I like to use the number keys for cursor movement. But every so often I hit NumLock by mistake, and then instead of moving the cursor where I want it, I end up with an input like this:
44444488
How can I permanently disable it? Something compatible with the regedit solution for getting rid of Caps Lock given here would be perfect.
A good tool for such tasks is SharpKeys.
SharpKeys is a Registry hack that is used to make certain keys on a keyboard act like other keys. For example, if you accidentally hit Caps Lock often, you could use this utility to map Caps Lock to a Shift key or even turn it off completely.
It's small, portable and does the same as the accepted answer above, only via a GUI
Here is a hack to disable both caps lock and num lock:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,
04,00,00,00,3A,00,00,00,
00,00,3A,00,00,00,45,00,
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
Here is both hacks combined. Numlock disabled + ctrl swapped with caps lock.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,3A,00,1D,00,1D,00,3A,00,00,00,45,00,00,00,00,00
OK, here is the a scancode map for disabling Numlock. I looked here, numlock is hex 45. Back up registry beforehand.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,45,00,00,00,00,00
Actually Nikolay, that MSFT tech forum link is a little short, see this info at askvg. Toggling (1) doesn't actually disable numlock, it merely sets the state at boot time. In fact it does three things, sets capslock on, numlock off, scrollock off. Here are the rest of the settings. So this does not look like an answer for the OP's issue.
http://www.askvg.com/force-capslock-numlock-and-scrolllock-keys-behavior-using-windows-registry/
0 - Turn all indicators Off (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock)
1 - Turn CapsLock On
2 - Turn NumLock On
3 - Turn CapsLock and NumLock On
4 - Turn ScrollLock On
5 - Turn CapsLock and ScrollLock On
6 - Turn NumLock and ScrollLock On
7 - Turn all indicators On (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock)
This is just quotation of Microsoft Tech forum:
You might have tried this before, but here's how to disable it through the registry:
Click Start, click Run, and type regedit to open the Windows registry editor. In the registry, open the below folders.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\ Keyboard\Within the keyboard folder, you should have a string value named "InitialKeyboardIndicators" with a value of 0, 1, or 2. Below is the explanation of each of these values.
0 = Num Lock is turned OFF after the logon. 1 = Disable Num Lock. 2 = Numlock is turned ON after the logon.
Or the quickest and easiest way since our whole company is 10-key literate and hates it when it reverts to the flippin' duplicated arrow keys.
Has worked very well for nearly the last decade on all workstations, requires no fiddling programming, startup script or registry edits.
Here are some ways which didn't work for me:
I installed SharpKeys, but couldn't see the NumLock key on the list of keys to add (and anyway, not keen on software that mentions it needs Windows 2003 to run!)
I tried changing the registry setting, both in the key shown and in the USER/DEFAULT key - this had no effect
I have a Dell Precision. In the BIOS, you can disable the NumLock key on start-up, but this doesn't stop it then being toggled back on.
However, years after first posting this question, I discovered the Microsoft PowerToys utility, which runs in Windows 10 and 11 (that's what I'm using). You can download the installation file from GitHub. Here's the section which does what I want:
Please take a look at Power Toys in docs.microsoft.com
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/
Works on Windows 10
(This is an expansion on Knuckle-Dragger's post that adds a few details.)
Keys can be mapped in the registry if the appropriate key scancode can be discovered. Generally these days keyboard specifications are regularly used but manufacturers may occasionally have unique ones. A list of the scancodes can be found in this documentation Keyboard Scan Code Specification and some more detail can be found: here.
Hex groupings:
00000000 00000000 03000000 1de05de0 55004400 00000000
│ │ │ │
keys, number of to change¹ ─┘ │ │ │
key remap first (to←from 22221111)² ┘ │ │
key remap second (if one) ────────┘ │
null hex to end (necessary?) ────────┘
¹ 02=1, 03=2, >2 possible?
² hex+e0-or-00, e1 and e2 are rare
* multimedia keys may be hard to remap, they can be defined uniquely by keyboard manufacturer?!?
These can be put in a registry file (e.g. keyboard_context-menu-to-control.reg):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,1d,e0,5d,e0,55,00,44,00,00,00,00
Remove the key-cap and put it in your drawer. The Insert key was giving me trouble, and the best way to deal with it was to remove it from the keyboard completely. When software turns numlock back on, use a software keyboard to toggle it off again, and attempt to prevent that software from doing it again.
Here it is another groovy (if I say so myself ;-) solution, hold the Num Lk key down for 5 sec and windows will give you the choice to receive a differentiated on/off tone when you touch the three lock keys (caps lock, Num Lock, scroll lock). This feature is called Toggle Keys.
For Remapping Keyboard Keys 'SharpKeys' is still workling at Win10 (2021.01.20). Thx @nixda!
I used it for Remapping the 'Omen Key' (@ HP OMEN Sequencer Gaming Keyboard) to 'Home' (Pos1) as it was missing otherwise. But I had to reboot my Laptop. If you just want to remap you HP Omen Key to Home, here is the direkt reg key for it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,47,e0,76,00,00,00,00,00
