How to Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac

This wikiHow teaches you how to enable different types of keyboards for Windows and macOS.

Method 1
Method 1 of 5:

Enabling the On-Screen Keyboard (Windows)

  1. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 1
    1
    Click the Search icon. It’s usually a magnifying glass or white circle next to the Start menu.
    • If you don’t see these icons, press ⊞ Win+S.
  2. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 2
    2
    Type keyboard. A list of search results will appear.
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  3. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 3
    3
    Click On-Screen Keyboard. It should be near the top of the search results.
  4. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 4
    4
    Slide the “On-Screen Keyboard” keyboard to
    Windows Switch On
    .     This opens the on-screen keyboard. You can use this keyboard by clicking the mouse (or tapping the touchscreen) on the key you want to type.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 5:

Enabling the Touch Keyboard (Windows)

  1. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 5
    1
    Right-click the part of the taskbar with the clock. It’s usually at the bottom-right corner of the screen. A menu will appear.
  2. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 6
    2
    Click Show touch keyboard button. This adds a small keyboard icon to the area by the clock.
    • If you have a lot of icons in this area, click the arrow to display the icons you can’t see.
  3. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 7
    3
    Click the keyboard icon. This opens the touch keyboard. You can now use your touchscreen to type.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 5:

Adding Another Language Keyboard (Windows)

  1. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 8
    1
    Click the Search icon. It’s usually a magnifying glass or white circle next to the Start menu.
    • If you don’t see these icons, press ⊞ Win+S.
  2. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 9
    2
    Type region. A list of results will appear.
  3. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 10
    3
    Click Region & Language. It should be the first match.
  4. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 11
    4
    Click + Add a language. A list of languages will appear.
  5. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 12
    5
    Click the language you want to enable. This downloads the language and adds it to the Languages list.
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    6
    Click the language you just downloaded. It’s under the “Languages” header. Some buttons will appear.
  7. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 14
    7
    Click Options.
  8. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 15
    8
    Click Download. The keyboard for this language will download to the computer. When it’s finished installing, you’ll be prompted to restart the computer.
  9. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 16
    9
    Restart your computer. Click the
    Windows Start
    , click
    Windows Power
    , then click Restart. The computer will turn off and then turn back on.
  10. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 17
    10
    Switch the keyboard to the new language. Now when you need to switch languages, press and hold ⊞ Win and the Spacebar to bring up the language list, then click the language you want to use.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 5:

Detecting a New Keyboard (Windows)

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    1
    Plug the keyboard cord into the computer’s USB port. If you plugged the keyboard in and it was not automatically detected, unplug the cable, then plug it back in.
  2. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 19
    2
    Open the Device Manager. If the keyboard is still not detected, type device manager into the search bar, then click Device Manager in the search results.
  3. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 20
    3
    Right-click Keyboards. A context menu will appear.
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    4
    Click Scan for hardware changes. This scans the computer for new keyboards. Once your keyboard is detected, the appropriate drivers will be installed.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 5:

Enabling the Accessibility Keyboard (macOS)

  1. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 22
    1
    Click the
    Mac Apple
    menu.     It’s at the top-left corner of the screen.
  2. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 23
    2
    Click System Preferences.
  3. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 24
    3
    Click Accessibility. It’s the blue circle with the outline of a person inside.
  4. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 25
    4
    Click Keyboard.
  5. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 26
    5
    Click the Accessibility Keyboard tab.
  6. Image titled Enable a Keyboard on PC or Mac Step 27
    6
    Check “Enable Accessibility Keyboard” box. The accessibility keyboard is now enabled.
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About This Article

Nicole Levine, MFA
Written by:
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 19,912 times.
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Co-authors: 1
Updated: May 18, 2021
Views: 19,912
Categories: Basic Computer Skills
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