Look, See? As before, the change will become effective after you restart your PC. Click image to ⦠Just move to another line and enter the next key that you want to disable it. Click the + button and under Key, click on the âType Keyâ button and press your Windows key and click OK Under Mapped To, click the drop down menu and select Undefined Click the blue OK button at the top right corner of the app Click Continue Anyway and ⦠Disclaimer:Editing the Windows Registry file is a serious undertaking. PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Once the Windows Registry file is open, navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. 6. To disable Windows Key using SharpKeys, you need to do the following: Download and start SharpKeys. Some keyboards (e.g., gaming keyboards), have a key designed to disable and enable the Windows key. © Both Windows keys should now do nothing when pressed on their own, but shortcuts will still work. So without wasting any time we will see how to disable the Windows Key shortcut on Windows 10. Now, you must click on OK to save the new configuration for Turn off Windows Key hotkeys. Find Turn off Windows Key hotkeys and then double-click on it. Steps To Disable Windows Key Shortcut: Press windows + R to run command and type regedit and hit enter. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter. I am a PC Gamer. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic. Deactivate Windows Product Key Step #1 Click on the Start icon, type â cmd â in the search box, right-click on â cmd.exe â program and then select â Run as administrator â option to open Command Prompt program with administrator privileges. You can declare and disable as many keys as you want in a single script. If you're out of luck with your keyboard, though, you can still disable the key in Windows 7 with a bit of registry editing. Once the Device Manager window opens, expand Imaging devices (or Integrated Camera) to display your camera. Open Start menu. @JackE Windows key location is right beside Ctrl used in many games, and this tends to bring up desktop if the game does not block it. Once the Windows ⦠If you want to completely disable your camera in Windows 10, just follow these steps: Press the Windows + R keys together to open the Run box. The first step to disabling any keyboard input on your Windows machine is to download a program called AutoHotKey. Now, in the ⦠Method 3: Use Group Policy Editor To Turn Off Key Combinations Open a Run Window by pressing Win + R. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to launch group policy editor. Please refresh the page and try again. It is by far the simplest solution. 4. Keyboard key designed to disable the Windows key. Choose the first option to open it. Type 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000in the Data field. âKlimek Shannon. To start, type "regedit" into the desktop search box and select Registry Editor in the results. Itâll show the key name on the text bar which you have pressed. You can remap the key using Microsoftâs free PowerToys utility. Win + L. Disclaimer: Editing the Windows Registry file is a serious undertaking. Send your problems to letters@pcgamer.com. [Update â This Fix It appears to ⦠TechRepublic Premium: The best IT policies, templates, and tools, for today and tomorrow. Some games block it, and some don't, and this screws up big time esp in matches. Just type âregeditâ in the Search box. Or you can try a different method, with a program that's handy to have anyway, and keep the shortcuts. 5. 7. Press Add Value on the Edit menu. Clean the keyboard. In the Predator keyboard I got the windows key is moved to the right of space bar and literally no chance of being pressed accidentally. Once youâve downloaded AutoHotKey, run the installer. OK, so that wasn't a question, but it brings one up. Type "group policy ⦠The other way is to disable it in the registry. Navigate to this folder: User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File Explorer, Click on the File Explorer entry, as shown in Figure D. Scroll down the list of configuration settings displayed in the right-hand window until you find the entry "Turn off Windows Key hotkeys.". Double-click 'Windows Key - Disable.reg' or 'Windows Key - Enable.reg' (Default). Double-click the System\CurrentControlSet\Control folder, and then click the Keyboard Layout folder. Method 2: Enable / Disable Camera Using Device Manager. Tyler has spent over 900 hours playing Rocket League, and slightly fewer nitpicking the PC Gamer style guide. That was a response to my post from last week, in which I offered a few of my favorite Windows shortcuts and tricks. Do a google search for "Disable Windows Key" (for gaming) You can download PowerToys for your desktop ⦠While the Windows key can be useful for the highly efficient PC gamer, Klimek points out that it can also be the cruelest key of them all. Running the âDisable Windows Key Shortcutsâ hack creates the NoWinKeys value and sets the value to 1 for the currently signed in user. Running the âEnable Windows Key Shortcuts (Default)â hack sets the value back to 0. Users with Microsoft keyboards The Simple Disable Key application also comes with the chance to download more free software which you can see from the menu at the top. If your keyboard is dirty and if there is dust between your keys, you should clean ⦠How to disable the Windows key using Group Policy Editor The methodology is similar for the Group Policy Editor if you are using Windows 10 Pro. Visit our corporate site. From start to finish: How to host multiple websites on Linux with Apache, Checklist: Managing and troubleshooting iOS devices, Understanding Bash: A guide for Linux administrators, Image: Julian Vojtech, Getty Images/iStockphoto, Comment and share: How to disable the Windows key on your keyboard. User Configuration â Administrative Templates â Windows Components â File Explorer Disabling the F1 key from the Windows registry; Disabling the F1 key using AutoHotkey; Re-mapping the F1 key using Sharpkeys; Letâs take them one at a time. How to disable Win key combinations in the program Simple Disable Key. Now you'll never end up looking at the desktop when you meant to crouch. Recently, I came across a free program, Simple Disable Key, which can do this, and is quite convenient (the program works in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7): This registry edit will disable the Windows Key on your keyboard for all users. Click Yes when prompted by User Account Control. However, due to my empirical knowledge of how aggravating the Windows key is to my PC Gaming I will continue to remove the Windows key from my keyboards. On my Thermaltake keyboard, the left Windows key is replaced with an Fn key, so I don't worry about it. Ask PC Gamer is our weekly question and advice column. The two methods explained in this article offer the more straightforward of solutions, saving the more involved methods for later. This will disable the key after youâve booted to the desktop. 5 Windows admin tasks you can automate using PowerShell, Checklist: Securing Windows 10 systems (TechRepublic Premium), Microsoft Ignite 2019: Azure Arc, HoloLens 2, Edge, Quantum and Teams, 2 more ways to disable the Windows key on your keyboard, How to become a software engineer: A cheat sheet, 10 free alternatives to Microsoft Word and Excel, Choosing your Windows 7 exit strategy: Four options, Microsoft Office 365 for business: Everything you need to know, The 10 most important iPhone apps of all time, It takes work to keep your data private online. These apps can help. Now youâll see two columns. Double-click the Turn off Windows Key hotkeys entry and click the Enable radio button, as shown in Figure E. Click OK and then close the Group Policy Editor. Accidentally dumping yourself to the desktop in the middle of a competitive game is worse than accidentally hitting Insert and typing over a sentence. Here's how. The easiest way to disable the Windows key is by remapping the key. Click on Enabled (its radio button) to select this parameter. a few of my favorite Windows shortcuts and tricks, Best external SSD for gaming on PC and next-gen consoles, Gigabyte Radeon RX 6800 XT Gaming OC Review. With the help of the Windows key on a standard Microsoft Windows 10 keyboard, users can access dozens of configuration settings, features, and applications with convenient keyboard shortcut combinations. Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors. If you are not comfortable working in the registry, consider using the automated method. Step #2 Somewhere between the comments (which are marked with semi-colons) add the following: Now just save the file, right click on AutoHotkey again, and select 'Reload This Script.' As commenters pointed out, some keyboards (like the one pictured) include a button to disable the key. 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