#Typing numbers help windows 10#

In this case, youвЂ™re typing numbers instead of letters because the Num Lock key is turned on. Your laptop will most likely look different than this, but many manufacturers use some variation of using keys on the right side of the keyboard as a numeric keypad with Num Lock.ДЄs a result, if you hit the Num Lock key by accident on a laptop, you might have a problem that looks like this.

When you push them, they register as the symbol highlit in the red circle. When you press the Num Lock key (seen here highlit in a red rectangle), 15 of the keys switch modes into a simulated numeric keypad.

#Typing numbers help windows 10#

Here is an example a keyboard made by Acer for a Windows 10 laptop. Instead of changing cursor keys into numbers, it converts a section of the QWERTY letters on the keyboard into a virtual numeric keypad. Most laptops donвЂ™t have dedicated numeric keypads, so Num Lock works differently on them. WhatвЂ™s Different About Num Lock on a Laptop?

With Num Lock turned off, the keypad registers as cursor keys (like up and down arrow) and some editing keys (such as Home and Insert). With Num Lock turned on, the numeric keypad on a desktop PC works like an adding machine keypad with numbers and symbols (such as *, /, and +) that represent mathematical operations. Here is an example of a typical numeric keypad location on a desktop keyboard. To switch modes between them, IBM introduced the Num Lock key. To save room on the keyboard, IBM decided to make keys on the numeric keypad do double duty as both number keys and cursor keys. Num Lock, short for вЂњnumber lock,вЂќ is a feature of PC keyboards dating back to the very first IBM PC in 1981.