Guide: Fix ‘Mouse and Keyboard Not Working’ Issue in Windows 10
A computer without a working mouse and keyboard is equivalent to a car without wheels. Completely useless, right? Well, maybe not quite, but you get the point. That analogy describes the plight of some Windows 10 users who are unable to use their computers because the mouse and keyboard are not working. For unknown reasons, if your Windows computer’s mouse and keyboard suddenly stops working, we have outlined some solutions to fix the problem in this post. This mouse and keyboard malfunction often occurs after a recent OS update. Some built-in Windows settings and configurations can also cause said hardware to malfunction randomly. The solutions below should help you get your mouse and keyboard working again.
1. Quick Solution: Restart your PC
When your computer’s mouse and keyboard abruptly stop working at the login screen, Windows may not be recognizing, communicating, or not loading properly up the drivers responsible for the operation of the mouse and keyboard. So by simply restarting your PC, communication between the device drivers can be restarted and your mouse and keyboard can work again. However, since the keyboard and mouse will not work, you will need to perform a ‘hard reboot’. If your computer has a removable battery, just pull it out, plug it back in and turn your PC back on. If the battery cannot be removed, press and hold the button button to turn it off manually. Wait a few seconds to a minute and tap the power button to turn it back on. That should help fix the idle mouse and keyboard problems. If the problem persists and your mouse and keyboard are not working on the welcome / home page up screen, continue with the next method below.
2. Troubleshoot in Safe Mode
According to some Windows users who have encountered its problems in the past, they were able to use both mouse and keyboard in safe mode. Try to boot your computer in safe mode and try the troubleshooting options below (1 to 4). Here is how to boot your PC in safe mode if your mouse and keyboard are not working. Step 1: Shut down your PC by holding the power button Step 2: Tap the power button to turn it back on. Now when Windows loads with the spinning dot on the screen, press and hold the power button button until the PC shuts down. Step 3: Repeat this process two or three times. On the fourth boot, Windows will detect that you are trying to fix some issues and will automatically boot into the recovery environment. This is where you could boot in safe mode. Step 4: In the recovery environment, tap Troubleshoot.
Step 5: Then select Advanced options on the Troubleshoot screen.
Step 6: Select Startup Settings.
Step 7: Tap Restart button in the lower right corner of the Startup Settings page.
That will bring up a number of boot options for you to choose from. Step 8: Tap the number 4 on your keyboard to boot into Safe Mode with Networking.
Now that your PC has booted into Safe Mode, your mouse and keyboard should work. Continue with the troubleshooting options below to correct the anomalies that prevent both the mouse and keyboard from working in normal boot mode.
1. Update / change mouse and keyboard drivers
If your computer’s mouse and keyboard do not work at startup, their drivers may be outdated and incompatible with the new operating system that you have upgraded to. Follow the steps to update or change your mouse and keyboard drivers. Step 1: Tap the Windows key + X button on your keyboard to open the quick access menu. Select Device Manager from the menu.
Step 2: Tap the drop-down arrow next to Keyboards, right-click the keyboard driver and select Update driver.
Step 3: On the next page, select “Browse my computer for driver software.”
Step 4: Now tap on ‘I want to choose from a list of drivers available on my computer’.
Step 5: Uncheck the option ‘Show compatible hardware’.
Step 6: Choose a different driver than the active one and tap Next.
Restart your computer after the driver installation is complete. Do the same for the mouse driver (under the ‘Mice and other pointing devices’ category) and check if they both work on reboot. If not, try the next method below.
2. Disable Fast Startup
Fast boot is one feature built into Windows 10 operating system to help users boot up their computers faster. However, the feature has a history of causing problems with the Windows shutdown process and preventing the mouse and keyboard from working during startup. Turn this off feature (while booted in safe mode) can help solve the problem with the mouse and keyboard not working. Here is how to turn off Fast startup. Step 1: Type control panel in Windows search box and tap Enter to open.
Step 2: Tap Hardware and Sound.
Step 3: Select Power Management.
Step 4: In the left pane, tap ‘Choose what the power button is doing’.
Step 5: Next, tap on the ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable’ option.
Step 6: Uncheck the ‘Enable fast startup (recommended)’ option and tap Save changes button
3. Delete recent update
If you notice that your mouse and keyboard stop working after installing an update, the update may contain errors. You will need to uninstall the update in order for your hardware to work until a stable update that won’t crash your mouse and keyboard is rolled out. Boot your computer in Safe Mode and follow the steps below. Step 1: Tap the Windows key + I button on your keyboard to open the Windows settings menu. Step 2: Select ‘Update and security’.
Step 3: In the Windows Update section, select ‘View update history’.
Step 4: Click Uninstall Updates.
That will open a new window with a list of all the updates you have installed on your computer. These updates are sorted by installation date, so you can easily identify the last update that messed up up the mouse and keyboard of your computer. Step 5: Right-click on the update (s) you want to remove, tap Uninstall and follow the instructions.
Restart your computer after the removal and your mouse and keyboard should now work.
4. System recovery
If you have previouslyup had made up your computer using the Windows built-in backup tool before your mouse and keyboard stopped working, you can restore the backupup to get them back to work. Simply boot your PC into the advanced recovery environment and follow the steps below. Step 1: Select Troubleshoot.
Step 2: Tap Advanced options.
Step 3: Select System Restore.
Step 4: Then choose the account or user profile to which you want toup want to restore.
Step 5: Enter the account password and tap Continue. If the account is not a password, leave the password box blank and tap Continue.
Step 6: Select the backup data and follow the prompt to restore it. Note: Any changes made to your PC since the last backupup/ restore point will be lost. Make sure you come back up important data on an external drive before proceeding with the system recovery.
Get things working again
Ideally, Windows updates come with new ones features that should make your computer better. However, these updates occasionally cause some disruption to the functionalities of your PC; the mouse and keyboard problem, for example. If you are in this boot, one of the above solutions should get your PC’s hardware working perfectly again. The next up: Ever heard of mouse acceleration? See what it means, how it affects your device’s performance, and more how to on your Windows 10 PC.
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