For the past few days, my plugged-in generic keyboard has started registering a key as dozens of separate presses per second whenever I hold it down. This only happens with the external keyboard; my laptop keyboard behaves normally. It is especially noticeable in games where holding a key should produce one continuous input rather than repeated clicks. What could be causing this, and how can I fix it?
1 Answer
That sounds more like key chatter or a failing switch than normal keyboard repeat behavior. Try a different USB port, restart the computer, and test the keyboard in a text editor or keyboard-testing website. If the same key produces repeated inputs there too, check whether another keyboard works normally on the same computer. You can also reinstall the keyboard device in Device Manager and check for any keyboard macro or remapping software. If the problem follows this keyboard, its switch or controller may be failing and replacement is probably the practical fix.
It started only a few days ago, and the laptop keyboard still works normally, so I’ll test the external keyboard on another computer to see whether the issue follows it.