Test every key on a compact laptop keyboard — 83 keys, integrated arrows and no number pad, the layout used by almost every ultrabook.
QWERTY on the US ANSI shape: a wide flat Enter and a full-length left Shift. Standard key positions, with no vendor-specific extras.
Ctrl+W, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+N, Alt+Tab and the Windows or Command key are reserved by the browser and the operating system. No web page receives them, so they cannot be tested here or anywhere else in a browser.
Keys shown greyed out with a dashed outline cannot be tested: your keyboard handles them internally and the browser never receives a key event for them. They are excluded from the totals, so 100% stays reachable.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Common name | 13 inch, 14 inch, ultrabook |
| Testable key count | 83 keys |
| Physical keys | 84 including Fn |
| Number pad | No |
| Function row | Yes — Esc and F1 to F12 |
| Arrow keys | Half height, integrated |
| Navigation keys | Folded into a right-hand column |
| Fn position | Bottom-left on ThinkPads, second from left elsewhere |
Every figure describes the compact laptop board this page opens on.
Test the built-in board, not an external one plugged into the laptop.
Lenovo puts Fn in the bottom-left corner with Ctrl beside it. Every other maker reverses that pair. Set the brand selector before deciding a key sits in the wrong place.
F1 to F12 double as brightness and volume controls on a laptop. If they need Fn held down, the board still sends the real F-key code, which is why they light up here.
A compact laptop folds Home, Page Up, Page Down and End into a narrow column, and the arrows are half height under the right Shift. Press each at its centre.
Five checks aimed at a keyboard soldered into a 14-inch chassis.
Every laptop has Fn and no browser can see it. It is hatched and excluded from the total, so 100% stays reachable on 83 keys.
Liquid damage follows matrix traces, so it shows as a cluster or a straight line. Scattered single failures mean debris instead.
ThinkPads corner-mount Fn; most others put Ctrl there. Neither is a fault.
A key needing a firm press usually has debris under the scissor mechanism rather than a failed contact.
Ultrabook keyboards have very short travel, which makes chatter easy to miss. Type each suspect key once into a text field and count the characters.
The shape, the trade-offs and what to watch for when testing it.
A number pad needs roughly 90 mm of width. A 14-inch chassis is about 320 mm wide, and the alphanumeric block plus bezels already claim nearly all of it. Fitting a pad would mean narrowing the letter keys below the 19 mm pitch that touch typing depends on.
Manufacturers make that trade the other way instead: full-size letter keys, no pad. Anyone doing heavy numeric entry on an ultrabook generally adds a USB pad.
A compact laptop keeps a physical function row, so F1 to F12 stay reachable. What moves to Fn are the secondary controls: brightness, volume, keyboard backlight, display switching, aeroplane mode and the media transport keys.
Those combinations send standard media codes that browsers deliberately do not expose, which is why they light nothing here. That is a browser security boundary, not a fault in your keyboard.
A new ultrabook is worth a full keyboard pass on day one. A dead key found in the first week is a straightforward warranty replacement; the same key found in month four often turns into an argument about accidental damage.
Work through all 83 keys and confirm the score reaches 83. Anything short of that, excluding the hatched Fn key, is worth raising with the seller immediately.
A laptop keyboard is part of the chassis. A single dead key means opening the machine, and on many modern ultrabooks the keyboard is riveted to the top case, making the replacement part the entire top case with the trackpad attached.
Individual keycaps and scissor mechanisms are available for most models and cost very little. Try that route before accepting a top-case replacement quote.
Chassis width decides which keys fit.
| Layout | Testable keys | Function row | Arrow keys | Number pad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 inch / 14 inch | 83 | Yes | Integrated | No |
| 15.6 inch | 100 | Yes | Integrated | Squeezed column |
| 17.3 inch | 100 | Yes | Integrated | Full width |
A 13 or 14-inch chassis has no room for a number pad. From 15.6 inches up, one is fitted — squeezed at 15.6, full width at 17.3.
Three faults specific to compact laptop boards.
On the test:Left and right arrows register only on a deliberate centre press.
On the test:F-keys light here only while Fn is held.
On the test:Several adjacent caps fail together.
The board above is already set to a 13 or 14-inch laptop layout, with Fn drawn and excluded from the total.
