Really weird keyboard issue

Did you purchase the keyboard from Dell? 

To receive assistance from Dell chat support, they need to verify the warranty status and ownership. Then you must troubleshoot with them.  Click the "Get Help Now" icon on the right to start a live chat session. If already out of warranty, click here for the Dell out of warranty offering.

I have a similar problem. It's on a Vostro 5620 laptop.

It started as being intermittent - the keys sometimes didn't work on keypress - then it became permanent. Repeated tapping sometimes worked, but no more.

It only seems to have affected the keys 3 and E.

Numpad 3 works OK.

There's no accidental damage or spillage that could explain it.

The same two keys don't work in the BIOS page as well (press F2 on bootup),

I contacted Dell Support and after several frustrating tries managed to get onto online chat with them today (2025-04-18). After getting me to run some tests, they said they'd get me a new palmrest assembly (mouse and keyboard). Let's see what happens.

Actually trying to get to talk to a human support person at DELL is one of the most frustrating problems I have ever experienced. I dread doing it.

Using DELL Inspiron 16 (5620)

I am facing exactly the same problem.

Keys - LCtrl , + , - , Vol Down, Delete, Num5, Num6

just don't work on the first keypress, however 20 or 30 presses later they magically start working.

Its uber frustrating especially when I'm working.

What's the fix for this ?

@DELL-Jesse L @Slartibartfarst @AustralianMan123 

I have exactly the same problem. I couldn't get Dell to send me a replacement keyboard. They wanted me to send my computer in. I bought one on eBay. It helped initially. Now, I am back at the same problem. It is almost like a software issue - a mean little beastie, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have gotten to where I am beginning to lose my faith in the manufacturer.

Man, like anything, especially when I'm working.... And @DELL-Jesse L  hasn't cared to reply as to what the fix for this problem can be.

@Andy Dog  Have you figured out what is causing this problem? 

Dell won't acknowledge that there is problem. Ask them.

Issue is still ongoing for me, i've had to resort to using my laptop with a keyboard at all times still no clue what is causing it :/

2025-09-11 - Update from my April 2025 message:

DELL never got back to me, so I got back to them in August, before my support warranty was due to expire.

I was obliged to go through the whole ruddy palaver again to confirm that the 3 and E keys would not work (they didn't work in the BIOS startup page either, thus showing it to be a hardware issue).

I also mentioned (again) that the 3 RHS sockets for Internet cable, audio (headphones) and USB didn't work (they are on a daughterboard). 

DELL sent an engineer who replaced the entire keyboard+touchpad assembly AND the small daughterboard with the 3 sockets.

There occurred an obscure software problem with my non-standard audio drivers that the engineer couldn't fix, so he got on the phone to DELL tech support and it was eventually fixed through Windows Registry settings.

The engineer seemef very competent and he persevered, leaving me as a happy customer.

I am glad that you are happy. I am not.

Dell knows that there is a problem. There should have been a recall and total replacement.

Sorry, Dell, that is what manufacturers do that care about their customer base. 

Imagine please the number of replacement components, the hours of service charges that all related to a known issue.

Bad, bad, Dell. Shame on you! 

@Andy Dog​

Well, it's definitely a keyboard assembly hardware fault, BUT it appears to be time or use-related.

Maybe it only showed up after the expiry of the standard warranty?

I've worked for a computer company and I know all/most of the scheming little tricks that hardware suppliers get up to.

So, when I got my DELL Vostro 5620 laptop, I tacked on an extended warranty for those little things that only surface later...

This keyboard fault is likely to be either a classic, deliberate built-in redundancy bug or a genuine fault in a particular batch.

We'll never know, and our complaints will fall on the deaf ears of people hiding behind warranty expiry dates.

The consumer's worst nightmare!

This is a serious issue. The occurrences, the timing of the occurrences and everything else related to it. Someone at Dell must have enough of a moral backbone to realize that this is going on. It is not the right way to sell more computers. This is my second keypad. This is the computer. This is the manufacturer. I should not have to have warranties that go on forever to expect my computer not to go through this type of consumer manipulation. My wife tells me to buy another computer but from whom? Up until this, Dell was my brand of choice, for decades. I am calling them to account. They read their boards. Shame on the company if they are manipulating their customers, and it is hard to get avoid thinking or realizing that this what is going on! All that it takes is common sense. They must think that the American public has lost its fabric.

If it had been my understanding that Dell would design in or manipulate in obsolescence as soon as my warranty expired, I would not have bought their product. It is reasonable to assume that, after a matter of years, there is really very little that can go wrong with a computer unless is an operator error, and my use is very limited to my business. I am very disappointed. Buying a dell computer should not be a commitment to help sustain their service department. 

@Slartibartfarst​ completely agree! My warranty expired in January and by May/June it started with a key or 2 now it is randomly multiple at various times. (Backspace, shift, T, Y, D) biggest culprits!

Dell knows what they are doing. This is very disappointing.