How to tell if caps lock is on

Some keyboards will have a light that goes on when caps lock is turned on

Unlock the Caps on Computers

The All-Caps or "Caps Lock" function causes all letters to appear as capital letters when typing into word processing documents, emails or other files.

This is convenient when needing to type numerous capital letters or All-Caps phrases, as you do not have to hold down the "Shift" button with one finger as you type the words.

When All-Caps is stuck and does not respond to the "Caps Lock" keyboard button, a simple procedure overrides and shuts down the function.

Open a word processing program.

Press the "Caps Lock" button located on the left side of the keyboard to turn Caps Lock off. Type inside the document.

If lower case letters appear in the document, Caps are successfully unlocked.

Proceed if the text is in All-Caps.

Hold down "Shift" on the keyboard. Press the letter "P."

A lower case "p" appears in the document. Release the "Shift" button.

Type the phrase "rint" directly after the lower case "P." The word "pRINT" is now in the document, and the document cursor is after the phrase's "T."

Press "Enter" on the keyboard.

The cursor goes down one line and "pRINT" becomes "Print." The "Caps Lock" function is turned off.

Restart the computer to save the setting.

Enable the Caps Lock Key

The "Caps Lock" key is loved by some and disliked by others.

The key turns all letters into capitals as you type.

While this feature is useful in some situations, a more common occurrence is that the key is accidentally hit and all the text typed is capitalized.

The person typing must then delete the capitalized type and rehit the key to turn off "Caps Lock."

If the "Caps Lock" key needs to be enabled, it indicates that someone has disabled or remapped the key.

If a user wanted to, the "Caps Lock" key can be disabled and enabled through the registry or remapped through the control panels.

Updating the registry for the keyboard will enable the "Caps Lock" key.

Open the Notepad program.

Type the following:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]

"Scancode Map"=-

Select "Save As" from the "File" drop down menu.

Navigate to the computer desktop as the save file location and choose "All Files" from the "Save as type:" drop-down menu at the bottom of the Save As window.

Type "enable.reg" without quotes in the "File name:" field and click "Save."

Minimize all open windows to view the desktop.

Double-click on the "enable.reg" file. A box will pop up asking if you are sure you want to run the file. Select "Run" or "Yes" and then click "Yes" for the Registry Editor warning.

Reboot the computer. The registry will be updated and the "Caps Lock" key will be enabled.

Manually Update the Registry

Click the "Start" menu, type "regedit" without the quotes and press "Enter." In older versions of Windows, Click the "Start" menu, select "Run," type "regedit" without the quotes and press "Enter." This will launch the Registry Editor.

Navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout" to view the settings.

Right click on the "Scancode Map" setting and choose "Delete." Click "Yes" to confirm the deletion.

Reboot the computer. The registry will be updated and the "Caps Lock" key will be enabled.

Disable the Caps Lock Key in Windows

Your computer's Caps Lock key has likely only collected dust since you first brought the machine home.

The Caps Lock key is beneficial if you want to type a long string of words entirely in capital letters, but this form of typing is not needed often.

Consider disabling your Caps Lock key if you do not need it, or if you are tired of hitting the key accidentally while rapidly typing.

Restart your computer before beginning the process of disabling your Caps Lock key.

Download the registry file necessary to disable your Caps Lock key.

You have the option to disable your Caps Lock key or change the key to a number of different keystrokes.

For example, you may choose to use the "ChangeCapsToShift" registry file if you want the Caps Lock button to function as a shift key.

Double-click the registry file you have downloaded.

A prompt will appear on your screen asking if you would like to add the registry file to your computer's registry.

Select "Yes" to install the registry file.

Restart your computer, once again, to complete the registry change.

Upon reboot, your Caps Lock key will no longer function as a traditional Caps Lock key.

Disable the Caps Lock Key on a Computer

The Caps Lock is an easy key to hit by accident, and often the user does not realize it immediately.

When this mistake occurs, usually you must correct some text errors and your time is wasted.

If you think the Caps Lock key is more of an aggravation than it is good, follow these steps to disable your Caps Lock key.

Click on "Start" and select "Run". Type "regedit" into the textbox and hit "OK". This command will open the "Registry Editor" window.

Select "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control".

Double click on "Keyboard Layout" to open the folder.

Open the "Edit" menu and choose "New" then "Binary Value".

A new file will appear on the right side of your screen with the file name highlighted.

Type "Scancode Map" for the new file name.

Double click to open and type in "00000000 00000000 0200000000 003A00 00000000" into the Value data box. Hit the "OK" button.

Close the "Registry Editor" by selecting "Exit" from the "File" menu.

Restart your computer for the change to go into effect and enjoy life without the Caps Lock Key.

Hope this helps