When you change the mode of usage of your Windows 11/10 from Desktop to Tablet, you can make the Touch keyboard appear automatically on your screen. By default, Windows does not make the Touch keyboard appear when you tap on the address bar or text fields, but you can change this behavior if you wish.
The Touch keyboard helps you type on any program, and you can open it as per your requirements. However, if you want to show Touch keyboard when no physical keyboard is attached to your computer, you need to turn on this setting. It is possible to enable this feature using Windows Settings and Registry Editor.
As you already know, the Touch keyboard lets you type in any program, including WordPad, Notepad, browser, etc. If you use a tablet, it appears automatically when no physical keyboard is attached to your device. However, it doesn’t appear automatically if you use a desktop or laptop computer, and you need to open it manually even if the physical keyboard is not attached.
Let’s assume that your physical keyboard has some issues, and it is frequently disconnecting. If you want to continue typing, you can open the Touch keyboard at such a moment. However, opening it manually may take some time. That is why you can turn on this setting to show the Touch keyboard automatically when no keyboard is attached.
Automatically display Touch keyboard when no keyboard is attached in Windows 11
To show Touch keyboard when no keyboard is attached via Windows 11 Settings, follow these steps:
- Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
- Click on the Time & language tab.
- Click the Typing menu on the right side.
- Expand the Touch keyboard section.
- The Show the touch keyboard setting offers three options:
- Never
- When no keyboard is attached
- Always
- Select the option you want.
Read: Where is the Tablet Mode in Windows 11?
Make Windows 10 automatically show the touch keyboard
To make the Touch keyboard appear automatically, press Win+I to open the Settings app, Click on Devices.
Now on the left side, you will see Typing. Click on it.
Scroll down and under Touch keyboard settings, you will see Automatically show the touch keyboard when not in tablet mode and there’s no keyboard attached to your device.
You will see that the default is ‘Off’. Toggle the button to the ‘On’ position.
You will now find that Windows 10 is more touch-friendly since the Touch keyboard appears automatically when you switch the mode of usage of your device.
Incidentally, here, you will also see a setting that allows you to add the standard keyboard layout as a touch keyboard option. Toggle it to On, if you wish to enable this setting too.
Automatically Turn on Touch keyboard when no physical keyboard is attached using Registry
You can also use the Windows Registry in Windows 11 and Windows 10. To turn on the Touch keyboard when no physical keyboard is attached using Registry, follow these steps:
- Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
- Type regedit > press the Enter button.
- Click on the Yes option.
- Go to TabletTip\1.7 in HKCU.
- Right-click on 1.7 > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name it as EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke.
- Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
- Click the OK button.
- Restart the Windows Explorer process.
Let’s check out these steps in detail.
To get started, press Win+R to open the Run prompt. Then, type regedit and press the Enter button. If the UAC prompt appears on your screen, click on the Yes button to open the Registry Editor on your computer.
Following that, go to this path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\TabletTip\1.7
Here you can find a DWORD value named EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke. However, if you cannot find it, right-click on 1.7, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke.
Then, double-click on this REG_DWORD value to set the Value data as 1 to show the Touch keyboard when no physical keyboard is attached.
Click the OK button to save the change. Next, you need to open the Task Manager to restart the Windows Explorer.
How do I make the touch keyboard appear automatically in Windows?
To make the Touch keyboard appear automatically in Windows 10, you need to open Windows Settings, and go to Devices > Typing. Then, toggle the Automatically show the touch keyboard in windowed apps when there’s no keyboard attached to your device button to turn it on. Then, you can find the Touch keyboard whenever you disconnect the physical keyboard.
Read: How to turn on Touch keyboard typing sound in Windows 11.
How do I open the On-Screen keyboard when my keyboard is not working?
To open the On-Screen keyboard when your keyboard is not working, you need to enable a setting in Windows Settings. Open the Windows Settings panel, go to Time & language tab, click on the Typing menu, and expand the Touch keyboard section. Then, tick the Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached checkbox.
How do I get my Touch keyboard to automatically appear?
To get your Touch keyboard to automatically appear, you need to create a DWORD value in TabletTip\1.7 in HKCU. You need to name it as EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke. Then, double-click on it to set the Value data as 1. At last, click the OK button and restart the Windows Explorer process.
See this post if your Touch keyboard is not working in Windows – And if you don’t use Touch, you can always disable the Touch Screen functionality in Windows.
