In this guide we walk you through the different steps to solve the problem with your K220 keyboard. The solution also applies to the keyboard in the MK220 combination.
Basic Checks
Check the battery on the K220 and ensure that it’s working. If not, replace it. Make sure that when you replace the batteries they are in the correct orientation.
Note that there is no way to tell that the battery level is low. The K220 doesn’t have any exterior LEDs to indicate battery level. The only way to really check if it’s low is to use a multimeter to measure the voltage across the terminals. If you don’t have a multimeter, it’s easiest to just try a new set of batteries.
Wireless Connection
The K220 is a wireless keyboard. If it isn’t working, the problem is most likely due to a broken wireless connection. The K220 uses a Unifying Receiver or Dongle that is plugged into a USB port on your laptop / PC to connect.
The link between the keyboard and the Unifying receiver can either stop working or work intermittently for a few different reasons:
Low battery level
The K220 uses two (2) AAA batteries. The battery life is stated to be 24 months. It could be shorter or longer depending on how often it has been used. The battery powers the wireless link so if there’s an issue with it, the link won’t function properly.
Using no receiver
The K220 needs a Unifying receiver to operate. It does not use Bluetooth for wireless connection. It cannot use a cabled or wired connection either.
Using the wrong type of receiver
Sometimes when the USB dongle is lost, a user might plug in another USB dongle they have around the house. Logitech makes four different types of wireless dongles. A Unifying keyboard needs a unifying dongle to operate – it cannot be used with a Lightspeed dongle, for instance.
Moving the receiver from one USB port to another
If the USB dongle is switched to another port you might lose connectivity if the port is not working. Move the receiver to other USB ports to see if it works. If you were plugged into a USB 3.0 port, try switching to a USB 2.0 port.
You can tell a USB 3.0 port by the blue color.
Using the receiver in a USB hub
USB hubs can cause the keyboard to experience latency, jitter or be completely non-functional. Instead plug the dongle directly to the PC.
Moving the receiver to another computer
If you moved your receiver to another computer, the keyboard won’t work with any other computer other than the one that the receiver is plugged into.
Radio Frequency (RF) Wireless Interference
Wireless signals from Wi-Fi routers, cell phones and other sources can disrupt the link between the keyboard and PC. I have seen many situations where an access point is placed on the same desk as the PC. The wireless signals from the AP will interfere with the operation of the keyboard.
To solve this problem, move all other wireless devices away from the keyboard. Ideally at least a foot away (if not more).
If after trying all of the above steps, the keyboard is still having connectivity issues then there’s possibly an issue with the drivers. Try the next step.
Reboot your PC to Safe Mode
Follow these steps to start your PC in Safe mode. Check to see if your keyboard works. If it does, then it’s a driver issue or a conflict with another application. To resolve driver issues, first uninstall the keyboard drivers.
The next step is to restart the PC. This should reinstall the necessary drivers and your keyboard should now connect as it normally would.
Summary
In this post we have described the steps used to solve the problem of the K220 not working. There are two main categories of problems we have identified as being the cause of the problem:
- Connectivity
- Drivers
Within each of these categories we have provided solutions.