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:

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.

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:

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:

Select "Show Advanced Settings"

Check "Enable keyboard input"

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