Android emulator doesn't take keyboard input - SDK tools rev 20

Update

As of SDK rev 21 the Android Virtual Device Manager has an improved UI which resolves this issue. I have highlighted some of the more important configuration settings below:

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If you notice that the soft (screen-based) main keys Back, Home, etc. are missing from your emulator you can set hw.mainKeys=no to enable them.

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Original answer

Even though the developer documentation says keyboard support is enabled by default it doesn't seem to be that way in SDK rev 20. I explicitly enabled keyboard support in my emulator's config.ini file and that worked!

Add: hw.keyboard=yes

To: ~/.android/avd/<emulator-device-name>.avd/config.ini

Similarly, add hw.dPad=yes if you wish to use the arrow-keys to navigate the application list.

Reference: http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/managing-avds-cmdline.html#hardwareopts

On Mac OS and Linux you can edit all of your emulator configurations with one Terminal command:

for f in ~/.android/avd/*.avd/config.ini; do echo 'hw.keyboard=yes' >> "$f"; done


On a related note, if your tablet emulator is missing the BACK/HOME buttons, try selecting WXGA800 as the Built-in skin in the AVD editor: enter image description here

Or by manually setting the skin in config.ini:

skin.name=WXGA800
skin.path=platforms/android-16/skins/WXGA800

(example is for API 16)


Confirmed. I had the same problem after upgrading to Tools version 20. I had to Edit the AVD to add an option as follows:

  1. From Eclipse, Go to AVD Mananger.
  2. Select the particular AVD and click on Edit
  3. Go to the Hardware section, click on New.
  4. Select the Property Name : Keyboard Support
  5. By default, it is added with a value of 'no'. Just click on the value column and change it to 'yes'.
  6. Click on Edit AVD again.

This will add a property hw.keyboard=yes in config.ini file for the AVD.

You also have to set hw.mainKeys = yes


In Android Studio, open AVD Manager (Tools > Android > AVD Manager). Tap the Edit button of the emulator: enter image description here

Select "Show Advanced Settings" enter image description here

Check "Enable keyboard input" enter image description here

Click Finish and start the emulator to enjoy the keyboard input.