Wrong characters displayed when typing on Chromebook

Question

When I try to type a question mark character (shift-/) on my Samsung Chromebook, I get an underscore. Other non-letter characters are wrong too.

I haven't had the machine for long, but I think it worked initially, so perhaps I've hit a keyboard shortcut and changed it by mistake?

How can I get it back working correctly again?

Solution 1

You probably have changed your keyboard layout inadvertently. You should check your keyboard configuration settings under the language and regions section in the control panel. There you will be able to see if your configuration has changed, and change it back if it has.

Solution 2

Found this:

You will need to do a hard re-set. Perform this by holding the Refresh key (the key that has an arrow in a circle shape on the top row of keys, and pressing the Power button for one second, then releasing both keys at the same time.) Although this does use the keyboard, these keys are set to trigger these even when it's unable to work.

And this - Gives instructions for the above based on model.

Hope it helps!

Comments

[Leśny Rumcajs]

Have you tried a hard reset? Or looking at the settings > show advanced settings > languages > language and input settings? The second one should most likely show some strange setting, just change it to whatever is normal for you.

[William]

if you can back up the files which it appears like this doesn't seem like that big of issue. Just restore to factory settings or do a hard reset.

[Highly Irregular]

What's lost when a hard reset is done? Thanks

[z7r1k3]

Ok, directly from a Samsung worker: "Performing a Powerwash or reset will erase all local data. Prior to performing a Powerwash it is recommended that you backup any important data using a USB drive, SD card, or Google Drive." I will double check for another solution. @HighlyIrregular

[z7r1k3]

@HighlyIrregular So you basically have two options: 1) you can go ahead with the reset, and 2) you can let me know, and I'll download a chromebook os on vmware and see if I can find a way to repair your keyboard driver. However, I highly doubt the latter will be productive.