty confusing. Especially for those who do not have that much of experience with portable computers. The problem is that when you are pressing keys with letters, numbers are printed on the screen instead. Very often users with little experience come to believe that this situation happens because of some viruses. But the truth is – viruses got nothing to do with it. In most cases, the problem is related to much more ordinary causes.

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Table of contents:
1. Why digits are appearing instead of letters
2. What should i do if digits are typed instead of letters
3. What should i do if the problem is not connected to num lock mode

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Why digits are appearing instead of letters

If on your laptop you are typing letters but seeing digits instead, most likely the Num Lock mode is on. Usually it is used to simplify the working process for those laptop to users who have to type a large number of digits (for example for accountants). But only the shortened keyboard on the laptop replaces the letters with numbers when printing on a screen.

There are several types of keyboards that can be conditionally divided into two types: short ones and full-sized ones. Those keyboards that have to be connected to the system unit or laptop are more often full-sized. They have a separate set of keys with digits on the right side and it allows you to easily dial digits. Short keyboards do not have such a set and some laptop manufacturers are transferring digits to the alphabetic part of the keyboard.

What should i do if digits are typed instead of letters

Your keyboard will be typing digits instead of letters in case the Num Lock mode is on. It has to be switched off if you need to type letters that are printed on the keys.

There are several ways to switch Num Lock mode on and off on the laptop keyboard. Sometimes it is enough to press a certain key named Num Lock on a keyboard (if it has a luminodiode it will be lit in case Num Lock is activated). On some keyboards you will need to press a certain combination to turn Num Lock off (for example Fn+F11 or Fn+Scroll). Check your keyboard and see which key has “Num Lock” printed on it, press this key together with the functional key of your laptop.

After you manage to switch Num Lock mode off all letters will be typed as usual.

What should i do if the problem is not connected to num lock mode

If Num Lock mode is switched off but the laptop (or the PC keyboard) is still typing digits instead of letters, you may try the following:

• Check which language you are using right now. You can see that in the lowest right corner of the screen. Normally it will be English language, but generally it is optional and better be checked;
• Check which applications are active right now. Open Task Manager and see which processes are started and which applications are active on your computer. Make sure you are aware of what all this applications are doing, try to close all unknown applications and check again if your keyboard is typing correctly now. There are some certain applications that may change keys functionality;

• Reset the registry. Registry is a very powerful tool that lets you to make all kinds of changes in Windows operation system functionality. There is a chance that you downloaded and started reg-file and this file made some changes reassigning keys inside the registry. The most simple solution in this situation will be resetting the registry.

If none of the recommendations written above helped to change the situation and your keyboard is still typing digits instead of letters, you may need to try connecting another keyboard to your computer or resetting the operation system.