Disable the Built-In Laptop Keyboard in Windows

Sometimes you don't want your laptop's keyboard to take inputs. This is usually because you're plugging in an external keyboard, either because the built-in one is broken or you just want a larger typing space with a full-sized keyboard.

However, since the keyboard is an integral part of your portable computer, disabling its primary input method is a little tricky. Here, we show you how to temporarily and permanently disable the laptop keyboard on Windows 10 and 11.

To identify the built-in keyboard in Device Manager:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and click OK to open Device Manager.
3. In Device Manager, expand the Keyboards section.
4. Right-click on the keyboard entry (HID / Standard) and select Properties.
5. In the General tab, check the Location section. If it says Standard Location 1 / Plugged into keyboard port, it is likely your laptop’s internal keyboard.
6. Bluetooth and USB keyboards will show On Bluetooth Low Energy and On US Input Device, respectively as its location.

If you don't find your keyboard listed, make sure you have set Device Manager to show hidden devices.

To disable your laptop’s keyboard temporarily:

1. select Uninstall Device from the context menu.
2. Click Yes to confirm the action.

This is a temporary solution. As soon as you restart your system, Windows will look for the connected but unrecognized devices and install the necessary drivers to make them functional.

Next, To disable the laptop keyboard permanently:

1. Press the Win key and type cmd in the Windows search bar.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator. Click Yes when the UAC prompt appears.
3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:
   sc config i8042prt start= disabled
4. When the success message appears, close the Command Prompt, and restart your PC.
5. After the restart, your laptop keyboard will stop registering any inputs.

If you change your mind and want to re-enable the keyboard, you can use the following command in an elevated Command Prompt.
sc config i8042prt start= auto
Once you see the success message, restart your PC to apply the changes.

 

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