How Did I Remap my Keyboard? Ho do I Fix it?

Factual Questions
1

I have the strangest computer problems.

I am using a laptop with an external Bluetooth keyboard. I have had this setup for years. The one new thing I did do was I downloaded “Go To Meeting.” Then my problems began.
As of a few moments ago I get @signs@ when I hit the key for quotation marks. Even stranger, I now get “quotation marks” when I hit @capital 2@

When I hit Capital 1 I get ! as I should.

But Capital 2 gives me " (wrong)

Capital 3 £ (wrong)

Capital 4 $ (correct)

Capital 5 % (correct)

Capital 6 ^ (correct)

Capital 7 & (correct)

Capital 8 * (correct)

Capital 9 ( (correct)

Capital 0 ) (correct)
I suspect I somehow remapped my keyboard to a British or European configuration.

2

Don’t know how you did it, but it looks like you managed to get a UK keyboard format.
Have a look at this page.
Settings ->Time & Language -> Language
Click on your Default Language, Choose Options
Towards the bottom, you’ll see Keyboards. Make sure the Keyboard you want is there (prob US QWERTY), and remove any you don’t want.

Have a look, anyway.

3

Use a mouse to get to the keyboard/language settings in the control panel/system settings/whatever it’s called in your operating system and change it (back) to an English/US layout.

ETA the quick remapping generally works via a hot key combination when you have multiple keyboards enabled, for switching between layouts when typing multilingual text.

4

Yes, I seem to have changed to the UK keyboard. Let me fix it once I finish this Zoom meeting. The system does not seem to really want to change.

5

Thank you DPRK. Those steps are

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Time & Language.
  3. Click on Language.
  4. Select your default language from the list.
  5. Click the Options button.
    I stub my toe on number 4. The drop-down menu gives me no option. Only “English (United Kingdom).” How very odd indeed. Any ideas?
6

I suggest that you uninstall the copy of ‘Zoom’ you have on your machine and download a new copy direct from Zoom.

7

That is the right menu. I’m not in front of a Windows computer right now, but there should be add and Remove buttons to add and remove keyboard layouts (in the language options menu). For example, you could have English (UK), French (FR), and Greek, and be able to switch between them. If you only have English (UK), first add English (United States), then remove English (United Kingdom).

ETA double check that your Region is set to US (somewhere else in the settings, not the language options menu). Because Windows may have added the layout based on where it thinks you are.

8

I am monkeying with it at the moment. Thank you.

9

“Hold down Windows Key and smash keyboard to select language.”

That is the solution and seems to explain how I messed it up at first too.

10

“Smash the spacebar.” Sorry.

11

Somewhere (from TSD I believe) discovered that on the right side of the toolbar the letters ENG appear. I get a little menu from which I can choose among English (Canada) US keyboard, English (US) US Keyboard,E and Language preferences. If you do that when your keyboard is switched it may say English (UK) UK keyboard, English (US) US keyboard, … Choose the one you want. My wife’s computer occasionally switches to a French keyboard and she can get back immediately by clicking on FRE on the toolbar and making the right choice. No need to open the options menu.

Some day I might explore the possibility of temporarily getting a French keyboard to enter accented letters easily.

12

I had the same problem as OP (caused by what is described by Hari Seldon above (in Windows 10), (keyboard language toggle in the systray (“hide or show language bar in systray”). Occasionally I would hit it by accident. switching to a Spanish keyboard mapping out of the blue.