# Disable the "Windows" key? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132 "2013-01-14T04:20:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/21 "2013-01-15T21:15:34Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > In Windows 7, is there any way to disable the “Windows Key”? I think that’s what it’s called - the one with the Windows logo that brings up the Start menu. > > I’m asking this as a Mac user who has switched to gaming on a PC. That “Windows” key is in exactly the same place as the Mac’s “Option” key, and it’s getting really annoying when I keep getting switched out of WoW into Windows Explorer every time I inadvertently hit that key while trying to perform an in-game command that, on the Mac, uses the Option key (these commands use the Alt key in Windows, which is in the spot occupied by the Command key on a Mac…) Whether you can disable it (easily) depends on the keyboard and its driver (some cheap keyboards don’t even have a driver.) So it’s hard to answer. There’s a way to disable it by hacking around in the registry, I think someone’s posted that. The best solution is to set WOW to “fullscreen (windowed)” mode. Then the Windows key won’t mess you up and, as an added bonus, you won’t have any delay when you alt-tab to fiddle with something in the background or start a movie on your second monitor or whatever. Why “fullscreen (windowed)” isn’t the default setting? That’s the real mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/22 "2013-01-16T00:57:08Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:17, topic:647132”] I can’t recall ever using the Windows key on purpose. [/QUOTE] Every day for me. Win -\> u -\> u = shutdown. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/23 "2013-01-16T01:47:53Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > Every day for me. Win -\> u -\> u = shutdown. I very rarely shut down my Windows machines on purpose – I generally have tasks scheduled to run at night. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/24 "2013-01-16T02:00:52Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Rather than removing the key, which might not help if you still end up pressing the little button under the key, try remapping your keyboard. [This](http://lifehacker.com/5883003/the-best-key-remapper-for-windows) is the one I use and it appears to be well-respected (and is free). I use a similar program. My current laptop’s keyboard came with some stupid function keys along the left edge (calculator, print, internet, and something I can no longer identify but which looks like it should produce a seagull), and I kept hitting them when I wanted tab or shift, so I just turned them into duplicates of the keys they were next to. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/25 "2013-01-16T16:08:40Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > Every day for me. Win -\> u -\> u = shutdown. Control-Escape, u, u shuts down as well on XP. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/26 "2013-01-16T16:45:09Z")
Windows-L. Lock computer. What, are you a daring soul that just doesn’t care what others do with your account while you step away for a minute? I suspect we’ll be hearing about how [baggy your pants are](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/B/baggy-pantsing.html) any day now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/27 "2013-01-16T17:22:14Z")
Never occurred to me that the Windows key might be good for something, so I’m glad you started this. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/28 "2013-01-16T21:11:43Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Windows-L. Lock computer. > > What, are you a daring soul that just doesn’t care what others do with your account while you step away for a minute? I suspect we’ll be hearing about how [baggy your pants are](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/B/baggy-pantsing.html) any day now. Not usually necessary for home computers. I occasionally use windows - d to get to the desktop if I have lots of windows open. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/29 "2013-01-16T23:11:54Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Not usually necessary for home computers. You clearly don’t live with the same people I do. My sons are dedicated online prankers. I don’t trust them around an open session under my identity as far as I could throw any of them. But again, even if my family were sparklingly trustworth, I’d do it. It’s ingrained habit. Watching a young Second Lieutenant’s fledgling military career strangled in the cradle by a formal reprimand for leaving his console unlocked and unattended concentrates the mind wonderfully. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/30 "2013-01-17T03:33:20Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Windows-L. Lock computer. > > What, are you a daring soul that just doesn’t care what others do with your account while you step away for a minute? The only Windows computers I use are at my store, used as cash registers (I use Macs at home and for all other business purposes). I can see them pretty much at all times, and share them with whoever I have working with me that day, so I don’t lock them. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132/31 "2013-01-17T13:38:26Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Windows-L. Lock computer. > > What, are you a daring soul that just doesn’t care what others do with your account while you step away for a minute? I suspect we’ll be hearing about how [baggy your pants are](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/B/baggy-pantsing.html) any day now. Baggy pantsing is too tame. When friends leave their computer unlocked I usually go on about how ‘I’ am a pretty girl who wants to meet some guys for some real action. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disable-the-windows-key/647132.md?page=1)