PowerShell: Toggle "Num Lock" on and off.

Question

I would like to be able toggle on and off the "Num Lock" key on the keyboard. I have tried multiple examples around the web and here, with no success. This is the closest thing I've got to a solution:

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("'System.Windows.Forms")
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{NUMLOCK}")

The above code looks like it might work and I see the "Num Lock" indicator on my keyboard flash for a second but it doesn't "stick".

Bookplate

Answers are also useful for those who can't find NumLock key on their physical keyboard. – Minsk

Answer 1

I experienced the same on/off flicker you did.

This works fine for me though, give it a try:

$wsh = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$wsh.SendKeys('{NUMLOCK}')

Hagood

(this makes me wonder what Powershell problems Andy hasn't met!) – Grandstand

Seems like "Guru" would be an understatement for Andy. PowerShell overlord? – Bookplate

@Bookplate Has a nice ring to it.. hehe ;-) – Hagood

In addition you can use [console]::NumberLock to check if it is enabled or not. – Arlettaarlette

resuming a very old thread, I know. Does this work before logging in? I'd like to set a scheduled task at startup, before logging in, so I can login with the numeric keyboard set. On my PC (win10), I tried to set a scheduled task, running both as me or as SYSTEM user, but if I try to launch it the task hangs, in "executing" status. Any (other) easy way to set numlock at startup? My PC bios has not an option for it – Armand

Checking with task manager, I see that the task load an explorer extension (TortoiseSVN): very likely, that why the task does not work in a non interactive environmnet. Is there any power shell command (or other) allowing handling numLock status without these kind of "need the user logged in" problems? – Armand

Answer 2

For what it is worth, from the perspective of the keyboard, the OS sends a set and then a reset of the toggle key (caps, scroll lock, numlock) when using [System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{CAPSLOCK}"), but only sends a single event using WScript.Shell.

Flats

Answer 3

Stumbled here looking for a way to keep Num Lock ON eternally (apparently the word "lock" doesn't mean much 🤷‍♂️). This script checks Num Lock status every 2 seconds, and switches it back on if it's been turned off:

$wsh = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
while($true){
if ([console]::NumberLock -eq $false) {
$wsh.SendKeys('{NUMLOCK}')
}
Start-Sleep 2
}

I think it would be a good candidate for converting into a standalone tiny .exe using PS2EXE.

Fixer

Answer 4

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
$myshell = New-Object -com "wscript.Shell"
while($true) {
   $myshell.sendkeys('{CAPSLOCK}') # or NUMLOCK, or any
   $sleepms = Get-Random -Minimum 10 -Maximum 1000 # random sleep between 10ms and 1000ms
   Start-Sleep -Milliseconds $sleepms
}
# TODO; Conver to a MORSE blink generator ;-)

Johm

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Answer 5

intTime=0
strInputVal=InputBox("Enter the time","Enter Hours in Int")
intTime=strInputVal * 60 * 60

set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
For i = 1 to intTime
    WScript.Sleep 500
    WshShell.SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}"
    WScript.Sleep 500
Next
WScript.Quit
Set WshShell = Nothing 

Cacia