Windows 11 keyboard(s) freeze randomly

On occasion, keyboard response stops - ALL keys (all function, all alpha-numeric, all control keys (such as Enter, Ctrl, Alt, Windows key, etc.), and all other keys). There is not a single key that is responsive once the trouble starts. When this occurs, there is an audible "click" that correlates with each keypress. If a key is held down, the "click" repeats every 2 - 3 seconds.
There are no stuck keys, no worn keys, no debris under the keys, etc. Nothing has ever been spilled on either the laptop or external keyboard.
After restarting when the trouble occurs, all keys for either keyboard are 100% functional for as little as a few hours up to over a week.
The trouble appears to be random in frequency, time, or event.

Keyboard trouble began sometime in October 2025.
Affects both the laptop and external keyboard.
Trouble is not prevented if the external keyboard remains disconnected, so it points to a software issue - likely the OS or a related driver.
Once it starts, it's persistent until a restart.

Just for fun, I ran the keyboard troubleshooter - no errors.

What next?

I was going to suggest you make sure you had the latest chipset , firmware, and bios updates but it doesn't look like HP has released any Windows 11 updates for that device. No driver since 2018-2019 and latest OS listed is Windows 10.

The only other things I can suggest:
Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
When complete restart. Then open command prompt as admin again and run sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair

In Device Manager, under Universal Serial Bus controllers, right click each one, select properties, power management tab, disable Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power for each root hub.

Hope others have more suggestions for you.

this is extra advice from the good advice from @glasskuter above
please check the reliability monitor for any errors relating to the keyboard
control panel > security and maintenance > maintenance > reliability monitor

then please check problem devices
windows tools > system information > components > problem devices

also open the device manager and find the keyboard entry
right check that entry and delete/uninstall the keyboard

restart the system and Windows will reload the required drivers for the keyboard.
then see if there is any improvement.

best of luck Steve ..

Yesterday after I signed in to Windows 11 version 25H2 Build 26200.7019, I had the keyboard not responding problem. I was about to copy and paste a registry key from a web site and save it in notepad in UTF-16 LE format, I noticed that I could neither copy nor paste the text in notepad let alone save it in UTF-16 LE format with the keyboard key combinations. I am using USB wireless Microsoft AIO keyboard. I suspected battery depletion. I turned off the keyboard and removed the batteries to check. They checked O.K. I turned the keyboard back on and its battery indicator lighted green which meant batteries were really in good condition. I restarted my PC using the USB wirelss mouse. After the PC restarted, the problem was gone. This happened only once.

I thought the problem might be due to a rare bug in Build 26200.70XX that has been introduced in this build and happens very rarely because I have been using version 25H2 for a long time.

Thanks for the responses, but after attending to the various recommendations the trouble still occasionally manifests. My specific trouble only relates to keyboard entry - not copying or pasting. It doesn't matter if it's the laptop keyboard or an external one. So far, a restart always resolves the trouble (temporarily).

Another related observation - if I remember correctly, the trouble begins when trying to enter data in various online form fields.