11/18/2016

[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

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[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard

Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows?

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If you use Windows operating system, you might be very

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well aware of the WIN key present on your computer's

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keyboard. Generally WIN key is used to quickly access Start

Menu or Start Screen in Windows. But you can also use
WIN key in combination with another key to access other
programs or features in Windows. There are many such
keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) available in Windows which

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use WIN key plus other keys such as:

WIN+R to launch RUN dialog box
WIN+E to launch Windows Explorer
WIN+L to lock
WIN+P to launch External Display selection screen
WIN+X to show WIN+X menu (Windows 8 and later)
WIN+C to show Charms Bar (Windows 8 and later)
WIN+PrtScn to capture computer screen and save
screenshot (Windows 8 and later)
WIN+S or WIN+F to launch Search
WIN+D to show the Desktop
WIN+M to minimize all running programs windows
WIN+SHIFT+M to restore all running programs
windows
WIN+Break to show System Properties
WIN+B to set focus on system tray (Taskbar
notification area) icons
WIN+T to set focus on Taskbar buttons

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11/18/2016

[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

WIN+number key (0-9) to switch between Quick

Launch toolbar or Taskbar buttons
Although these WIN+ hotkeys are very useful and time
saving but many people might find these built-in hotkeys

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annoying. For example, suppose you were using

WIN+Arrow keys to change volume level in your Windows
XP or Vista PC and when you upgraded your PC to
Windows 7, the WIN+Arrow hotkey was automatically
assigned to change windows alignment such as restore
windows, maximize windows, cascade windows, etc as a
part of Aero Snap feature. Now you don't want this new
behavior and want to unbind or disable the built-in
Windows 7 hotkey so that you can use your previous
hotkey functionality.
There might be many other reasons behind disabling builtin WIN+ hotkeys in Windows. For example you often
accidentally press WIN and another key in your keyboard
so you may want to disable the WIN+ hotkey feature to
prevent it from happening again.
If you also want to turn off WIN+ hotkeys in your

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Windows, this tutorial will definitely help you.

We have divided this tutorial in 2 parts:
PART 1: Disable WIN+ hotkeys only
PART 2: Disable WIN key completely
If you don't want to disable WIN key but want to disable its
hotkeys such as WIN+R, WIN+E, etc, then you'll need to
follow the steps given in part 1 of the tutorial.
If you want to completely disable WIN key so that it no
longer works in your system, then you should follow part 2
of this tutorial. Completely disabling WIN key will also
disable all its hotkeys.
PART 1: Disable WIN+ Hotkeys

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11/18/2016

[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

With the help of following steps, you'll be able to turn off

all WIN+ hotkeys available in your Windows.
You can use following 2 methods to disable WIN+ hotkeys:
METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit)
METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
1. Type gpedit.msc in RUN or Start search box and press
Enter. It'll open Group Policy Editor.
2. Now go to:
User Configuration -> Administrative Templates ->
Windows Components -> Windows Explorer
or
User Configuration -> Administrative Templates ->
Windows Components -> File Explorer
3. In right-side pane, look for "Turn off Windows+X
hotkeys" option.
4. The option would be set to Not Configured. Doubleclick on it and set it to Enabled.

That's it. It'll immediately turn off all WIN+ hotkeys in your
system.
PS: To re-enable the hotkeys in future, again set the "Turn
off Windows+X hotkeys" option to Not Configured.
METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit)
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11/18/2016

[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

If you don't want to use or can't use Group Policy Editor,

you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just
follow these simple steps:
1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter.
It'll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cu
rrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD NoWinKeys
and set its value to 1

4. Close Registry Editor and restart your system. After

reboot the WIN+ hotkeys will be turned off in your system.
PS: To re-enable WIN+ hotkeys in future, delete the
DWORD NoWinKeys created in step 3.
PART 2: Disable WIN Key Completely
If you want to completely turn off the WIN key in your
system so that no one can use WIN key and all its related
hotkeys, then this method will help you.
We'll use the built-in "Keyboard Scancode Mapping"
feature of Windows to disable WIN key. If you remember
we have used the same feature to disable Caps Lock key in
following tutorial:
How to Disable Annoying Caps Lock Key in Windows?
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11/18/2016

[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

If you follow the tutorial given at the above mentioned link

and set the value of Scancode Map binary present in
HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboar
d Layout key to 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00
00 5b e0 00 00 5c e0 00 00 00 00, it'll completely disable
WIN key.

But modifying Registry and changing value of a binary is

not an easy task, so we are going to use a very easy to use
freeware "Sharp Keys" to do the same task automatically.
Sharp Keys is a free software which allows you to disable
any desired key or change functionality of a key present on
your computer keyboard.
1. First of all download the software using following article:
Download Sharp Keys
2. Run the software and click on Add button. Now click on
"Type Key" button given in first section "Map this key
(From key)". It'll open a small dialog box to detect a key.
Now press WIN key and it'll store the key. Click on OK
button.
3. Now leave the value of "To this key (To key)" section set
to "-- Turn Key Off (00_00)".

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[Tip] How to Disable All WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows? - AskVG

4. Click on OK button and then click on "Write to

Registry" button.
If you have two WIN keys (left and right) on your keyboard,
repeat the same steps for the other WIN key as well.
It'll immediately save your settings to Windows Registry.
Restart your computer and upon reboot, the WIN key will
be disabled completely.
PS: If you want to enable WIN key again in future, run
Sharp Keys tool again, select the WIN key entry given in the
list and click on "Delete" button. At last click on "Write to
Registry" button and restart your system.
Also Check:
How to Disable or Customize "Backspace Key" in
Mozilla Firefox?

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