Fix: Keyboard typing wrong letters on Windows

Some Windows 10 users have reported a weird problem where their keyboard is typing the wrong characters. The issue is certainly peculiar since a lot of users report it on brand new computers and keyboards.

Affected users report that typing up a character will output another. For example, one user reports that pressing the Q key outputs Q0 or M while pressing M outputs @.

After investigating the issue, we managed to observe that the most common culprit is a glitched Standard PS/2 Keyboard. However, there are occurrences where affected users discovered that the default output language or AutoCorrect was causing this behavior.

If you’re currently struggling with the same issue, this article will provide you with some troubleshooting steps. Below you have a collection of methods that other users in a similar situation have used to resolve the issue. Please follow each potential fix in order until you find a method that takes care of the Keyboard typing wrong characters on Windows 10 error. Let’s begin!

Prerequisites

Before we start with the actual troubleshooting guides, let’s get a few obvious things out of the way.

For starters, if the keyboard is only outputting one character regardless of which key you press, verify whether that particular key is stuck. If it is, unstuck it and see if the issue is resolved.

Another potential problem causer is the FN + Numlock combo on laptops. Some laptop keyboard will behave erratically when NumLock is turned on. Disable NumLock by pressing Fn + the Numlock key on your laptop and see if the issue persists. You can also try to press Ctrl + Shift to see if you’ve not accidentally toggled a scrambled keyboard.

Next, see whether your USB port is acting up (if applicable) by connecting your keyboard to a different USB port and seeing if the issue repeats.

And finally, connect a spare keyboard and connect it to the machine that is experiencing the keyboard typing the wrong characters. If you don’t see the same behavior with this keyboard, there’s a strong chance that the keyboard itself is broken and the issue is not caused by a conflict or internal driver.

Method 1: Changing the language

Different languages have different input keys. The reason why your keyboard is outputting the wrong characters might be because you have the wrong input language set up as the first choice.

Some users have managed to resolve the issue by changing the default input language to their preferred language. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this and resolve the keyboard typing the wrong characters issue:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Next, type “ms-settings:regionlanguage” and hit Enter to open the Region & Language tab of the Settings app.
   
2. In the Region & language tab, scroll down to Preferred languages  (under Languages) and use the arrow icons to boost your preferred input language to the top spot.
   
3. Once your preferred language is on the top spot, reboot your computer enforce the changes and see if the keyboard typing the wrong characters has been resolved at the next startup.

If you’re still struggling with the same kind of problem, move down to the next method below.

Method 2: Running the Keyboard troubleshooter

One of the first things you can try if you’re struggling with this issue is to make use of the Windows 10 built-in keyboard troubleshooter. This Microsoft utility essentially holds together a list of repair strategies for the most common problems that involve the keyboard on Windows 10.

Upon running the Windows 10 keyboard troubleshooter, the utility will analyze your machine’s behavior and apply the appropriate repair strategy if it manages to find any that is applicable. Here’s a quick guide on running the Windows 10 keyboard troubleshooter to fix the keyboard typing the wrong characters issue:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a new Run command. Next, type or paste “ms-settings:troubleshoot” and hit Enter to open the built-in Troubleshooter.
   
2. Inside the Troubleshoot tab, scroll down to Find and fix other problems and click on Keyboard to expand the drop-down menu. Then, click on Run the troubleshooter to launch the keyboard utility.
   
3. Wait until the analysis is complete. If the troubleshooter manages to find any issues, click on Apply this fix and wait for the process to complete.
4. Reboot your computer and see if the issue has been resolved at the next startup. If you’re still struggling with the same issue, continue down with the next method below.

Method 3: Re-installing the keyboard driver

Another popular fix for the keyboard typing the wrong characters issue is to force Windows 10 to reinstall the keyboard driver by uninstalling it from Device Manager. Some users have reported that the issue was automatically fixed once the Standard PS/2 Keyboard driver was uninstalled.

Here’s a quick guide on re-installing the Standard PS/2 Keyboard driver to resolve the keyboard typing the wrong characters issue:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open up Device Manager.
   
2. Inside Device Manager, scroll down through the devices list and expand the Keyboards drop-down menu.
3. Then, right-click on Standard PS/2 Keyboard and choose Uninstall device.
   
4. Click the Uninstall button again to confirm.
   Note: After you click the Uninstall button, it’s very likely that your keyboard will become unresponsive.
5. Use your mouse to trigger a machine restart. At the next startup, Windows will automatically reinstall the missing Standard PS/2 Keyboard. If the issue was related to a corrupted file within the Standard PS/2 Keyboard driver, your keyboard should no longer output the wrong characters.

If the issue is still not resolved, move down to the next method below.

Method 4: Disabling or modifying AutoCorrect settings

If the issue is only occurring in Microsoft Word, it is very likely that this behavior is caused by AutoCorrect. Some users have reported managing to fix the keyboard typing the wrong characters issue after discovering the AutoCorrect was altering the inputted characters in Word.

Here’s a quick guide on how to check whether an AutoCorrect option is causing this behavior and correct it if necessary:

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Use the ribbon at the top to click on File > Options.
3. In the Word Options menu, expand the Proofing tab and click the AutoCorrect Options button.
   
4. Start looking for any entries that might convert your inputted into other characters.
   
5. Once you do the required modifications, hit Ok to save the changes and restart Word to see if the issue has been eliminated.