If you just bought a cordless keyboard and you’re wondering how to set it up, this guide will take you through how to connect a Dell wireless keyboard without breaking a sweat. We have prepared this guide with first-timers in mind so we made everything as easy to understand as possible.
Make sure to follow the guide to the end so as to achieve a successful connection and start typing right away.
How to Easily Connect a Dell Wireless Keyboard
To connect a Dell wireless keyboard, you can either use a wireless receiver or Bluetooth. For the wireless USB receiver, you simply plug in the receiver into the laptop and power on the wireless keyboard and you are ready to type away. When using Bluetooth, you will first need to pair the laptop and keyboard and establish a connection before you are ready to start typing.
Here is an easy to follow guide on how to connect your Dell wireless keyboard without much hassle.
Step 1: Set up the Keyboard
Before you can connect the keyboard using either of the two methods, you will first need to power it on. The wireless keyboard comes with two AA batteries which you must insert into the keyboard to function.
To insert the batteries:
- Remove the battery cover underneath the keyboard by sliding it outwards
- Insert the two AA batteries into the battery bay
- Replace the battery cover
Once you properly install the batteries, power on the keyboard using the power switch on the bottom.
Step 2: Connect the Keyboard
Depending on your keyboard make and preference, you can connect it to your Dell Laptop using either a USB wireless receiver or Bluetooth.
How to Connect Using a USB Receiver
Here is how to quickly connect a Dell wireless keyboard using a USB receiver
- Press the Connection Button on the USB receiver
- Insert the universal receiver into the USB port on your laptop and wait for it to connect
- Once the connection is established, the blinking Bluetooth LED light on the wireless keyboard will become steady then turn off indicating that the keyboard and computer have been connected using a wireless receiver.
That’s it! You are now ready to start typing on your Dell wireless keyboard.
How to Connect Using Bluetooth
Connecting the wireless keyboard via Bluetooth will take a bit more time than when using a USB receiver. Follow these steps to establish a Bluetooth connection between your laptop and keyboard:
Start by powering on the keyboard using the power button underneath it. Switch on the Bluetooth connection button on your keyboard. The switch is usually underneath the keyboard near the power button.
This will put the Keyboard on Discovery mode and the Bluetooth icon on top of the keyboard will start blinking. If the Bluetooth LED doesn’t blink, switch off the connection button then on again until you see some blinking.
If you are using the Windows OS, fire up the search bar and type Bluetooth. Click on Bluetooth and other device settings. Alternatively, if you have a Bluetooth icon on the taskbar, click on it and choose Add a Bluetooth Device.
On the pop-up window, ensure that the Bluetooth on/off switch is toggled to ON. Click on Add Bluetooth or other devices. On the pop-up window click on Bluetooth. Your laptop will start searching for nearby Bluetooth devices. If you had properly enabled the pairing mode on the keyboard, you should see something like Dell WK717 on the list of devices.
Then, click on the keyboard name, which is Dell WK717, then Pair. In some cases, you might need to enter a passkey before the two devices connect. If the passkey prompt window appears, click on Choose a passkey for me.
Type the generated Passkey on the keyboard and hit enter to complete pairing. If the connection is successful, you will be ready to start typing on your keyboard. If it is not successful, ensure that the keyboard is within range and the Bluetooth pairing mode on the keyboard is turned on.
If you cannot establish a connection, ensure that the driver for the Dell™ Bluetooth® Keyboard is installed and functioning then try again. Additionally, if you are not using Windows 10, the process might be a tad different especially in a case where you use the Bluetooth Device Wizard.
After the keyboard and computer and computer are connected, you will not be required to repeat this procedure every time you power on your PC. The keyboard will be automatically available for use unless you turn off Bluetooth on your PC or the Discovery mode on the keyboard.
Conclusion
In this guide, we have outlined the standard way to connect the Dell Wireless keyboard. If you are having trouble connecting the keyboard make sure that the keyboard batteries are functioning, turn on Bluetooth discovery mode on the keyboard, turn on Bluetooth on your PC and enter the correct passkey.
