Lenovo Yoga 2 in 1 keyboard stopped working

Hello, Tom O'Sullivan

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A

Thanks for your feedback. I read your description of the problem and I understand the distress it caused you. You mentioned that you found that the built-in keyboard of your Lenovo Yoga laptop suddenly stopped working

You mentioned that you are currently using a Bluetooth keyboard, which is a good temporary solution and also proves that the problem is limited to the laptop's built-in keyboard and the operating system's ability to handle input is normal. .

Keyboard failure on 2-in-1 laptops such as Lenovo Yoga is usually caused by the following reasons.

Solution 1: Check whether it is in "tablet mode" or sensor failure, which is the most unique and most common cause of problems in Yoga series 2-in-1 laptops.

Yoga laptops have built-in sensors that automatically disable the built-in keyboard and touchpad when you flip the screen beyond a certain angle (such as 180 degrees) to prevent you from accidentally touching it in tablet mode.

The sensor responsible for detecting the flip angle may be faulty or stuck at the software level, even if your laptop is in normal laptop mode, it incorrectly reports to the system that "it is now in tablet mode", thereby disabling the keyboard.

Hard Reset:

Shut down your laptop. Disconnect all external devices, including the power adapter, USB devices, Bluetooth keyboard, etc. Press and hold the power button for 30-60 seconds. Keep holding even if the screen turns off. This discharges any residual static electricity on the motherboard and resets the Embedded Controller (EC). Release the power button and wait one minute. Reconnect the power adapter and then turn on the laptop to test the keyboard.

Flip the screen multiple times:

Fold your Yoga laptop completely into tablet mode and wait a few seconds. Then fully unfold it back into normal laptop mode. Repeat this process 2-3 times. This physical action can sometimes "wake up" or reset a stuck sensor.

Solution 2: Check and update critical drivers

Right-click on the Start Menu button and select Device Manager. In Device Manager, find and expand the Keyboard category. You should see one or more keyboard devices, such as "HID Keyboard Device" or "Standard PS/2 Keyboard." If there is a downward arrow next to the device, it is disabled. Right-click it and select Enable Device. If there is a yellow exclamation mark next to the device, there is a problem with the driver. Right-click it, select Update Driver, and then select Search Automatically for Drivers.

In addition, the drivers provided by Windows Update are generic versions. I strongly recommend visiting the official Lenovo support website. There, enter the serial number or specific model of your Yoga laptop. Download and install all the latest drivers related to the motherboard chipset, power management, and any Lenovo-specific system interface drivers (Lenovo System Interface Foundation). These drivers usually include low-level support for hardware such as keyboards.

Solution 3: If all the above software-level fixes don't work, you may need to consider the possibility of hardware failure.

Test the BIOS/UEFI environment:

Restart your laptop. When you see the Lenovo logo at startup, immediately press a specific key continuously (usually F1, F2 or Fn+F2 for Lenovo) to enter the BIOS/UEFI setup interface. BIOS is a low-level system that is completely independent of Windows. In this interface, try to use the up, down, left, and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor.

If the arrow keys on your keyboard are still completely unresponsive in this environment: then you can be 100% sure that there is a physical failure in the keyboard hardware itself or the cable connecting it to the motherboard.

If the keyboard works properly in BIOS: This means that the hardware is good and the problem is still within the Windows system. In this case, the last software solution is to reset or clean install Windows.

I understand that this may be a difficult decision, but in order to get your computer back to normal operation, this is a method that can be tried. How to clean install Windows, you can refer to the following link,

Reinstall Windows - Microsoft Support

Windows 11 Clean Installation

Disclaimer: Let's try to perform a clean installation. If there is important data in the computer, we still recommend backing it up in advance.

Best Regards,

Kai Ho | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist