Certain key doesn't work when pressed, only when held

After swapping my language and input options about (UK layout and German layout) to support the two keyboards I have, a certain key will stop working partially depending on the layout.

If I swap my input method to UK, the apostrophe/at-sign key will stop working. Windows 10 will make a tone sound when pressed twice, and if held it will input many of that key, as should be the case.

If I swap the the DE layout, the would-be apostrophe key works fine, but the colon/semicolon key (Ö on the German keyboard) stops working unless held.

I'm certain it's not a hardware issue, it must be to do with Windows 10.
What's going on and how do I fix it?

Local Crab Enthusiast

Posted 2018-03-12T16:02:23.270

Reputation: 11

1This is indeed not a hardware issue, but in fact the way these keyboard layouts work. Those keys that stop working become modifier keys and if you type them, followed by a space, you get their normal key. If you type them, followed by another letter, depending on what letter you type, it will modify that letter. '+e = é for example. So the solution is to find a better input type that suits your needs. I usually use US Standard if I don't want any fancy characters, and US International if I want basic support for modifiers. – LPChip – 2018-03-12T16:07:21.970

I don't know what keyboard you have, so that's why I posted this as comments and not an answer with a suggestion for the right keyboard layout. – LPChip – 2018-03-12T16:08:24.043

This isn't the case with mine; typing an apostrophe followed by any vowel or space doesn't do anything but make a vague Windows tone sound. It also wouldn't explain the Ö key not working the same on the German layout. – Local Crab Enthusiast – 2018-03-12T16:12:34.230

Trust me, its a keyboard layout issue. – LPChip – 2018-03-12T16:35:47.137

Answers

I solved this by removing a mistakenly added 'change layout' shortcut, to the grave (`) key, oddly affecting the apostrophe and ö keys on the other layouts.

To fix this:

Context-menu/Right-mouse on the Language Bar on the Windows taskbar -> Settings/Einstellungen
In the third section, "Change the Input Method"/"Wechseln der ingabemethode", open the blue link at the bottom, "Change the shortcut keys for the Language Bar"/"Abkürzungstasten der Sprachenleiste ändern"
From there, remove the setting for "Change Input Language"/"Zwischen Eingabesprachen" from whatever it is (mine was Graviszeichen (`)) to None.

Local Crab Enthusiast

Posted 2018-03-12T16:02:23.270

Reputation: 11

This exact thing happened to me and this thread lead me to the answer.

The language bar, for whatever reason, wasn't present on my taskbar so I went into Windows 10 Settings/Time & Language/Region & language/Advanced Keyboard Settings/Language Bar Options. In there I went to the Advanced Key Setting tab and selected "Change Key Sequence...". In the box that appeared I set both options to "Not Assigned" and the issue was resolved.

Joe Toaster

Posted 2018-03-12T16:02:23.270

Reputation: 1