Control the keyboard numlock state at startup

6 March 2004 by Snakefoot | Comment » | Trackback Off
It is possible to configure whether Numlock should be enabled after logging in. The activation is controlled by setting this registry STRING value:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Keyboard]
InitialKeyboardIndicators = "0"

"0" - All Keys off
"1" - Caps Lock on
"2" - Num Lock on
"4" - Scroll Lock on

For multiple keys, add their values:
"3" - Caps Lock and Num Lock on
"5" - Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on
"6" - Num Lock and Scroll Lock on
"7" - Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock on

"2147483648" - Honor the motherboard BIOS setting (Vista only)

More info MS KB Q101898

Note it is also possible to configure Numlock state at startup before actually performing the login at the Welcome Screen, by setting the value for the default user:

[HKEY_USERS \.Default \Control Panel \Keyboard]
InitialKeyboardIndicators = "0"

More info MS KB Q154529 (Merged with Q315468)

Note if numlock is turned off before Windows has reached the login screen, then it might be caused by numlock not being activated in the motherboard BIOS.

Credits OneComputerGuy.com
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Updated: 14 October 2007

Comments:

Comment by ludolf - 11 October 2004 @ 2:44 Reply

It’s type is REG_SZ instead of REG_DWORD ;)

Comment by snakefoot - 11 October 2004 @ 11:20 Reply

ludolf
It’s type is REG_SZ instead of REG_DWORD ;)

Have updated the page. Thank you for pointing it out :)

Comment by Tony OS - 8 February 2009 @ 12:49 Reply

I now have my keyboard working properly - relieves much frustration - thanks for your good advise.

Comment by ghiorsi - 5 January 2010 @ 2:19 Reply

It´s work fine, but the num lock ligth is off…

Comment by Nanette - 24 May 2010 @ 1:49 Reply

recent problems w/computer.. number lock is off at start up…how do I turn it back on w/o going through a whole lot of technical jargon and trouble???????

Comment by Spider - 27 September 2010 @ 14:05 Reply

How can I configure NumLock ON before user settings be loaded (Windows XP)? Need to be ON at Logon Screen.

Comment by Snakefoot - 29 September 2010 @ 21:47 Reply

Spider wrote:
How can I configure NumLock ON before user settings be loaded (Windows XP)?

Read the article-section about how to set the Numlock status for the default user.

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