The on-screen touch keyboard is very useful on the touchscreen in Windows 10 or Windows 8. Usually, it should be always enabled but in cases where it starts to interfere with other main applications you are using it should be disabled.
But there is no option in Settings app that can easily and quickly turn it off. You will need to stop a service called Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service to disable it.
- Open Services MMC
- Scroll down to “Touch screen keyboard and handwriting panel”
- You can either right-click the service and Stop it, or double-click and change the startup type from Automatic to Manual.
Doing so, of course, will disable both the touch keyboard and handwriting service, so you’ll lose handwriting recognition. If you are using a tablet with touchscreen like Surface it may be worth a while having a little tool such as Touch Keyboard Toggler (direct download link) that can toggle the setting back and force.