Aspire 5 Keyboard and Characters how to access the four corners of each key on the keyboard.

Talker2002

Hello,

 

I have used my new laptop since mid-September 2021. It is my first laptop and I enjoy using it. One thing I haven’t figured out is how to access the four corners of each key on the keyboard. I understand the French that’s included although I don’t know why it’s there if I asked for an English keyboard. When I use the Notification button in the System Tray to get a Calendar I get the date on the top line of the Header and right below what looks like Asian characters. How to get rid of them? I have found no way to accomplish that online or in the Owners Manual. I would like you to explain to me how to access all the features on the keyboard keys and how to eliminate the Asian characters on the Notification pop-up. To help, I insert the following:

 

 Device name      Terry

Processor  Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10210U CPU @ 1.60GHz   2.11 GHz

Installed RAM      8.00 GB (7.83 GB usable)

Device ID   0C4F6E5C-22BB-4466-A582-0B736682D0B2

Product ID  00325-82094-98293-AAOEM

System type         64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch     No pen or touch input is available for this display

 

Edition        Windows 11 Home

Version       21H2

Installed on ‎2021-‎11-‎15

OS build     22000.493

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.493.0

 

I hope I have included enough information to assist you in aiding me. I look forward to your response.

{Thread was edited to add model name to the title}

 

StevenGen

Talker2002 said:

Hello,

 

I have used my new laptop since mid-September 2021. It is my first laptop and I enjoy using it. One thing I haven’t figured out is how to access the four corners of each key on the keyboard. I understand the French that’s included although I don’t know why it’s there if I asked for an English keyboard. When I use the Notification button in the System Tray to get a Calendar I get the date on the top line of the Header and right below what looks like Asian characters. How to get rid of them? I have found no way to accomplish that online or in the Owners Manual. I would like you to explain to me how to access all the features on the keyboard keys and how to eliminate the Asian characters on the Notification pop-up. To help, I insert the following:

 

 Device name      Terry

Processor  Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10210U CPU @ 1.60GHz   2.11 GHz

Installed RAM      8.00 GB (7.83 GB usable)

Device ID   0C4F6E5C-22BB-4466-A582-0B736682D0B2

Product ID  00325-82094-98293-AAOEM

System type         64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch     No pen or touch input is available for this display

 

Edition        Windows 11 Home

Version       21H2

Installed on ‎2021-‎11-‎15

OS build     22000.493

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.493.0

 

I hope I have included enough information to assist you in aiding me. I look forward to your response.

 

Terry

You shouldn't be getting those Asian characters when "to get a Calendar I get the date on the top line of the Header and right below what looks like Asian characters". Is that bothering you? As just let it go as a new Win-11 update will fix all that as these are the bugs always with a new OS from Microsoft and there are many in Win-11. Btw I'm running Win-11 21H2/22000.493 and don't experience your "Asian Characters" problems.

Talker2002

Thanks, StevenGen,

I am running the same W 11 like you. Let's see what/when the new OS surfaces. No idea about accessing the special keys on my keyboard I take it?

Talker2002

So, folks, how do I access (use) the special keys on my keyboard. No info in Manual.

Talker2002

How do I use the multi-purpose keys on my Aspire 5 Model N18Q13?

Talker2002

Still no solution to my issue. How do I make use of the characters that fill 3 or 4 corners of the keys that surround my querty keys?

Talker2002

I had hoped that by this time I would have had an answer to my problem. I want access to the characters that occupy the corners of many keys on my laptop. There must be a combination of keys to gain access but I think I've tried all of them without success. I hope someone here can shoot me an answer soon.

PerlaPetersen

Where can I find a manual for the keyboard? 

Talker2002

An English Manual is available here on the Acer site. I downloaded one of them months ago. I have since found out I have a French keyboard! Can't find a Manual to match. There are keys with symbols/icons on them and I can't find the right key combinations to access them. Still looking for help here.

ChrisinCalgary

I have the same question as you and I can't find the answer….How do you use the other characters that are on the top line of number keys on the keyboard.

Talker2002

Can't access the Function keys or the special keys with 3 or 4 characters on them. It's a bilingual Canadian laptop keyboard (mandatory in this country) on an Aspire 5. Using the Ctrl, Fn, Windows or Alt keys doesn't help.

I await your help.

Bakermania

Hi Talker2002 (and ChrisinCalgary),

Not sure if this is even still an issue for you as it's been quite a while since your last post BUT…just in case it is, I was as frustrated as you but remembered that my old laptop would often default to the French keyboard so when I'd try type a question mark, I'd get the É. I tried adding the French (Canada) keyboard, switched to it and then played with the keys. Voila! The right hand corner symbols and middle symbols now show up using the key, using it with Shift and Alt Car.

So, more or less, I think the left side of the keys is for the English keyboard and the right side keys are for the French keyboard. Play around with it, but hopefully that makes sense. WHY Acer couldn't just explain that is beyond me though as I've been looking for help with my new laptop all day on this question…

DarrelO

I also wasted a lot of time trying to find an answer to this. I finally installed French as a language option and tested it. It's not quite a straight forward as left for English and right for French. When French is the active keyboard layout, some of the keys still render the lower left-side characters but then using Alt Car will render lower right-side characters; Shift will render the upper right-side characters. Some other keys don't render the left-side characters at all but render the right-side lower characters with a plain stroke and the right-side upper characters with Shift (no Alt Car). Even more confusion is added because Alt Car will interact with custom shortcut keys as though I pressed Ctrl-Alt, so instead of typing certain right-side characters the apps associated with those shortcuts are opened.

There we have it. I don't think that it'll be of much use to me but at least I've finally sorted it out. Since I previously uninstalled the French language set because Windows kept switching it on me, I'll probably uninstall it again.