Laptop Key Test

Press Start the test, then press every laptop key once: each lights on a board with no number pad.

Click here or press Start, then press every key once.

Seen 0 of 74 keys

ISO has one more key beside the left Shift.

Never pressed

Every key of the board, until you press it.

Press Esc twice to leave the box. The legends are those of a US board: the readout shows what your layout types. Print Screen, the Win or Cmd keys, F11 and Menu are often kept by the system and may never reach a web page.

More options

Your last five runs

  1. No run yet.

Nothing from this test is stored unless you tick the box. Kept runs are numbers only and never leave this browser.

How to read it

Keyboard

Press every key once. A key that stays dark was never reported to this page, which is not the same as a broken key.

A key lights when the browser reports it. Keys the system keeps for itself may never reach a web page.

  • Each key on the drawn board lights when the browser reports that position, whatever your layout types there.
  • The readout shows both the character your layout types and the position code of the last key.
  • The list of keys that never lit is kept until you start over, so you can work through it one key at a time.

Result

No keys seen yet. Press Start, then press every key once.

What this means

Keys seen
-
Still dark
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Last key
-

Next step A key typing twice? Log every repeatKeys all answer? Take the 60-second typing test

All 14 checks and readings

What to press on a laptop 6

  • Arrow, Delete and Page keys The 74-key drawing leaves these out, because laptops fit them in different places. Press each one anyway: the readout under the count shows its name and code, the sign that it reached the browser.
  • Esc and the top row, F1 to F12 Press Esc once, then each F key. Esc pressed twice within a second ends the run, so leave a pause after it.
  • Fn pressed alone Nothing lights, and nothing should. To check Fn, hold it and press a key it changes, such as an F key, then see whether the readout under the count names something different.
  • The laptop's own keys and a plugged-in keyboard Both light the same drawing, and the page cannot tell which keyboard sent a key. Unplug or switch off the second keyboard to check the laptop's own keys, then plug it back in to compare one doubtful key.
  • Left and right Shift, Ctrl and Alt Each side has its own place on the board, so press both. A laptop's right Shift is often shortened to make room for the up arrow: press it as well as the left one.
  • Letter and digit rows, left to right Start at the top-left key and press along each row. On a laptop these rows keep the places they have on a desktop keyboard, so each press should light the key under your finger.
Show all 14 checks and readings (8 more)

Laptop readings that need a second look 8

  • A key lit that only ISO boards have You pressed the key between the left Shift and Z while the US board was drawn. Switch the board to ISO (UK and Europe) so that key is counted: the ISO board has 75 keys.
  • A letter stays dark and the readout says Numpad On some laptops Num Lock turns part of the letter block into a number pad. The key then arrives as a pad key, which this board does not draw. Switch Num Lock off and press the letter again.
  • An F key that changes brightness or volume The key did its printed job and stayed dark. Hold Fn and press it again: with Fn held it should arrive as an F key and light.
  • Dark on the laptop, lit from a plugged-in keyboard The browser and the system hear that key from the second keyboard, so the settings and the layout are not the cause. Press the laptop's own key firmly at its centre and at both edges before you decide.
  • Only Win, Menu or F11 stayed dark Many laptops have no right-hand Win key, and the system often keeps the Win keys, Menu and F11 for itself. With only those left, every other key of the board has registered.
  • Right Ctrl left in the Never pressed list Some laptops give up the right Ctrl to make room for the arrow keys. A key your laptop does not have cannot light, so read the list against the keys in front of you before you count one as missing.
  • Several keys dark in a pattern Most keyboards connect their keys by a grid of wires that a controller scans, so several keys share each wire. A group of dark keys, rather than one alone, is worth writing down as a list for a repairer.
  • The whole laptop board lit Every drawn key reached the browser at least once, the right-hand Win and Menu keys included. Each key works when pressed alone. Keys held together are a different check: the n-key rollover test.

How this list was compiled: Checks and readings written for this page; facts read on 2026-10-09. W3C, UI Events KeyboardEvent code Values (Working Draft of 9 May 2023), for laptop layouts, the Fn key, the second job of F1 to F12 and the missing number pad: https://w3c.github.io/uievents-code/. MDN Web Docs, where Fn is listed as firing no event: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/UI_Events/Keyboard_event_code_values. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fn_key (revision of 14 September 2026), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Num_Lock (6 November 2025) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_matrix_circuit (21 July 2025). No maker's function row is described, and the next steps for a dark key are this page's own advice. Licence: own work

How it works

This laptop key test draws a keyboard's main block, with no number pad or navigation keys to leave dark: 74 keys on a US board, 75 on a UK or European one. Each key lights when the browser hears it.

Read the full guide

How to test laptop keys

1. Press Start the test. 2. Press each key once, row by row, with both Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys. 3. Press Esc twice to finish. The board draws a few keys many laptops lack, so a run may not end by itself. Keys still dark are listed under Never pressed.

  • On a UK or European laptop, pick ISO (UK and Europe) before you start.

Questions and answers

How do I test if a laptop key is not working?

Press it during a run: a key that reaches the browser lights, and a dead one stays dark and is listed. A key that fails only sometimes can light on a lucky press, so press a doubtful one ten times and watch the board.

Why does the Fn key not light up?

Fn is typically handled inside the keyboard and sends no code of its own, so no web page can see it. The check Fn pressed alone, in the list under the board, tests it through a key it changes.

Why do the F keys stay dark on my laptop?

On many laptops the top row controls brightness or volume first and acts as F1 to F12 only while Fn is held. If a key dims the screen and stays dark here, that is why.

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