Virtual keyboard is a great option for those who prefer using the on-screen keys instead of the physical keyboard. Not just because it’s easier, but also because it comes loaded with additional features. Moreover, the on-screen keyboard comes to your rescue, especially when the physical keyboard stops working.
Hardware failure is another situation when the on-screen keyboard can be of great help to you. The virtual keyboard allows you to type anything with the help of the mouse, while it also allows you to change the keyboard language, which differentiates it from the physical keyboard. In such cases, you need quick access to the on-screen keyboard and you can achieve that by creating a desktop shortcut for the virtual keyboard.
In this post, we will show how to create a desktop shortcut of On-Screen keyboard easily on Windows 11 or Windows 10. Here’s how:
Method 1: Through Send To Context Menu
This method will help you to add a desktop shortcut of the on-screen keyboard through the Send to context menu. Let’s see how:
Step 1: Go to Start and type On-Screen Keyboard in the Windows search bar.
Step 2: Go to the best match section, right-click on the result (On-Screen Keyboard) and then select Open file location.
Step 3: In the File Explorer window that opens, Locate On-Screen Keyboard file, right-click on it and select Show more options.
Next, click on Send to in the sub context menu and then select Desktop (create shortcut).
This will straight away create a shortcut of the On-Screen Keyboard on your desktop. Double-click on the shortcut to open the virtual keyboard.
Method 2: By Creating a Desktop Shortcut
Although a bit lengthy than the above, this is another way to create a desktop shortcut for the virtual keyboard. Follow the below instructions to learn how to create a new shortcut on your desktop and access the On-Screen keyboard right away:
Step 1: Go to desktop, right-click anywhere on an empty area, select New and then select Shortcut from the right-click menu.
Step 2: In the Create Shortcut window that opens, go to the Type the location of the item field and type OSK.
Click on Next to continue.
Step 3: In the next window, in the Type a name for this shortcut field, you can name it anything as per your convenience that makes it easy for you to identify the virtual keyboard shortcut.
For instance, we named it On Screen Keyboard and hit Finish.
Now, you have successfully created the desktop shortcut of the on-screen keyboard and now you can access the keyboard on the screen without any hassle. You are now free of the physical keyboard, which is also beneficial in case the physical keyboard stops working in case of any hardware issues. The on-screen keyboard has all the usual keys as the physical keyboard and you can use the touchpad mouse or the external mouse to press the keys of yoyr virtual keyboard.