On Windows, the keys that normally produce + and =, and the keys that produce - and _, appear to be swapped while typing. The system shows US QWERTY as the selected language and keyboard layout, so I'm not sure what changed or how to restore the normal key behavior.
4 Answers
Look at the actual number row and compare the last keys with the expected sequence: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =. If the physical keycaps are in the wrong positions, they can be carefully pulled off and exchanged, but that only changes what the labels show—it won’t change the characters Windows sends.
Press Win + Space to open the keyboard-layout switcher, then explicitly select the US keyboard layout. Windows can sometimes have another layout active even when the main language settings appear correct.
Check whether a UK layout or another regional layout is installed or active. You can also switch to a different layout and then switch back to US QWERTY, which may reset a mistaken layout selection.
Since + and = share one physical key, and - and _ share another, this sounds more like the keyboard layout or a key-remapping setting than swapped keycaps. If changing layouts does nothing, test another keyboard to determine whether the issue follows the keyboard or stays with the computer.
I tried Win + Space, but it didn’t fix the problem.