From the sofa

How to use an on-screen keyboard with a controller on PC

Windows already has on-screen keyboards. From a sofa they are awkward to open, because the usual shortcuts expect a keyboard or a mouse you can already reach. With Onyro running, clicking a text field with the controller mouse pops up an on-screen keyboard.

Xbox Game Bar keyboard

The Xbox Game Bar opens with the Windows key and G. It includes a keyboard you can pin over the desktop. That path is useful at a desk, where the Windows key is under your hand. From the sofa you still need a way to press that shortcut, or a pointer that can already reach the Game Bar, before the keyboard is on screen. This page does not claim Onyro has a button that opens the Game Bar.

Windows touch keyboard

Windows also has a touch keyboard. You can turn it on in Settings, and you can show a keyboard button on the taskbar. Once that button is visible, a mouse click opens the keyboard. From the sofa, the missing piece is often the click. If nothing on the controller can move the pointer, the taskbar button stays out of reach, and the touch keyboard never appears.

What Onyro does

Onyro must be running. Hold Start + Select for 3 seconds (Menu + View on newer Xbox controllers) and the controller moves the Windows pointer. Doing the same again hides the mouse. Create and Options do the same on a PlayStation controller. The right stick moves the pointer. A or the right trigger clicks. The left trigger right-clicks. The full map is on Use a controller as a mouse.

Click a text field with that pointer. An on-screen keyboard pops up so you can type with the controller. A launcher login, a search box, or a popup that wants a name are the usual cases. This page does not list every key on that keyboard.

The same Windows limit applies here as everywhere else. Windows security prompts (UAC) still need a physical mouse. Onyro cannot click them. The pointer also does nothing if Onyro is not running. It is not a separate driver you leave on after you quit.

Which one to use

If you are sitting at the desk, the Game Bar keyboard or the Windows touch keyboard is enough, and you do not need Onyro for typing. If you are already on the Onyro shelf and a text field appears, the keyboard that opens from the controller click is the path that does not send you back to the desk. You can use the Windows keyboards on another evening. Nothing on this page turns them off.

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Updated 3 November 2026. Version 0.2.10-beta.