Backslash Key Not Working? Every Cause and Fix

Here it is:\— click to copy. Diagnosis can wait until the file path is pasted.

The full reference, including the Mac shortcut and the HTML and CSS forms, is on thebackslash symbol page.

This is the most common cause by a wide margin, and the giveaway is that the key produces a character rather than nothing. Backslash sits in a different place on almost every national layout, so a mismatch moves it somewhere you are not pressing.

• US layout: above Enter, sharing the key with the pipe |
• UK layout: to the left of Z on the bottom row, and also next to the left Shift on some models
• German layout: no dedicated key — AltGr + ß
• French AZERTY: AltGr + 8
• Spanish and Italian: AltGr + º or AltGr + \ depending on the variant

On Windows, open Settings, Time & Language, Language & Region, then the language's options, and confirm the installed keyboard matches the hardware. On macOS the same list is under System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources. Remove the layout you are not using rather than leaving both installed, becauseWin + Space or Ctrl + Space will otherwise keep switching back to it by accident.

If several keys moved and not just backslash, the broader walkthrough is onwrong keyboard layout.

Sixty percent keyboards, many tenkeyless boards, and a good number of ultrabook keyboards drop the key entirely or move it behind a function layer. Check the keyboard's own layer diagram first, since the manufacturer usually maps it to Fn plus a key on the right-hand side.

Failing that, any of these produce the character without the key:

• Windows: hold Alt and type 92 on the number pad with Num Lock on
• Word and Outlook: type 005C then press Alt + X
• Mac: Option + Shift + 7 on several international layouts, or Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space
• Linux: Ctrl + Shift + U then 5C
• Phones: long-press the forward slash on the symbol keyboard

No number pad on the machine? TheAlt codes without a number pad guidecovers what works instead.

If backslash works in Notepad or TextEdit but not in the program you actually need it in, the keyboard is fine and the application is intercepting the keystroke. Test in a plain editor first — that single test separates a hardware fault from an application one in five seconds.

The repeat offenders are predictable:

• Remote desktop and VNC: the remote machine's layout applies, not yours
• Virtual machines: the guest OS has its own keyboard layout setting
• Terminal emulators: some bind backslash as an escape or line-continuation prefix
• Browser-based IDEs: a keyboard shortcut may have captured it
• Games and launchers: backslash is a common default console key

In each case the fix is inside that application's own keyboard or locale settings, not in the operating system.

Only worth investigating once the three causes above are excluded, because genuine key failure is rarer than any of them. Open the On-Screen Keyboard withWin + Ctrl + O and press the physical key: if the on-screen key does not highlight, the switch or the ribbon connection is at fault rather than software.

On a laptop this usually means debris under the key or a failed switch, and on a desktop board it is worth testing on a second machine before replacing anything. Either way, the Alt code and copy methods above keep you working in the meantime.

Backslash rarely breaks alone. If the at sign, the quote marks or the hash also moved, the same layout mismatch is behind all of them — seeat key not workingandquotation marks coming out wrong.

If the trouble started straight after a system update rather than a layout change, start withwrong symbols after an updateinstead.