How to configure the keyboard of a computer, notebook or laptop? step by step guide

This article was created with the intention of helping all those people who are having problems when typing with their physical keyboards on their computers. This is usually due to a misconfiguration, although in other cases it may may have accidentally activated the “Num Lock” key. Each of these scenarios look very complicated, but they actually have a fairly simple solution.

Most of today’s operating systems are designed so that the same user is capable of solving any misfortune that may arise at some point. It is because of that macOS and Windows they are so easy to use. Many people believe that in order to apply these solutions you must have advanced knowledge, but the reality is that they can be done in a very short time.

In this article we will teach you how to correctly configure the keyboard of your computer, Notebook or Laptop. This guide is very extensive since we show the step by step to change it from Windows or MacOS, here you will find how to repair your keyboard with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 despite being the same operating system changing versions alters a bit the position of the options.

Steps to configure and repair the keyboard on your computer or notebook

If your keyboard doesn’t type what you tell it to, it’s probably using a different language. This tends to happen a lot when accidentally activating languages. Modern keyboards have the advantage of being able to type in multiple languages. So that today we will teach you how to check if this is the problem and how to fix it.

Before starting with the steps, Let’s do a review of the Num Lock or Num Lock keywhich is mostly located at the top of the keyboard. On many laptops when this key is activemakes the letters type numbers or symbols instead of what they should be typed, or even makes the number keys work or not.

To deactivate it you must locate the position of this key and press it again to deactivate it, for some keyboards you need to press Fn + NumLock. Now we confirm that this function is deactivated by typing again, specifically with those keys in which you presented the problem.

On Windows 10

Windows 10 is one of the OS that offers the most facilities to users when making driver and hardware configurations. If what you want is to delve into the keyboard configuration, what you should do is the following:

• Enter in the “Control Panel” and find the section “Accessibility”. Once there, look for and click on the option “Change keyboard behavior.”
• This will open a window like the one in the following image where you will see all the configurable aspects, and you will be able to change and activate them at will and then save the changes by clicking on “To accept”.

An aspect that you will not be able to configure in the previous section is the language of the keyboardwhich is also an important thing to know.

To do this you simply have to do the following:

• Enter the menu of “Windows” and then you click on “Setting”. In the window that will appear you will select “Add a keyboard.”
• Automatically will show a list in which you will see all the existing keyboards in the world. For example, if our physical keyboard is Spanish and the one we have (in the configuration) is American, its keys would not match, it is for this reason that the keyboard is considered misconfigured.

• To eliminate this problem we must search the list for the keyboard that matches our language. If we are going to write in Spanish we click on the keyboard “Spanish”. Now you look for the icon “IT IS” located on the Windows taskbar on the right side.
• Then it will display a small list of keyboards which are installed on the system, so you select the Spanish language (or the one you want).

• In this way already you will have changed the language of your keyboard and you will have it configured correctly from your Windows 10 computer.

on Windows 7

The process in Windows 7 is practically identical to that of the previous version. Both OS are very similar, in fact many say that the success of version 10 is due to the similarity it has with 7. Again, the first thing you should learn is to enter the keyboard configuration.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Enter in the “Control Panel” and search “Accessibility”. Once there, click on the option “Change keyboard behavior.”
• This will open a window where you will see all the configurable aspects, and you can change and activate the ones you want at will and then save the changes by clicking on “To accept”.

• The next thing to do is simply change the language in case this is not configured in the best way.
• Look for the option at the start of Windows “Control Panel” located to the right of it. Already being in the control panel, double click on the icon “Regional and Language Settings”.

• In the window that opens, click on the option “Change keyboard or other input methods”.

• Another window will appear, and within all the options that are displayed, select “Change Keyboards”.

• In the box that is shown you will see a drop-down list where you will look for the language for your keyboard and click on “To accept”. If the language you want does not appear, click on “Add” and in the list that is shown with all the existing keyboards, select the one of your preference and click on “To accept”.

In this way you change the keyboard of your computer. To confirm, on the taskbar look for the icon “IT IS” and you click, the keyboard that is marked as default will appear with a bullet, if it is the one you chose then everything was done perfectly.

On Windows 8 and 8.1

In this section you will learn how to configure the keyboard from your Windows 8 or 8.1 in a quick and easy way. Again, the first thing you should do is configure the most basic aspects.

To do this you must do the following:

• Click on the menu “Start”, subsequently locates “Control Panel” and search within “Accessibility”. Once there, click on the option “Change keyboard behavior.”
• A window will open where you can see all the configurable aspects, and change and activate the ones you want at will and then save the changes by clicking on “To accept”.
• For what refers to the language press the keys Win + X to be able to access the “Panel of control”. You can also access this window from the Windows search engine by typing “Control Panel”.
• Once there we look for the option that says “Watch, language and region” and select the option “Add a language”.
• Then the default language by Windows 8.1 will appear. You click on the link “Options” and in the section “Input method”then you will click “Preview”.

• When the default keyboard sample appears on the screen, it must match the one you physically have. If not, you will have to close the window and go to the options “Add an input method”.

• will show a options list with those keyboards and their different languages. You must choose the one that matches your physical keyboard so that you can enjoy it.
• After doing so, you return to step 3 and confirm the keyboard and verify that it matches the one you physically have.

on macOS

With MacOS configuring your keyboard will be much easier, since you don’t have to do so many procedures. Follow the instructions that we leave below so that you can achieve it and enjoy writing in the language as it should.

• On the desktop look for the Apple icon and click it to open the menu, then find and select the option “System preferences”.
• Enter the search options “Keyboard” and click there.
• Then select the tab “Input Source” located at the top of the window.

• Click on “+”, which is located on the left side of the dialog box. There look for the option “Idiom” and you click on it and a list of languages ​​that the system already has installed will appear.
• Click on the keyboard or on the option “Ticket Sources” to default to the keyboard language for your computer, which this option is located on the right side of the “Control Panel”.
• Then you will be presented with a keyboard layout example so you can check if it is the keyboard you want to choose.

• Then click on “Add”. now mark “To show” the keyboard menu in the menu bar located at the bottom of the window. Doing so will cause a flag to appear on the right side of the menu bar.
• Beam click on the flag and select the language you want to use on the keyboard. Clever!

What to do if your keyboard is English and you want it in Spanish?

This situation is different, since if you want to write in Spanish you will have to memorize the position of the Spanish keys or use the on-screen keyboard. Though the difference from one keyboard to another is the letter Ñ.

However, today the markets they sell mats to install it on your physical keyboard and thus change all the keys and symbols. This method is very useful if you have a laptop.