VS emulator for Android stops responding to keyboard

Question

I've been using the new VS emulator for Android for a few days now, and while it works brilliantly otherwise, it randomly stops receiving keyboard events. It does change the keyboard language when I press CTRL + Space, but it won't receive any characters when I try to type text.

So far, the only solution I've found is to swap between the virtual keyboard and the physical keyboard for multiple times before the physical keyboard starts working again.

Is this just a bug in the emulator, or am I doing something that causes the physical keyboard to not function correctly? I didn't see any settings in the emulator for input.

Hey @manabreak - we suspect that this is a bug. Could you email us at vsddfeed@microsoft.com so that we can reproduce your steps? Thanks! — John Engel-Kemnetz, Aug 21 '15 at 17:52
Also see this post as sometime it doesn't work at all if the hardware setting is enabled / disabled! http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31409410/visual-studio-android-emulator-display-keyboard/31409572#31409572 — SharpC, Oct 03 '16 at 19:26

score 41 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 19 '16 at 10:38

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The bug also occurs when you hit Win + R. My thesis is, that you switch focus in the emulator.

To get it to work again, simply mouse click a editbox or anything that gives your app focus again and hit win. Windows now opens start menu. Click in the emulator, and you can type again.

I submitted the bug to MS.

Another possibility is that the emulator thinks the Alt key is pressed, hit Alt to release it.

edited Sep 19 '16 at 10:38

hectorct

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answered Nov 21 '15 at 19:14

Wildcard

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I just tried to reproduce the steps in your suggested fix but could not get it to work. I am running the latest Visual Studio Emulator for Android. – Sebastian Brandes Nov 22 '15 at 21:58
I get the exact same "bug" everytime i press **Win + R**, but if i press **win** so the start menu in windows opens up. I can repress the inputbox and it works again. – Wildcard Nov 27 '15 at 14:53
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Got it working in a similar way to this answer - had to switch focus between a few other running programs then return the emulator. – androo Jun 02 '16 at 15:10
Where did you submit the bug? So I can see if there's any official workaround because I can't make the emulator work again by your steps. It drives me nuts... – Don Box Sep 19 '16 at 08:07
Try the **Ctrl** if the **Win** and **Alt** didn't fix it. – Dealdiane Mar 17 '17 at 02:07
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Alt key was it for me! Thanks. – Quincy Apr 17 '17 at 00:34
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Great answer, pressing Alt while in the emulator fixed for me. Thanks. – Michael Ribbons Jul 12 '17 at 00:16
Tnx, it's working (focus on the input field and press Win) – deanpodgornik Nov 22 '17 at 14:50
First the Alt worked....then it happened again a few days after and the Ctrl was the key that worked – Benjamin Vison Aug 05 '18 at 20:16

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 05 '15 at 20:33

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I restarted the emulator and it started working ok.

answered Aug 05 '15 at 20:33

Matt Lacey

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 06 '15 at 12:27

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Also if keyboard is disabled we can enable the keyboard in the emulator by:

press the PAGE UP key or press the PAUSE/BREAK key.

answered Aug 06 '15 at 12:27

Tharif

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VS emulator for Android stops responding to keyboard

3 Answers3