Windows Hotkeys – How to Disable Taskbar Hotkey

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On Windows 8 pressing "Windows + T" in any program moves keyboard focus to the taskbar.

I want to assign a different function to this hotkey, but the default is overriding my custom one. How can I disable the taskbar's hotkey?

Best Answer

Disable specific hotkeys

Although undocumented, File Explorer (previously known as Windows Explorer) provides a per-user registry entry which can selectively disable some Explorer-related hotkeys. The registry value is called DisabledHotkeys and is located at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Each character in the string data represents one key which is to be disabled in all its supported combinations. For instance, F disables both Win+F and Win+Ctrl+F. Interpretation is in terms of what programmers know as virtual-key codes. Alphabetical keys must be in upper case. For the F1 key, use the lower-case p. For the Break key, the character must have the numerical value 0x13.

Source: Disable Global Hot Keys

Example

To disable Win+T follow these steps:

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Type or paste the following command, and press Enter.

    reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v "DisabledHotkeys" /t REG_SZ /d "T" /f

  3. Log off and log back on to apply the changes.

Remarks

  • Works in Windows Vista and later. Only up to 22 characters of data are supported.

  • According to my tests, by using this method you can't disable the following Win+x shortcuts:

    • Windows Vista

      Tab L U

    • Windows 7

      Tab ← ↑ → ↓ C H L P U V

    • Windows 8.x

      Tab Space ← ↑ → ↓ C H I J K L O P U V X Z

References

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