ARCHIVED: Why does PuTTY not recognize input from the numeric keypad?

The numeric keypad may not work within PuTTY for a couple of different reasons. A setting within PuTTY may correct the problem. Alternately, if you are using emacs, some changes to your .emacs file may be needed.

PuTTY settings

In PuTTY's Application Keypad mode, the keys on the numeric keypad (including NumLock) can send special control sequences to the server. Depending on the application, this can cause the numeric keypad to behave differently.

If PuTTY appears not to recognize input from the numeric keypad, disabling Application Keypad mode will sometimes resolve the problem:

1. Click the PuTTY icon in the upper-left corner of the window. From the drop-down menu, click Change Settings.
2. Click Terminal, and then click Features.
3. Under "Enabling and disabling advanced terminal features", check Disable application keypad mode.
4. Click Apply.

For more, see Configuring PuTTY.

Emacs settings

Numeric pads, or number pads, may not work properly (or at all) initially in Emacs. To correct this, access your .emacs file from your command line by entering emacs ~/.emacs, and enter the following lines:

(global-set-key "\eOp" "0")
(global-set-key "\eOq" "1") 
(global-set-key "\eOr" "2")
(global-set-key "\eOs" "3") 
(global-set-key "\eOt" "4")
(global-set-key "\eOu" "5") 
(global-set-key "\eOv" "6")
(global-set-key "\eOw" "7") 
(global-set-key "\eOx" "8")
(global-set-key "\eOy" "9") 
(global-set-key "\eOl" "+")
(global-set-key "\eOQ" "/") 
(global-set-key "\eOR" "*")
(global-set-key "\eOS" "-") 
(global-set-key "\eOn" ".")

Then save your .emacs file. This will allow your number pad keys to function normally.