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Why does the on-screen keyboard pop up when I have a physical keyboard?
I have a physical keyboard connected to my device, but the on-screen keyboard keeps popping up unexpectedly while I am typing or navigating through the system, which is frustrating and interrupts my workflow. I have checked the keyboard connection and can still type normally, so I suspect an accessibility setting, automatic touch-keyboard feature, or system glitch may be triggering it, but I cannot identify the cause or find a permanent way to stop it.
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Windows has two different software keyboards, so the fix depends on which one is appearing.
For the touch keyboard that opens when you select a text box:
- Windows 11: Go to Settings > Time & language > Typing > Touch keyboard and set Show the touch keyboard to Never, if available.
- Windows 10: Go to Settings > Devices > Typing and turn off the option to show the touch keyboard when not in tablet mode and no keyboard is attached.
For the Accessibility On-Screen Keyboard, go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard on Windows 11, or Ease of Access > Keyboard on Windows 10, and turn it off. Win+Ctrl+O also toggles this keyboard, so an accidental shortcut can bring it back.
On a convertible laptop, check that it isn’t incorrectly detecting a folded-back or detached keyboard. That can trigger the touch keyboard even when typing still works.
