How to disable laptop keyboard when external plugged in

[Remi7544]

I have a physically damaged ctrl key that is still active after spilling coffee, I want to deactivate the built-in keyboard and use the laptop until the keyboard  replaced in service

[Raj_05]

Hi @Remi7544,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

To disable the built-in keyboard on your HP Pavilion 17.3 inch Gaming Laptop when an external keyboard is plugged in, you can use Device Manager in Windows. Here’s how to do it.

Connect the External Keyboard: Make sure your external keyboard is connected to the laptop.

Open Device Manager:

• Right-click on the Start button (Windows icon) and select Device Manager.

Locate the Keyboard Section:

• In Device Manager, find the Keyboards section and expand it.

Disable the Built-in Keyboard:

• Look for an entry that corresponds to your laptop's built-in keyboard (it might be listed as "Standard PS/2 Keyboard" or similar).
• Right-click on the built-in keyboard entry and select Disable device.
• Confirm any prompts that may appear.

Restart the Laptop: It’s a good idea to restart your laptop to ensure that the changes take effect.

Notes:

• If you cannot find the option to disable the keyboard, you may need to uninstall the keyboard driver instead. In this case, right-click on the built-in keyboard entry and select Uninstall device. The driver should reinstall upon reboot.
• If you ever need to re-enable the built-in keyboard, you can follow the same steps and select Enable device or reinstall the driver.

Make sure to keep the external keyboard handy since you won’t be able to use the laptop's built-in keyboard while it is disabled.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

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Alden4

HP Support