How to use the computer keyboard with the emulator for Windows Phone 8

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

This topic describes how to use the keyboard with Windows Phone Emulator. The emulator supports mapping of the hardware keyboard on your development computer to the keyboard on a Windows Phone. The behavior of the keys is the same as on a Windows Phone device.

By default, the hardware keyboard is not enabled. This implementation is equivalent to a sliding keyboard that must be deployed before you can use it. Before you enable the hardware keyboard, the emulator accepts key input only from the control keys.

Special characters on the keyboard of a localized version of a Windows development computer are not supported by the emulator. To enter special characters that are present on a localized keyboard, use the Software Input Panel (SIP) instead.

This topic contains the following sections.

• Enabling and disabling the hardware keyboard
• Keyboard mapping
• Related Topics

Enabling and disabling the hardware keyboard

To enable the hardware keyboard in the emulator

• Press the PAGE UP key.

  - or -

• Press the PAUSE/BREAK key.

To disable the hardware keyboard in the emulator

• Press the PAGE DOWN key.

  - or -

• Press the PAUSE/BREAK key.

Keyboard mapping

The following table lists the keys on a hardware keyboard that you can use to emulate the buttons and other controls on a Windows Phone device.

See Also

Other Resources

On-screen keyboard input scope index for Windows Phone 8