Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

How can I disable my “Windows” key? Or for that matter, remap my entire keyboard?

Question:

How can I disable my “Windows” key? Or for that matter, remap my entire keyboard?

If your needs are “standard” then the approach while well hidden is pretty easy. However if you want a truly arbitrary mapping this is one of those areas that you’d expect to be a lot easier than it turns out to be.

By “standard” I really mean “something that Microsoft has already thought of”. That boils down to two things: a predefined set of foreign keyboard layouts and the Dvorak keyboard layout. (Dvorak is an alternative to the standard QWERTY layout that you can read much more about here.)

If you want to do something non-standard though, things get very interesting and possibly complicated.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

For some types of changes such as disabling the Windows key it’s possible that your keyboard driver already has a solution for you. I happen to use one of Microsoft’s keyboards, and the Intellitype Pro software that is installed includes the ability to do exactly that: configure most of the “special” keys including disabling the Windows key. (Control Panel -> Keyboard -> Key Settings has a list of keys that can then be individually configured.)

It’s possible that your needs might also be met by keyboard macro program. These programs allow you to assign sequences of keystrokes or actions to a single key. This could be a viable option if you’re looking to simply change the function of a few keys. Of course, you could assign new single keystroke actions to all your keys. The specific capabilities of the programs vary so be sure to check them out to make sure they meet your needs. There are several including EZ Macros, Hot Keyboard, and Macro ToolsWorks.

If you really want to remap the keyboard in arbitrary ways without using a macro utility I have found one utility: AutoHotkey. This tool is designed to do exactly what we’ve been talking about: reassign the functionality of individual keys on the keyboard.

Do this

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

I'll see you there!

44 comments on “How can I disable my “Windows” key? Or for that matter, remap my entire keyboard?”

  1. Hello
    Thought you might be interested if anyone simply wants to disable the Winlogo keys (which I do when my little niece plays her games which disable the keyboard but won’t disable the Winlogo keys).
    At Doug’s Windows Hints & Tips there’s a couple of little reg’s to download – one disable’s the Winlogo keys (restart PC to take effect) and another re-enable’s the Winlogo keys (again restart PC to take effect).
    Good for people like me who don’t have the foggiest about the registry. I use these all the time when she and other children come to visit and play their games.
    http://www.dougknox.com/index.html
    Kind regards
    Dixie
    P.S. You have a helpful site indeed!

    Reply
  2. Is there any ways to disable individual keys in the std QWERTY keyboard? Or any softwares ie user friendly that can perform the task? Thank you.

    Reply
  3. I’m not sure. If any of the programs mentioned in the article are things that are added to the startup group, then certainly you could add it for one user (login account) and not another.

    Reply
  4. Does anyone know where to get a program where one quickly can disable defined keys and quickly restore them again?

    Example I would like to disable all but space and arrows.

    Reply
  5. Hello. I have one question about
    something. I’ve got IBM notebook ThinkPad R51. Problem is keyboard
    is very different. Here is keys FN, CTRL, ALT, SPACE… Because I
    have many macros with CTRL and SHIFT and CTRL is in other place (in
    Windows keys place). My question is: do exists program where I can
    change places for this keyboard keys if it is possible? I like do
    it in desktop keyboards style. I mean: FN = CTRL CTRL = Windows
    key. If you can, please, answer me. Many greetings from Kosova.

    Reply
  6. Hello. I have a little problem. I cautch a Asus M5NP Notebook with ABNT2 keyboard. My “?” and “/” is in the same place of right windows key and I can’t use it?! Disabling the right windows key will work?! Can anyone help me please?!

    Reply
  7. Hello.
    I have the same problem with ThinkPad
    I need LCtrl to be Windows key, and
    Fn to be a LCtrl.
    Ctrl key is easy reassignable in registry.
    Problem comes up when I try to remap a Fn key.
    Anybody, help if you can please.

    Reply
  8. Thank you!

    I’ll buy you a latte if you come here :)
    Meanwhile, I’ll bookmark and browse some ads.

    Seasons greetings & A Happy New Year from Oslo, Norway

    Reply
  9. hi leo my sony vaio notebook is playing up the right shift key is sticking!not sticking by somthin in the way<software wise(i think)Thats why my shift key is still sticking could you tell me how to disable it heres some info on my keyboard

    standard 101/102 key or microsoft natural ps/2 keyboard
    driver date:1/07/2001(my notebooks only a year old)
    driver version:5.1.2600.2180

    please help!

    Reply
  10. Can i remap my number pad to ALSO type arrows in the 2, 4, 6, and 8 keys? If so how? I have a Dell keyboard, and microsoft applications, if that matters. any help is appreciated. i dont have any of the options that you suggest on my computer

    Reply
  11. Ash: “the right shift key is sticking”

    That sticking keys you mention may be the “StickyKeys” in Windows Accessibility options. This one and the “FilterKeys” always hit me when I get to a new computer. Somehow the worst thing you can do is to press cancel on it.

    How to turn off Windows XP Accessibility feature before it triggers:

    Open Start/Settings/Control Panel/Accessibility
    Goto tab Keyboard
    Disable Use of StickyKeys, FilterKeys and ToggleKeys
    Disable Shortcut (under settings) for StickyKeys, FilterKeys and ToggleKeys
    Goto tab Mouse
    Disable Use and Shortcut for MouseKeys
    OK

    Reply
  12. I’ve downloaded and used KeyTweak. It is awsome. I have an IBM ThinkPad and I always accidentally press annoying internet.back and internet.forward when I meant to press arrow keys. I also made the Insert button just another Shift key. You can change any keys from numbers to punctuation to letters to F_ keys to other grey keys to specialty keys. The only key you cannot change or change something to is the Pause/Break. I wish I could change that one.

    Thank you for helping me find this program.

    Reply
  13. Everytime I select the number 3 key on my number pad, it launches the DivX.com web site. I suspected perhaps a virus of some sort, updated my definitions and scanned my PC for viruses/spyware. This did nothing. Do you know of a potential solution to this most annoying problem? Thanks for any help you can provide.

    Reply
  14. I’d been looking for an easy way to map my Windows keyboard (that I have to use in my current job) to the Mac placements I’m used to. Also, reaching all the way over for the Control key with my pinky was starting to make my wrist hurt. I found my way to this article, downloaded Key Tweak, and 5 minutes later my keyboard is acting like I want. Thanks for the pointer!

    Reply
  15. Downloaded KeyTweak to change my Left Windows key to another ALT key. (Note, you have to use the Half Teach Mode to access a left windows key since it is not shown on KeyTweak’s main keyboard map.) I’m working in Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign a lot and having pressing the windows key by accident (since it’s so close to Alt) is super annoying. Now it’s fixed! Thanks so much for suggesting KeyTweak!

    Reply
  16. When I hit the “single opening quote” (which is the lower case function of the tilde key, I get

    `This is a test 09:30:55 Real time

    Do you have any idea how I can get rid of this? It is NOT a macro. No function keys are used to get this message.

    Reply
  17. Thanks! I had an old laptop with the shift key stuck on — used keytweak and was able to quickly make that key do something harmless. awesome! save me from getting a new keyboard/laptop.

    Reply
  18. when the number lock is ON – the alphanumeric keys on the keyboard displays the following:
    instead of U = 4 / I = 5 / O =6 / P =* / J = 1 / k = 2 / l = 3 / := – / M=0 / ? = + /

    and How to turn off Windows VISTA Accessibility feature before it triggers or after it has been triggered.
    your reply will be hightl appreciated.

    Reply
  19. I appreciate this commit board. My brother-in-law brought me his laptop and it was acting very strange. After some quick checking, it was apparent that the right shift key was alway on, even though it looked fine. It made the laptop nearly unusable since it would open every icon on the desktop when you clicked on just one. You couldn’t even edit text without rewriting everything. I installed KeyTweak and in 30 seconds and 1 reboot, I disabled the right shift key and he was back in business. He said he could live without the key and was thankful he didn’t have to pay for a new keyboard or a repair shop. Thanks!!!

    Reply
  20. Hi Leo,

    I have found this forum very helpful. I don’t want to use shareware software and would like to remap the regedit to change key assigns.

    I found the following link (the Microsoft link above didn’t work)
    http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kscan-map.mspx

    For my work, I constantly need to type the Euro symbol (Alt+0128) and wish I could reassign Shift+6 or F6 button as this key.

    What is the code to add to the Scancode map to accomplish this?

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  21. My control keys are disabled, at first I thought that it’s a dust or spillage problem, but both keys doesn’t function at all. Pressing them is useless as the moment, copying a text would simply type over the highlighted text with the character “c” as in the Ctrl + c key stroke.

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

    Reply
  22. I have this awful keyboard at work where the 3×2 block with home, end, ins, del, etc., is flipped upwards and is 2×3 with home and end on top and ins/del and pgup/pgdown beside each other. Needless to say this is AWFUL and caused much undue stress.

    KeyTweaks worked GREAT; it allowed me to do completely arbitrary changes, which I could not do with SharpKeys.

    Reply
  23. my laptop’s windows key was stuck and i was unable to use it. key tweak helped me out and thanks to you from where i got the link to it.. otherwise i might have to change my keyboard or get it repaired which could cost me a lot.. thanks once again..

    Reply
  24. I have developed a Windows Application using C#.Net. By default, F10 key activates the menu-bar. How can I change the functionality of F10 key to my own functionality?

    Reply
  25. I want to set the windows key to be another modifier like control or alt. Do you have any idea how to do this. I do not use the windows key at all.

    I have Xemacs installed in both Windows and Linux. Linux has the windows key mapped as another modifier: the Super key. So many Linux users assign user-written macros in Xemacs to be invoked by keypresses like Super-v or Super-n, or Super-Control-a. This leaves all Xemacs built in commands working out of the box, but gives you a large area to map your own macros and lisp code to. Works great, but when you want to use something similar in Windows XP, Windows preempts the Windows key.

    How can I re-define the Windows key to be a modifier like Alt?
    Is there a list of modifier keys in Windows?
    I would really like to have both the LWin key and the right hand equivelent key (document key?) both mapped to be the same, new, modifier key.

    Can you point me in the right direction?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  26. sir, i prepared a game. but i want to disable some of the keys in the keyboard. plz suggest me. and how to enable the keys also….
    plz tell me the answer as early as possible

    Reply
  27. Some notes —

    KeyTweak does global remapping, meaning that the changes you make with it will apply to all users, keyboards, etc. You cannot make two profiles to switch between (such as between the laptop keyboard and a normal keyboard hooked to a docking station)

    Keyboard layout manager can create multiple keyboard profiles that you can switch between, but it doesn’t let you change the functions of the windows key, or the “right click” key, or home/page up/down/end keys. It only lets you control the letters and numbers.

    I still haven’t found a way to remap my windows key and page up/down home/end buttons, for one of my keyboards, and still be able to switch between layouts.

    Better luck to everyone else!

    Reply

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.