How to display the keyboard on the monitor screen

The keyboard is one of the most vulnerable parts of a computer. The largest percentage of breakdowns occurs precisely in it, since most often users violate such a safety recommendation as the undesirability of eating at the computer. The result is the ingress of crumbs, water and other liquids onto the device, as well as mechanical damage due to the fall of heavy objects (for example, mugs or plates), which can damage it at the most inopportune moment. Fortunately, the creators of Windows took care of such cases when a breakdown occurs, and the user needs to urgently type some text - the keyboard can be displayed on the screen and work with it using the mouse or touchpad.

How to activate the keyboard on the monitor screen

Depending on the degree of damage, there are three different ways to activate the monitor. The worse the breakdown, the more actions you need to take.

Three ways to display the keyboard

The first of them, the longest, is resorted to in cases where the device is completely malfunctioning. The second is more narrowly focused, as it is suitable only for Windows 8 users and includes a voice assistant. The third is the simplest, but requires the operation of at least a few keys.

1. Follow the path “Start” - “Control Panel” - “All Controls” - “Accessibility” - “Turn On-Screen Keyboard”.
2. Turn on the voice assistant and dictate the phrase “On-Screen Keyboard” to search for it on the Internet. Copy these two words. Move the mouse cursor from top to bottom on the right side of the screen and among the icons that appear, select the one with the magnifying glass image. A search string appears in which you want to paste the copied phrase. It remains to choose the desired one among the options found.
3. Hold the key combination Win + R and in the appeared line enter the abbreviation OSK.

How to enable the keyboard on the monitor depending on the OS

The previous methods, apart from the second, are relatively universal. The following take into account the specifics of each version of the Windows operating system, from XP to 8.

Windows XP

Users of this system must complete the following steps:

• click the "Start" button in the lower left corner (or the button with the Windows logo, if it works);
• move the cursor to the line “All programs”;
• find the "Standard" folder;
• select the sub-directory "Accessibility" in it;
• the last step is a click on the on-screen keyboard application.

Windows 7

In this system, the path to the required application is the same as the XP version. But, in addition to this, it is possible to take advantage of the quick search located in the bottom line of the Start menu, into which the corresponding phrase is entered.

REFERENCE. Depending on the operability of the keys, you can type it yourself or use the voice assistant, if available, as in method 2.

Windows 8

Since this system was also developed for touch devices, the on-screen keyboard is included in the default software package and is located in the "Accessibility" section of the "All Applications" list. In addition, in this OS, you can still go to the desired section through the control panel or the search bar.

How to set up a keyboard

As mentioned earlier, you must control this application using the mouse cursor or touchpad.

REFERENCE. If you need to perform an action that requires a combination of two keys, the control key is pressed first, then the letter or number. For example, if a sentence must be capitalized, first press the Shift key, and then the letter you need.

Since typing with the mouse or touchpad is associated with many inconveniences, application developers have taken care to smooth them as much as possible. Making the use of the on-screen keyboard more convenient will help adjusting settings, which include:

• Sound confirmation - when this function is selected, each press of the button will be accompanied by a sound signal.
• Turn on the numeric keypad - its purpose is similar to the Num lock key, activation of an additional side numeric keypad.
• Using the on-screen keyboard - includes three options to choose from. The first of them, “keystroke”, is the default and implies entering text directly by pressing the cursor on the desired letter. The second, “Pointing the mouse,” does not require a click, you just have to position the cursor in the area of ​​the required key and wait a certain time (you can also select it). The third, “key scan”, includes a semi-automatic typing mode. At the beginning with a certain frequency, it is also configured, the computer selects the horizontal line. As soon as the scan has reached what you need, you click with the mouse or click on the space bar (you can choose the most suitable option yourself), then the same procedure happens with the choice of a letter.
• Prediction of the text is almost the same as the function of T9 in smartphones; when you enter the first letters, the program displays prompts, from them you can choose the word you want to type.

Create a shortcut for quick access.

In order to provide faster access to the on-screen keyboard, you can create its shortcut on the desktop. There are two ways to do this.

1. The first is to right-click on the application icon, select “copy”, then go to the desktop, right-click on an empty area and select “paste shortcut”.
2. The second - after right-clicking on the application, move the cursor to the line "send" and select "Desktop".