Repair a Faulty MacBook Keyboard: 10 Proven Solutions

Published Apr 4, 2023, 11:30 AM EDT

Olasubomi Gbenjo is a freelance writer and tech enthusiast working at MakeUseOf to enlighten readers one clear, concise, and compelling article at a time. She's enormously curious and enjoys finding solutions to problems. When she's not writing or learning more about how technology continually shapes the world around us, you'll find her adding to her items cart or watching The Office.

Occasionally, you might encounter strange problems when using your MacBook's keyboard. Maybe a key won't respond, or all the keys at once suddenly stop working.

Perhaps, when you press a key, a different letter or symbol appears on the screen. Fortunately, if your keyboard isn't actually broken, there are a few ways to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

1. Clean Your Keyboard

This may seem far too simple; however, it's often just the fix you need to get your keyboard working perfectly again. Occasionally, dust and debris get trapped underneath these keys. And an abundance of them in those crevices can be responsible for one or two keys not working well or generally feeling sticky.

Now, you have to be very careful when cleaning your keyboard. You don't want to cause further damage to your MacBook. So, follow our detailed guide on cleaning your computer's keyboard.

2. Update macOS

There's a reason Apple rolls out macOS updates— primarily to fix bugs or introduce new, cool features. If you're running a much older macOS version, there's a chance it's associated with whatever keyboard problems you're facing.

And updating your MacBook's software might just be the fix you need to have a properly functioning keyboard again. If you're not sure where to start, feel free check out our detailed guide on updating macOS.

3. Disable Mouse Keys

If, after cleaning your keyboard and updating your macOS, the problem persists, it may be time to tweak some notorious options in your MacBook's settings accordingly. Enabling something called "Mouse Keys" reconfigures your keyboard so certain keys move your pointer instead of displaying the relevant text.

Here's how to disable Mouse Keys on your MacBook:

1. Click the Apple logo in the menu bar, and then select System Settings.
2. Select Accessibility from the left pane, then scroll down and click on Pointer Control on the right.
3. In this menu, toggle Mouse Keys off, then click the Info (i) button to configure your Mouse Keys settings even further.
4. Now, toggle off the two options: Press the Option key five times to toggle Mouse Keys and Ignore built-in trackpad when Mouse Keys is on. This prevents you from accidentally enabling Mouse Keys anytime in the future.
5. Lastly, click OK to save your changes.

4. Disable Slow Keys

If that doesn't do the trick, then something else called "Slow Keys" might be responsible. If this option is enabled on your MacBook, then none of the keys will respond unless you press and hold them down for an extended period.

To disable Slow Keys on your MacBook, do the following:

1. Head over to the Apple menu, then select System Settings from the dropdown.
2. Select Accessibility in the sidebar, then click on Keyboard in the menu on the right.
3. In this menu, toggle off the Slow Keys option.

5. Disable Sticky Keys

Sticky Keys is a feature, which ideally, saves you the stress of holding down multiple keys to complete an action. However, if you somehow forget to disable this feature, it may seem like your keyboard is acting up. For example, without holding Command + B (the shortcut for boldfacing text) at once, the text appears in bold.

Follow these instructions to disable Sticky Keys:

1. Click the Apple logo in the menu bar and select System Settings from the dropdown.
2. Select Accessibility in the sidebar, then click on Keyboard in the menu on the right.
3. Now, toggle off the Sticky Keys option.

6. Reconfigure Modifier Keys

There are five keys known generally as modifier keys: the Caps Lock, Control, Option, Command, and Globe keys. Now, one or all of these keys may suddenly not work as expected. And this is usually because they may have been configured to complete actions different from their default function.

For example, the Caps Lock key may suddenly not respond anymore. Or weirdly, when you press the Shift key, it works as if it's the Caps Lock key. In that case, you need to reconfigure all five modifier keys, and here's how:

1. Head over to the Apple menu in the menu bar and click on System Settings from the dropdown.
2. Select Keyboard from the left pane, then click on Keyboard Shortcuts on the right.
3. In the pop-up window that appears next, select Modifier Keys.
4. Make sure each Modifier Key on the menu on the right has the appropriate action selected in the corresponding dropdown menu.
5. Rather than manually remapping each modifier key, you can select the Restore Defaults option.
6. Click Done to save your changes.

7. Check Keyboard Layout Setting (Input Sources)

Suppose you only use the U.S. keyboard layout set in English, but a friend or colleague, who occasionally uses your MacBook is more comfortable working with a different keyboard layout and language. They may have added their preferred setting under Input Sources.

While they may have set it back to the former layout when handing the Mac back to you, at any point where you press Control and the Space bar, the keyboard layout switches back instantly. This might explain why the keys no longer respond as you expect.

So, follow these steps to check your keyboard layout setting:

1. Head over to Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Select Keyboard from the left pane, then scroll down to Text Input and select the Edit option right next to Input Sources.
3. Under Input Sources, you'll see a list of some keyboard layouts on the left. Select the odd keyboard layout, and click the minus (-) button in the bottom-left corner to remove it from the list.

If a different language aside from English has been added, you'll find it here too. You can follow the same step to remove it from your list of keyboards.

8. Reset NVRAM and SMC

If you use an older Intel-based MacBook, and none of the aforementioned fixes work, then you might have to reset some components of your Mac called the SMC (system management controller), PRAM (parameter random access memory) and NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) respectively.

We've already covered how to do an SMC and PRAM/NVRAM reset on your Mac if you're unsure where to start. You don't need to do all this if you use any of the modern Apple silicon MacBooks. Instead, you can simply restart your computer.

9. Uninstall Recently Installed Apps

We generally advise you to install and download apps with great caution. If your MacBook starts acting funny shortly after installing a third-party app, you should uninstall that app from your Mac immediately. While the app might be harmless, it won't hurt to uninstall it just to see if that's what caused the keyboard to malfunction.

Now, if all the options listed fail to work, your best bet would be Apple Support. Try to schedule an in-store visit and have a skilled professional take a look at your MacBook. If it's a serious hardware problem, they are in a better position to offer a viable solution.

Keep an External Keyboard for Emergencies

MacBooks come with one of the most comfortable keyboards. So, it can be quite frustrating when you cannot use the keyboard as you desire. So, try all the fixes we listed till you find the one that works for you.

However, you can go one step further by getting an external keyboard. You may be surprised at all the benefits of having one on your desk, especially when the built-in one starts malfunctioning.