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On Screen keyboard never shows up on Surface Pro 7+ except for local admin

Cindy Bode 0 Reputation points
2025-12-10T17:29:37.6866667+00:00

We have ten Surface Pro 7+ devices wall mounted in therapy rooms. The on-screen keyboard shows up for the login process when various domain users login, but once the desktop is there, it won't appear except for the local admin account. The only thing you can do is go to system settings, put the icon on the system tray and then turn it on from there. I can set it to always show the icon in the system tray, but that is a profile thing, so it has to be done for every single user and in every single room, and we have 10 different rooms with devices and about a dozen different clinicians using them, so even that is HORRIBLY inconvenient. I've looked multiple times for a solution, but all I'm finding is that it's a known problem. I guess I could figure out a batch file and put that on the default user desktop so that it's available for everyone to run, but it shouldn't have to be this hard. I have two Surface Pro 10 devices, and it does not seem to be an issue for them. We've lived with this for quite a while, but it's just wrong that we have to. On a surface pro, the on-screen keyboard should just appear anytime you touch a box where you can type and no other keyboard is attached. Anyone have any suggestions that might help?

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-12-10T17:29:52.75+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    It seems that the issue with the on-screen keyboard not appearing for domain users on the Surface Pro 7+ devices is a known problem. While the on-screen keyboard should ideally show up automatically when a user taps on a text input field, there can be settings or configurations that affect its behavior, especially in a domain environment.

    Here are a few suggestions that might help resolve the issue:

    1. Check Tablet Mode: Ensure that the devices are in Tablet Mode, as this can sometimes influence the behavior of the on-screen keyboard. You can toggle Tablet Mode in the Action Center.
    2. Registry Settings: You might want to check the registry settings related to the on-screen keyboard. Sometimes, specific settings can prevent it from appearing. You can use PowerShell or a batch file to modify these settings for all users.
    3. Group Policy: If your organization uses Group Policy, check if there are any policies that might be affecting the on-screen keyboard settings for domain users.
    4. User Profile Settings: Since you mentioned that setting the icon to show in the system tray is a profile-specific setting, consider creating a default user profile with the desired settings and then applying it to all new users.
    5. Update Drivers and Windows: Ensure that all devices are running the latest Windows updates and have the latest drivers installed, as updates can sometimes resolve such issues.
    6. Feedback to Microsoft: Since this appears to be a persistent issue, consider providing feedback to Microsoft through the Feedback Hub app. This can help them address the problem in future updates.

    If these suggestions do not resolve the issue, you may need to continue using the workaround of manually enabling the on-screen keyboard for each user until a more permanent solution is found.

    References:

  2. Barb Bowman 80,275 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-12-11T10:26:01.25+00:00

    Suggest you open a business support case on this. I'll ask around as well. https://v4.hkg1.meaqua.org/en-us/surface/surface-support-portal

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  3. Barb Bowman 80,275 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-12-11T15:57:24.5133333+00:00
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  4. Cindy Bode 0 Reputation points
    2025-12-11T16:47:24.81+00:00

    Thank you kindly for your reply, but this doesn't really help my issue. I don't ever want it to just show up automatically out of nowhere and be in the way. If you close it to get it out of the way, then you're right back where you started. I want it to show up when you touch a box where text can be entered and then go away when that's not the case, like it's supposed to.

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