What happened to my keyboard while typing in Word?
QSomething strange happened when I was typing in Word, while pausing for thought. My PC’S speakers bleeped, making me jump. Simultaneously, a warning box flashed and disappeared, so I have no idea what it was about. Since then it feels like someone’s poured treacle into parts of my keyboard. Sometimes I have to hit keys several times before they’re registered! It doesn’t feel like these two things are a coincidence. Do you have any ideas? Kevin Morse
AYes, during your reverie you inadvertently enabled an accessibility feature called Filter Keys. This is intentionally achieved by holding down the right Shift key for a few seconds and then clicking OK or hitting Enter. We guess that when the pennywhistle piped you accidentally hit Enter.
Filter Keys exists to help those who have difficulty with their fine motor skills, ignoring repeated key presses caused by shaky fingers, for example. However, it can also make typing feel ‘sticky’ if you’re not used to it, and don’t need it.
The sensitivity of Filter Keys can be adjusted but in your case it simply needs to be disabled. To do this, click Start followed by the Settings cog, and then ‘Ease of Access’ followed by Keyboard. Then, in the right-hand pane, under ‘Use Filter Keys’, just flip the switch to the Off position (see screenshot). Also, note that clearing the tick from the ‘Allow the shortcut key to start Filter Keys’ box will prevent a repeat occurrence.