- #TURN ON VIRTUAL KEYBOARD WINDOWS 10 FULL#
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- #TURN ON VIRTUAL KEYBOARD WINDOWS 10 WINDOWS 8#
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It doesn’t look quite as slick as it does on Windows 8 and 10, but the on-screen keyboard works similarly. You’ll also find a “Start On-Screen Keyboard” button in the Control Panel’s Ease of Access Center, but that does the same thing as launching the keyboard directly.įor easier access in the future, you can right-click the “On-screen keyboard” icon on your taskbar and select “Pin this program to taskbar.” On Windows 7, you can open the on-screen keyboard by clicking the Start button, selecting “All Programs,” and navigating to Accessories > Ease of Access > On-Screen Keyboard.
Click or tap the “Ease of Access” icon at the bottom-left corner of the sign-in screen and select “On-Screen Keyboard” in the menu that appears to open it. You can also access the on-screen keyboard on Windows 8’s sign-in screen. You can pin the keyboard to your taskbar to access it more easily in the future, if you like. Select “Control Panel.” In the Control Panel window, click “Ease of Access,” click “Ease of Access Center,” and then click “Start On-Screen Keyboard.” To do so, right-click the Start button on the taskbar on Windows 8.1, or right-click in the bottom-left corner of your screen on Windows 8. You can also open the traditional on-screen keyboard on these versions of Windows, too. Click or tap it to open the touch keyboard. You’ll then see a touch keyboard icon appear to the left of your system tray, or notification area. To access it, right-click your toolbar, point to “Toolbars,” and ensure “Touch Keyboard” is checked. Windows 8 and 8.1 work similarly to Windows 10, but the toolbar option is in a slightly different place. Click the “Ease of Access” button at the bottom-right corner of the sign-in screen–to the left of the power button–and select “On-Screen Keyboard” in the menu that appears. You can also access this keyboard on Windows 10’s sign-in screen. You can pin it to your taskbar like you would any other program if you’d like to launch it more easily in the future. You’ll find some additional options you can use to configure it if you click the “Options” button near the bottom-right corner of the keyboard. It’s also a normal desktop window that you can resize and minimize, unlike the new touch keyboard.
#TURN ON VIRTUAL KEYBOARD WINDOWS 10 FULL#
This keyboard includes quite a few more keys, and functions more like a traditional, full PC keyboard than the touch keyboard does. To access it, open the Start menu and select “Settings.” Navigate to Ease of Access > Keyboard and activate the “On-Screen Keyboard” option at the top of the window. There’s also a more advanced on-screen keyboard, which is part of the Ease of Access settings. The keyboard button at the bottom of the on-screen keyboard allows you to select different layouts. The icons in the top-right corner allow you to move or enlarge the keyboard. It works just like a normal keyboard would: select a text field by clicking or tapping in it and then use the on-screen buttons with your finger or mouse.
Once you’ve opened the on-screen keyboard you can tap or click the buttons to send keyboard input. Click that icon or tap it with your finger to pull up the on-screen keyboard. You’ll see a keyboard icon appear near your system tray, or notification area. To quickly access the keyboard from the taskbar on Windows 10, right-click the taskbar and ensure the “Show touch keyboard button” option in the context menu is enabled.
#TURN ON VIRTUAL KEYBOARD WINDOWS 10 WINDOWS 10#
On Windows 10 and 8, there are actually two on-screen keyboards: the basic touch keyboard you can bring up from the taskbar, and a more advanced on-screen keyboard in the Ease of Access settings. It’s particularly useful with a touch screen, but you can also use it to type with a mouse–or even to type with a game controller from your couch. Windows offers an on-screen keyboard that lets you type even if you don’t have access to a physical keyboard. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read nearly one billion times-and that’s just here at How-To Geek.
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Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami’s NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC.
He’s written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek.