Tablets have become much more popular and used devices for both business and personal needs. Indeed, they never cease to seduce us thanks to their many advantages. However, to make it easier to use, a complementary keyboard will be perfect for you. To learn how to connect USB keyboard to a tablet.
How to connect keyboard to mobile?
Actually, there are only a few options for connecting the device to a tablet or smartphone. They usually don’t have full USB ports or dedicated connectors. In addition, there is support for wireless communication protocols, just like mini-USB and micro-USB connectors. It is through them that the connection should be made.
Connecting a USB keyboard
How to connect a keyboard to an Android phone to make it possible to use a smartphone or tablet for high-quality surfing on the Internet, for typing or editing graphic information, you should use a keyboard from third-party manufacturers.
Bluetooth keyboard connection
In order to use the Bluetooth connection, you need to purchase an appropriate keyboard, which is also likely to be found in any mobile phone store or computer store. Then clearly follow the systematic instructions.
Connect a standard USB keyboard to your tablet
In order to be able to write easily on your tablet whether at home or in the office, nothing better than to connect it to a USB OTG keyboard. You can even take the one from your desktop PC.
There are two types of keyboards namely the wired keyboard and the wireless one. To connect the first to your tablet, you just need to plug it into the USB HOST port, or by using an adapter. It will be recognized directly by the tablet.
As for the second type of keyboard, follow these few steps to connect it to your tablet:
- Using a micro USB male / USB female adapter, plug the dongle into the tablet’s USB port
- Then press the dongle connection button for 5 seconds without removing your finger
- Click on the connection button on the keyboard to activate the wireless connection
- Finally, follow the instructions of the wizard to connect your accessory.
From then on, you can enter data on your tablet from your tablet.
Small reminder USB OTG
The USB standard is based on a simple principle of master/slave relationship between devices. Your computer is the master of your mouse for example. Therefore, when your smartphone or tablet is plugged into your computer, the computer powers your device, and the two devices can exchange data. But what do you do when you plug a USB key into your tablet? This time it would have to be the smartphone or tablet that powers the USB key to be able to exchange data.
This is exactly what the OTG standard does: it reverses the classic master/slave relationship.
USB OTG cable required
In order to be able to activate OTG mode when you plug a USB stick into your smartphone or tablet, you need two important things.
The first is a special cable that carries the USB OTG option. The most common are USB female to Micro USB cables and more recently USB female to USB Type-C cables. Also, note that sometimes, certain USB keys are able to activate this option themselves thanks to a double USB connection on one side and Micro USB with On-The-Go option on the other.
The second thing to check is that your device is compatible with this standard. This is the subject of the next part.
How do I know if my device is OTG compatible?
There isn’t really a magic technique to know your tablet or smartphone supports OTG. Some manufacturers decide to support it or not without a real explanation. However, here are some ways to get out of it:
- Browse the technical sheet or in the instructions, it is sometimes indicated
- Install an app that will detect if your device is OTG or not. Be careful, this type of application is not infallible.
- search the forums to see if other users have already scanned your device
Also, note that for the case of USB keys, you absolutely need a file explorer, which is sometimes not installed as a base on your smartphone or tablet.
Problems you may encounter
Your device is OTG compatible, you bought the right cable that supports USB on the Go mode, but it doesn’t work. Several possible explanations are vary depending on the USB device that you are trying to connect.
If it is a USB flash drive or hard drive, the installed file system may not be readable by your device. To be sure, to succeed every time, we recommend the FAT32 file system, which is the most readable by smartphones or tablets.
If it’s an external hard drive, your device may not be providing enough power to properly power your hard drive.
For all other devices, the only rule is to ensure that it is a Plug And Play and classic USB device otherwise you will certainly have to install an application on the smartphone or tablet side to support the device.
Configuring your external keyboard
Once your keyboard is connected, you should take two minutes to configure it correctly. It will work right out of the box, so this step isn’t strictly necessary, but it won’t take long – and you might as well modify it to your liking right from the start.
- Pull the notification drawer down.
- You will see a new item called Select Keyboard Layout. Tap on it.
- In the Choose Keyboard Layout prompt , you can keep it as the default , but I recommend clicking Configure Keyboard Layouts to see what other items are available.
- Scroll down and select the layouts you plan to use. If you type in languages other than English, be sure to select them. For my part, I just turned off the traditional English QWERTY layout in favor of the English Colemak style. (Why use Colemak? A simple change can increase your typing speed by 50% a simple change can increase your typing speed by 50% your keyboard might slow down your typing speed, so here is a simple change you can do to unlock your keyboard. True typing speed. Read more)
Can’t see the notice in your notification drawer? Just go to Settings> Personal> Language & input> Keyboard & input methods and you can change everything there.
How to connect wired keyboard to Samsung tablet?
Things might look different depending on your device model, manufacturer, and Android version, but the general steps should be similar. For example, on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S the notification drawer items and settings pages are different but the functionality is the same.
Now open an app and start typing. It should work. Congratulation!
FAQ:
In case you don’t want to pair and connect a keyboard to your tablet, opt for a tablet PC or a hybrid PC. Indeed, you will benefit from the advantages of a tablet in particular the touch screen and the small size, as well as the advantages of a laptop PC including the keyboard. In addition, you can detach this keyboard whenever you want and thus use your device as a tablet or as a laptop as needed.
