Duplication issue with the correction symbol “^^”

This behavior matches a keyboard layout or dead-key issue more than a hardware fault.

Try these checks in order:

1. Verify the active keyboard layout
   • Press Windows + Spacebar or Alt + Shift to switch layouts.
   • Test in the browser after each switch.
   • If multiple layouts are installed, a non-English layout can make keys behave as accent or dead keys instead of typing the expected character directly.
2. Check installed keyboards
   • Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.
   • Under the active language, open Options.
   • Confirm the intended keyboard is installed, such as the correct English layout.
   • Remove unused layouts if they are being switched accidentally.
3. Review advanced keyboard settings
   • Go to Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Advanced keyboard settings.
   • Check whether layout switching shortcuts are enabled unexpectedly.
4. Consider dead-key behavior
   • In Windows, some keys are treated as dead keys for accented characters. That means the first key press does not immediately produce the final character and instead waits for the next key.
   • This can explain why a key combination appears to produce repeated accent-like marks instead of the expected symbol.
5. If the issue is only in browsers after layout checks
   • Test with a different keyboard layout temporarily.
   • If accented input works correctly outside browsers but not inside browsers, compare behavior after switching to a plain English keyboard layout and removing duplicate layouts.

For accented characters in Microsoft Word, supported shortcuts include:

• Ctrl + ', then the letter for á, é, í, ó, ú
• Ctrl + Shift + :, then the letter for ä, ë, ï, ö, ü

If the key is acting like an accent key, that is consistent with dead-key behavior described in Windows and with layout switching issues reported when multiple languages are installed.

• FIX: The dead key does not work correctly in Windows Presentation Foundation | Microsoft Support
• get question mark and keyboard to work - Microsoft Q&A
• Keyboard shortcuts in Word