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Windows 11 losing sight of third party added keyboard (SBL Hebrew SIL) when restarting

We just bought a new Windows 11 machine (Surface Pro). For my wife's PhD we need to use an ancient Hebrew keyboard - this is a partly different language to the standard Microsoft Hebrew keyboard provided so we have added the well know reputable third party ancient Hebrew keyboard provided by SBL. This loads fine and the keyboard appears in the language bar and can be used in Word 2021 - all good. However, when we shut down and restart the machine it disappears from the language bar and hence cannot be used. The only workaround seems to be every time to uninstall the SBL keyboard (its noteworthy that it thinks its still installed) and then re-install. It seems clear that the keyboard is 'still there' after restarting (eg you can see it in a list to set up a hot key, even though the hot key then doesnt work!) but just isn't making it to be listed in the language bar and hence not being useable. Can you help please?

Hi, David Todd1

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

We understand that you are having problems with a third-party ancient Hebrew keyboard. 

From your description, it seems that the reason why you need to reinstall the keyboard after restarting the computer again in order to use it is because the keyboard was updated a long time ago (according to my research, the keyboard driver was last updated in 2008), and the maker of the program may not have optimized the settings for compatibility with Windows 11. 

For now it is recommended that you try to see if you can use the keyboard in a new account first: 

Search for CMD, then run it in administrator mode and enter the following command 

net user USERNAME PASSWORD /add 
net localgroup administrators USERNAME /add 

USERNAME PASSWORD can be replaced with your preferred account name and password, if you don't need a password you can leave PASSWORD out. 

  

If you still can't use the keyboard properly, we recommend you to give feedback to the developer of the keyboard first, and you can also give feedback on the compatibility of this keyboard to the Microsoft development team via Feedback Hub, which will periodically review the submitted ideas or fixes. 

  

Please share the feedback link here after submission as it will allow others on the forum to vote for your submission, including me. More votes will result in more visibility and higher priority from the development team. 

  

Thank you for your understanding! You're always welcome to reach out if you need more help. 

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z| Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Question Info

Last updated April 17, 2025 Views 28 Applies to: