bug(windows): Keyman stops working with Office and Adobe products under Windows 11 25H2 update

[mcdurdin]

@ind-nt writes:

Since the 25H2 windows 11 update, Keyman has been stalling out in various apps. Basically the keyboard would stop working altogether in Microsoft Office and Adobe products, and sometimes come back.

Custom layouts directly installed into Windows have stopped working altogether, and every attempt to fix has not worked

This has basically made the Indigenous NT layout installed on all government computers in the Northwest Territories stop working.

Original Report: keymanapp/keyboards#3811 (comment)

@ind-nt, a few questions:

1. When you say the keyboard stops working, does the language icon still show the Keyman keyboard, or something else?
2. If you press and release every modifier key (ctrl/shift/alt) on both sides of the keyboard, does the keyboard start functioning again?
3. You noted that the keyboard stops working in Office and Adobe products. Does it keep working in other software such as Notepad?

And @ind-nt, can you also help us with two investigative actions?

1. Can you send us a diagnostic report from a computer where Keyman is not working?

2. Could you try to capture a debug log which reproduces the issue? On a single computer where Keyman is going wrong, can you install the latest Keyman 19 alpha release?

   • After installing Keyman and your keyboard, please switch on Debugging in Keyman Configuration. Note that Debugging will capture every keystroke typed on the system, so this should only be used for diagnostic purposes.
   • Restart the computer, make sure Keyman is running (it will prompt for elevation while Debugging is switched on), and see if you can get Keyman to stop working altogether.
   • Once you have reproduced the problem, immediately exit Keyman from its icon in the Taskbar. Open the folder %localappdata%\Keyman\Diag in Windows Explorer, zip the most recent .etl file found in that folder, and share it with us (e.g. via private message on https://community.software.sil.org/u/marc, or by sharing a Google Drive/OneDrive/other link directly to my email marc_durdin@sil.org). When you send the log, try and note the point where you noticed that Keyman stopped working. Let us know which application you were using, and if possible, the last few keystrokes you typed.
   • Don't forget to turn off Debugging again afterwards.

[mcdurdin]

@ind-nt wrote:

but my work Windows 11 lost the ability to even see custom IMEs. I reactivated an old Keyman installation on it, and it works perfectly on the Notepads (I assume because they are old Win32 apps), sometimes stops working in Word, and doesn't work at all in Adobe.

Windows 11

Keyman does normally work just fine on Win11, so there may be something specific to your setup that is blocking custom IMEs. Can you explain a bit more of what you are seeing, and what you mean by 'blocking custom IMEs'? Do you have a custom deployment of Windows 11 that has any group policy settings applied that may affect this?

Adobe products

Note that Adobe products such as Acrobat have a security hardening setting that blocks 3rd party software such as Keyman from integrating -- see https://help.keyman.com/knowledge-base/?id=69. My hope is following the instructions in that document will address the Adobe issue.

Word / Office

The one that is of most concern is Word and the instability you are seeing there. That's where a debug log, as described in point 2 in my earlier post, will help.

[rc-swag]

@ind-nt Let us know if you have any questions regarding two investigative actions above.
You can message me the log files also via the forum. It may also be helpful to organise a video call if you availabe for that.

[ind-nt]

I have enclosed the Release 19 test and debug file in a personal email. Here's some answers to your questions: 1. When you say the keyboard stops working, does the language icon still show the Keyman keyboard, or something else? *The language icon shows. It was happening more often in Microsoft Office, but seems to have eased up. No key except the backspace works in Adobe Acrobat, and then it freezes the keyboard menu for some amount of time.* 1. If you press and release every modifier key (ctrl/shift/alt) on both sides of the keyboard, does the keyboard start functioning again? *Will have to try this.* 1. You noted that the keyboard stops working in Office and Adobe products. Does it keep working in other software such as Notepad? *It always works in Notepad++. I assume because its Win32 and has a simple input method, as opposed to Adobe with its complex input * *stack. This is the most consistent behaviour, tested on three different Windows 11 systems. * *CORRECTION: Changing the preferences (protected mode) in Adobe worked to allow input, so that has been resolved.* I am still perplexed by the layouts generated by MSKLC. Their behaviour is unpredictable, from not showing up at all (government systems -- Windows 11 Enterprise), to working as normal on a home laptop. I will suggest installing Keyman to replace the MSKLC layout, except for the wrinkle introduced by Release 19-alpha as noted in my email. - R

…

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 11:31 AM Marc Durdin ***@***.***> wrote: *mcdurdin* created an issue (keymanapp/keyman#15279) <#15279> @ind-nt <https://github.com/ind-nt> writes: Since the 25H2 windows 11 update, Keyman has been stalling out in various apps. Basically the keyboard would stop working altogether in Microsoft Office and Adobe products, and sometimes come back. Custom layouts directly installed into Windows have stopped working altogether, and every attempt to fix has not worked This has basically made the Indigenous NT layout installed on all government computers in the Northwest Territories stop working. Original Report: keymanapp/keyboards#3811 (comment) <keymanapp/keyboards#3811 (comment)> @ind-nt <https://github.com/ind-nt>, a few questions: 1. When you say the keyboard stops working, does the language icon still show the Keyman keyboard, or something else? 2. If you press and release every modifier key (ctrl/shift/alt) on both sides of the keyboard, does the keyboard start functioning again? 3. You noted that the keyboard stops working in Office and Adobe products. Does it keep working in other software such as Notepad? And @ind-nt <https://github.com/ind-nt>, can you also help us with two investigative actions? 1. Can you send us a diagnostic report <https://help.keyman.com/kb/40> from a computer where Keyman is not working? 2. Could you try to capture a debug log which reproduces the issue? On a single computer where Keyman is going wrong, can you install the latest Keyman 19 alpha release <https://keyman.com/alpha>? - After installing Keyman and your keyboard, please switch on Debugging in Keyman Configuration. Note that Debugging will capture every keystroke typed on the system, so this should only be used for diagnostic purposes. - Restart the computer, make sure Keyman is running (it will prompt for elevation while Debugging is switched on), and see if you can get Keyman to stop working altogether. - Once you have reproduced the problem, immediately exit Keyman from its icon in the Taskbar. Open the folder %localappdata%\Keyman\Diag in Windows Explorer, zip the most recent .etl file found in that folder, and share it with us (e.g. via private message on https://community.software.sil.org/u/marc, or by sharing a Google Drive/OneDrive/other link directly to my email ***@***.***). When you send the log, try and note the point where you noticed that Keyman stopped working. Let us know which application you were using, and if possible, the last few keystrokes you typed. - Don't forget to turn off Debugging again afterwards. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#15279>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AMTEXAZBAGYSMBPSVRCJNGT374UB7AVCNFSM6AAAAACN6KXSG2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZTGY4TCNBRHA3TGNA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

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________________________________________ Rajiv Rawat, Yellowknife, NT, Canada C: 1-867-446-7267

[rc-swag]

This forum issue seems similar
https://community.software.sil.org/t/unable-to-type-devanagri-script-in-keyman-18-0-245/11026

[rc-swag]

For this issue I processed a log from the original reporter and I can see that Keyman is unable to add itself to message filter. It is recieving access denied. We need to deterine if this is a new Windows setting a security setting or someting along those lines.
DoCWMF: ERROR 5 calling ChangeWindowMessageFilter: Access is denied.