Is there a way to see if a physical keyboard is attached to a Windows 8 device?

Question

I'm writing a Windows 8 game. The game runs on Windows 7, Windows Phone, and XBox.

I want to display keyboard hints if a keyboard is attached (e.g. 'Press Esc to exit')

Seeing as Windows 8 can be a desktop, laptop, or tablet, there may or may not be a physical keyboard attached. Is there a way to determine this programmatically?

possible duplicate of [Detect keyboard presence in Windows 8 desktop program](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11993680/detect-keyboard-presence-in-windows-8-desktop-program) — Frank van Puffelen, Jan 01 '13 at 18:42
It's not a dupe as this is for Store Apps, it's relevant however given people are bound to want this for Desktop apps — Jay Wick, Mar 17 '15 at 10:34

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 01 '13 at 23:29

9

Of course, please read this quick start here

private void GetKeyboardProperties()
{
    KeyboardCapabilities keyboardCapabilities = new Windows.Devices.Input.KeyboardCapabilities();
    KeyboardPresent.Text = keyboardCapabilities.KeyboardPresent != 0 ? "Yes" : "No";
}

or if you html5/js developer take a look here.

edited Jan 01 '13 at 23:29

gniourf_gniourf

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answered Jan 01 '13 at 23:10

Taras Seredokha

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how do i access this in VS2012 .net 2? – f1wade Feb 03 '14 at 12:35
5

FYI this only applies to Windows Store apps. You won't have access to this API if you're running on the regular desktop. – donovan Sep 11 '14 at 00:54
You do have access from Desktop apps if you reference `Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract`, the API is not restricted to store app containers. But it doesn't work correctly anyways, it reports as 'Yes' on a surface 4 pro tablet if there is no keyboard attached. – Zarat Jun 28 '19 at 10:02

Is there a way to see if a physical keyboard is attached to a Windows 8 device?

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