I'm not sure how/when this started happening, but this is the scenario. The Windows key works perfectly fine (pressing it brings up the start menu), but any Windows key combination shortcut doesn't (for example WINKEY + D to bring up the desktop).
What could be causing this and how can I fix it?
For others encountering this issue, you might have a fancy keyboard with a "gaming mode" switch of some sort that disables the Windows key. In my case, I had a Logitech G110 and didn't have any idea what the switch did :/
The fact this is the top voted answer and this page has 100K views should tell keyboard designers something... Certainly it was a feature added with good intentions to prevent accidentally losing focus on a game when hitting the Windows key by accident, but the keyboard should beep or something when you hit a key and it ignores it.
Quick check Win+Tab, Win+P, Win+L and Win+R - are they also not working?
Now check Ctrl+Alt+Del, which should bring up the Windows Security screen (menu), and Ctrl+Shift+Esc, to open Task Manager - are they working (malware test)?
Hit Shift 5 times quickly - is Sticky Keys working?
Now reboot the computer, and test again.
Go to Microsoft KB216893, and do NOT run the "fix it" (XP). Instead, go halfway down the page to "Let me fix it myself", run regedit, and see if the following key exists there:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard LayoutScancode Map00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00Then check this key as well while you're in there:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ExplorerNoWinKeys0 to disable restriction, or 1 to enable restrictionCheck for other software running. Do you have any AutoHotkey scripts running? Do you have any shortcut programs running, like special launcher software, or special mouse or keyboard or touch drivers/software? Temporarily stop that software in Task Manager, and/or temporarily stop the services that it runs on. Or disable the driver, without disabling your last input device, and test again.
I also wonder, because the Win key can mess up a game pretty badly, maybe some games have ways of disabling that while they are running?
In my specific case, I had played around with the Windows Game Bar to record a JavaScript animation. I think that this Game Bar disables the shortcuts. In my case, I had to first press only Win to popup the start menu. After that, the Win+R shortcut worked because the browser (of which Windows now thinks it's a game), lost focus.
Somehow the problem disappeared after reading through this question and successively pressing Win+Tab, Win+P, Win+L and Win+R, but obviously, one should be able to disable it by telling the Game Bar that the application (in my case, the browser) is not a game.
I had the same problem, and fixed it with Combofix.
I wouldn't have guessed that I had malware, as I had no symptoms. I had thought a bad keyboard, so I tried using this keyboard testing software, and it said my keyboard was fine, but the shortcuts didn't work.
Thanks Psycogeek for leading me the right way.
I just had the same problem and fixed it by closing the remote connection on TeamViewer with the "set key combination" function turned on.
Variant: Ctrl-N Ctrl+N stopped working
I came across an equivalent problem today but "Windows Key" was not affected which made it harder to find a solution. Only Ctrl-N didn't work and it looked like a text editor glitch, but then it didn't work in browsers and the only "solution" visible on the net was ridiculous (reinstall driver - yeah right :-).
On-Screen keyboard (Win+R OSK Enter) served as a diagnostic tool, showing that Ctrl-N was really not getting propagated but that a browser (or editor) does receive Ctrl-N from OSK.
The Ctrl+Alt+Del and then Esc (to simply go back - the whole point is not to interrupt your running stuff).
It took some time for the logoff/lock/switch screen to show op => Windoze does perform a light UI-related reset on Ctrl-Alt-Del and something was stuck or slightly messed up.
The only suspicious thing within the past few days was that I've found a MaskVPN process and eradicated the whole thing manually (MaskVPN is nominally legit but is used by some malware as "self protection", Win Defender never screamed a fault so it was probably from some game on AppStore - they only things I installed for the past week+).
MaskVPN has a deamon that's visible in ProcExp but you can't spot it unless you are checking. I have a habit of checking processes in perpetually running ProcExp once in a week or two and MaskVPN has been eradicated a few days before I noticed the Ctrl-N problem (not using it frequently).
I have a Gigabyte Force K81 keyboard - it has a 'Win Lock' key on the bottom right of the main key set (right of the space bar). When pressed it disables the Windows key and a little blue light is lit on the right of the indicator panel at the top left of the keyboard.
Really simple when you know where to look for it - I had been searching settings for ages!
I had the same problem (Win + D, Win + L, Ctrl + Alt + Del not working) and just now fixed it by installing Adobe Acrobat Reader update, which was sitting on my tray notification.
It sounds weird, but believe me, it fixed the issue.
Don't forget to restart the computer.
