problems wiht Key L

[Dirk73]

I can't get the characters on the L key to appear on my screen. A combination with ALT Gr doesn't work. It does work on other keys. There's a backslash, a greater-than, and a less-than symbol on it.

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @Dirk73 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

Thanks for explaining the issue so clearly—it’s understandably frustrating when a key with multiple critical symbols doesn’t respond as expected. 

Based on your description and similar reports from other HP users, this behavior is often linked to keyboard layout settings or driver conflicts.

Here’s a structured approach to help you resolve it:

 

Step-by-Step Fix for L Key Symbol Access

1. Check Keyboard Layout Settings

Sometimes the layout may be set to a regional or alternate format that remaps symbol keys.

• Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region
• Under Preferred Languages, click your current language → Keyboard Options
• Ensure the layout is set to English (United States) – QWERTY or English (United Kingdom) – UK QWERTY
• Avoid layouts like International, Azerty, or Extended unless intentionally used

After changing the layout, restart your laptop and test the key again.

 

2. Try Alternate Key Combinations

Depending on your layout, the following combinations may help:

• Ctrl + Alt + L
• Alt + 92 (for backslash \)
• Alt + 60 and Alt + 62 (for < and >)
• Fn + Shift + L (on some HP layouts)

If none of these work, proceed to the next step.

 

3. Use On-Screen Keyboard for Testing

• Press Windows + Ctrl + O to open the On-Screen Keyboard
• Tap the L key and observe which symbols appear
• This helps confirm whether the issue is hardware-related or layout-based

 

4. Update or Reinstall Keyboard Drivers

• Open Device Manager (Windows + X → Device Manager)
• Expand Keyboards
• Right-click your keyboard → Uninstall device
• Restart your laptop to reinstall the default driver

 

5. Run HP Hardware Diagnostics

• Restart your laptop and press Esc repeatedly → choose F2
• Run Component Tests > Keyboard
• This will confirm whether the key is physically responsive

More details:
HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Guide

You're clearly approaching this with precision—let’s make sure your keyboard responds just as it should.

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Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye