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

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Summary: Outside of a few standard layouts, truly customizing the layout of your keyboard is typically harder than you might expect.

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.

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: Keyboard Layout Manager. This tool is designed to do exactly what we've been talking about: reassign the functionality of individual keys on the keyboard.

And finally, Microsoft also documents the Scan Code Mapper for Windows, the technique to add entries to the registry to perform the mapping manually.

Update 06-Feb-2004: I just became aware of a new free keyboard remapper that might be of interest: KeyTweak. If you try it let me know how it works.

Article C1861 - November 16, 2003

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Recent Comments
39 Comments

Everytime I press the "Y" key it tells me "SAVE AS". How do I get rid of this problem?

Posted by: Steve at July 25, 2008 11:09 AM

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.

Posted by: Chad at September 1, 2008 2:06 PM

I have this awful keyboard at work where the 3x2 block with home, end, ins, del, etc., is flipped upwards and is 2x3 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.

Posted by: Brian at September 18, 2008 11:02 AM

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..

Posted by: waqas at February 19, 2009 2:41 PM

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?

Posted by: Mukul at July 18, 2009 10:55 PM

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