When I hold down a key on my generic external keyboard, it suddenly starts registering dozens of separate presses per second—more than 60 in some cases. This does not happen with my laptop's built-in keyboard, and the problem only started a few days ago. In games, holding a key should produce one continuous input, but this behavior acts like an autoclicker. What could be causing it, and how can I fix it?
1 Answer
That sounds more like keyboard chatter or switch bounce than normal key repeat. A failing switch, loose USB connection, driver issue, or keyboard software setting can make one held key appear as many separate presses. Try a different USB port, test the keyboard on another computer, and check whether the issue affects every key or only one. If it follows the keyboard, the hardware is probably failing; replacing it may be the practical fix.
That makes more sense—the behavior started recently, and it definitely is not the normal repeat rate. I’ll test it on another port and computer to see whether the keyboard itself is the problem.