Fix: Keyboard Input Not Working in Modern (Store) Apps

If the keyboard input doesn’t work in modern (Store) apps like Microsoft Store, OneNote for Windows, Start menu search, Lock screen, etc, this article tells you how to fix the issue.

Cause

When you type something in those modern apps, nothing may happen. This happens if a built-in Scheduled Task is disabled accidentally.

Despite this issue, the keyboard input may work fine on classic win32 programs and web browsers.

Quick fix: To regain the keyboard input functionality in those modern apps, right-click Start, and click Run. Type ctfmon.exe and press Enter. This is a temporary fix that works only for the current session.

Resolution

To fix this issue permanently, use these steps:

1. Right-click Start, click Computer Management
2. Select Task Scheduler
3. Go to Microsoft → Windows → TextServicesFramework
4. Right-click on the MsCtfMonitor task, and click “Enable”.
5. Exit the Task Scheduler and restart Windows.

This enables the TextServicesFramework monitor task. Text services such as input method editor, handwriting recognition, and speech recognition depend on the Text Services Framework.

Note that running the Keyboard Troubleshooter will tell you whether this task is running. Click Start, Settings, Update & Security and click Troubleshooting. Under “Find and fix other problems” category, select keyboard.

That’s it!