Keypad Test

This keypad test checks all 17 keys on a numeric keypad and shows the current Num Lock state, so you can confirm that each key registers and that it sends the right thing in both modes. Press a key and it lights up amber while held, then turns green when released; a key that stays dark is not reaching the computer. The Num Lock indicator reads On or Off after your first press.

How to run the numpad test

1. Click anywhere on the page so it receives key presses.
2. Press each key on the keypad once: Num Lock, the divide, multiply, subtract and add keys, the digits 0 to 9, the decimal point and Enter. The diagram shows the keypad in its standard layout, with the tall Add and Enter keys and the wide 0.
3. Watch the Tested counter. It reads 17 when every keypad key has registered.
4. Check the Num Lock reading. Press the Num Lock key, then any digit, and the reading flips between On and Off. Test the digits in both modes if you use both.
5. Press Reset and repeat if you want a second pass, for example after cleaning a key.

The same colours and rules apply as on the main keyboard test: a key pressed again within 25 ms of release is marked red as chatter, and a key held longer than three seconds is marked red as stuck. The Issues counter adds them up. Keypad Enter is captured so it does not submit anything or scroll the page. To test the keypad together with the rest of the keyboard, switch the layout from Keypad to Full above the diagram.

What each key sends with Num Lock on and off

The keypad is the only part of a keyboard where one physical key sends two different meanings depending on a lock state. The code, which names the physical key, never changes. The key, which is what the press means, switches with Num Lock.

This page tracks keys by code, which is why the diagram lights up the same key regardless of Num Lock. If you want to see the key value change live, press a keypad digit on what key am I pressing with Num Lock on, toggle it, and press again. The decimal key is the one most people trip over: with Num Lock off it is Delete, which is why a spreadsheet can seem to eat characters when you meant to type a point.

On Windows, holding Shift while Num Lock is on temporarily gives you the navigation meaning, so Shift plus Numpad8 acts as Up. That is normal and not a fault. Exact key names with Num Lock off can vary slightly between browsers and operating systems, but the pattern above holds on Windows and Linux.

Reading the Num Lock indicator

The browser cannot ask the keyboard for the lock state directly; it reads a flag that comes attached to every key event. That is why the indicator shows a dash until you press a key, and why it reflects the state at the time of the last press. Press Num Lock and the reading may not change until the following key, so press Num Lock and then a digit when you are checking it.

If the reading disagrees with the LED on the keyboard, trust the reading. The LED is driven by the keyboard's own idea of the state, and on some wireless keyboards it falls out of step with the computer after a reconnect. Pressing Num Lock twice usually brings them back together.

Num Lock is often the cause when someone reports that the number pad has stopped working. The keys are fine; they are sending Home, End and the arrows, which a text field does nothing visible with. Check the indicator before suspecting hardware.

Testing a laptop's Fn number keys

Compact laptops have no keypad, but many notebooks embed one in the main keyboard: the keys 7, 8, 9, U, I, O, J, K, L, M and the surrounding punctuation carry small numpad legends, activated by Fn plus Num Lock, Fn plus F11 or a similar combination that depends on the model. Once the overlay is active, those keys send the same Numpad codes as a dedicated keypad on most laptops, so pressing U lights up Numpad4 on this diagram.

That makes this page a quick way to find out whether the overlay is switched on by accident. If typing emails produces digits instead of letters, press a few of the letters here: if they light up on the keypad diagram, the embedded numpad is active and the Fn combination will turn it off. The Fn key itself cannot be tested in a browser because it never leaves the keyboard. The laptop keyboard test covers the Fn row and the rest of a notebook keyboard.

Some thinner laptops have no embedded keypad at all. On those, nothing on this page will light up, and the only way to get a keypad is to plug one in.

External and Bluetooth number pads

A standalone USB keypad reports exactly the same codes as the keypad section of a full-size keyboard, so it is tested here the same way: connect it, click on the page and press each key. Most have their own Num Lock key that toggles the same system-wide state as a full keyboard.

A few things to watch, depending on the model:

• Bluetooth keypads sleep. The first press after a pause often only wakes the device and is not delivered. Tap a key, wait a moment, then start pressing keys for the test.
• Mac modes. Some keypads have a switch or a key combination for a Mac mode that changes what certain keys send. If a key appears to be dead, check that the mode matches your computer.
• Extra keys. Keypads with a Backspace, Tab, 00 or calculator key send codes outside the 17 shown here. They will appear in the event log under the diagram when pressed, but they do not count toward the Tested total.
• Hubs and adapters. A keypad that drops presses through a hub or a USB-C adapter usually behaves when connected directly. Try that before concluding the keypad is faulty.

Reading the results

• A key never lights up. The switch under it is not making contact, or the keypad is not sending that code. On a full-size keyboard that is usually a dirty or worn switch; on an external keypad check the connection and any mode switch first.
• Keys light up but the wrong characters appear in your application. Num Lock is off, or on a laptop the overlay is in the wrong state. The diagram is correct because it works on physical position.
• A key turns red. Either it was pressed twice within 25 ms, which is switch chatter, or it stayed down for more than three seconds without a release, which is a sticky switch. Check the event log entry for the time and the chatter label.
• The whole keypad is dark but the main keyboard works. On a full-size keyboard the keypad is wired on its own matrix lines, so a single broken trace can take out the whole block. On an external keypad it is almost always the connection.

Related keyboard tests

The keyboard test on the home page covers the whole keyboard, including the keypad on the Full layout, and the same colour rules apply. On a notebook, the laptop keyboard test uses the compact layout and explains the Fn combinations that control the embedded keypad. Mac users with an Apple keyboard with a numeric keypad can run the Mac keyboard test, keeping in mind that macOS has no Num Lock state to toggle.