How to disable keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys on Windows 10

You are using your Windows PC and suddenly press some shortcut key which randomly opens a program or activates a strange feature. Even worse, you may have accidentally closed your software programs due to accidentally pressing the hotkey.

How do you solve such problems? It's easy - all you need to do is temporarily disable Windows hotkeys. Today's article will show you how to disable Windows hotkeys.

1. Disable shortcuts using Local Group Policy Editor

Local Group Policy Editor lets you troubleshoot PC problems or adjust system settings. Interestingly, you can also use this tool to enable or disable Windows taskbar settings.

But the problem is that you can't access this tool on Windows Home devices. It's only available on Windows Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

However, you can access the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows Home by applying some tricks. But if that sounds complicated, you might want to move on to the next method.

Now, here is how to disable Windows shortcuts using Local Group Policy Editor:

1. Type Edit group policy in the search bar in the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the best match and select Run as administrator .
3. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer .
4. Double-click the Turn off Windows Key Hotkeys option on the right side.

To disable the hotkeys, select Enabled on the next screen. Finally, close the Local Group Policy Editor and restart your device to save these changes.

And if you decide to re-enable the hotkeys, follow these steps:

1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to File Explorer options following the previous steps.
2. Double-click the Turn off Windows Key Hotkeys option and select Not Configured or Disabled .
3. Close Local Group Policy Editor and restart your PC to save these changes.

2. Disable the shortcut using Registry Editor

You can also disable hotkeys by tweaking a few Register keys. But before you begin, consider backing up your registry. That way, you can restore the tool if something goes wrong.

Here's how to disable the shortcut using Registry Editor:

1. Type Registry Editor into the search bar in the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the best match and select Run as administrator .
3. Copy-paste the following command into the address bar and press Enter :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

From there, click on the Explorer key. If it doesn't exist, create a key by right-clicking on the Policies key and selecting New > Key . Name this key Explorer.

While you are using the “Explorer” key, right-click on the empty space on the right and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value . Next, name this value NoWinKeys and press Enter.

To disable hotkeys, double-click the NoWinKeys value and set the Value data to 1 . Otherwise, set the Value data to 0 (zero) to enable hotkeys. Finally, close Registry Editor and restart your device to save these changes.

3. Disable hotkeys using system settings (for certain hotkeys)

System settings can also be useful. However, this tool will only help you disable specific Windows shortcuts. This includes hotkeys for Windows Narrator, Sticky Keys, Print Screen options, Filter Keys, Toggle Keys, and color filters.

Here's how to disable hotkeys using system settings:

1. Type Allow the shortcut key to start Filter Keys in the Start menu search bar and select the best match.
2. Uncheck the Allow the shortcut key to start Filter Keys box to disable this option. (When this option is enabled, you must press and hold the right Shift key for about eight seconds to enable Filter Keys.)

Next, scroll up and find the Use Sticky Keys option. From there, uncheck the Allow the shortcut key to start Sticky Keys box to turn this option off. (When this option is enabled, you have to press the Shift key 5 times to turn Sticky Keys on or off.)

From there, scroll down to the Use Toggle Keys option . Next, uncheck the Allow the shortcut key to start Toggle Keys box  to disable this option. (When this option is enabled, you have to press and hold the Num Lock key for about 5 seconds to enable Toggle Keys.)

Now, scroll down and find the Print Screen Shortcut option . Turn off the Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping button to disable this option.

Next, configure the color filter shortcuts through the following steps:

1. Type Allow the shortcut key to turn color filters on or off in the Start menu search bar and select the best match.
2. Next, uncheck the Allow the shortcut key to toggle filter on or off box to turn this option off. (If this option is enabled, you must press Win + Ctrl + C to turn the color filter on or off.)

Next, let’s see how you can disable the shortcuts for the Narrator option. Simply put, Narrator refers to a feature that describes the content that appears on your screen.

Here are the steps to disable the Narrator shortcut:

1. Type Allow the shortcut key to start Narrator into the Start menu search bar and select the best match.
2. Next, uncheck the Allow the shortcut key to start Narrator box to disable this option. (When this option is enabled, you must press Win + Ctrl + Enter to turn Narrator on or off.)