Windows 10 seems incapable of handling basic shortcuts. Maybe it's a bit clueless? Please help!
Windows 10 seems incapable of handling basic shortcuts. Maybe it's a bit clueless? Please help!
So a while back I suddenly noticed something odd—my system would shut down whenever I pressed LeftCtrl. I’m not sure why this happened or what caused it. It wasn’t like before, and I don’t remember doing anything unusual. This is really frustrating because I often use Ctrl for shortcuts and want to hear the music I’m creating. I checked with others and found no evidence of similar issues, but they can’t seem to fix it either. After trying PowerToys and changing the shortcut, it still didn’t work. It told me to remap LeftCtrl to F9 for all apps, but that didn’t help. I also looked into Windows 10 PowerToys problems and learned it might not function properly when autostart is enabled. Apparently, you need to disable autostart manually each time. Even then, the fix didn’t stick. I’m really struggling and would love some guidance—I don’t even like Windows, just use it for programs that work with Linux.
Found this on reddit that points the finger at a bad keyboard or faulty keyboard software. There's also this (albeit old) question on MS Answers where someone had the same issue. Turned out to be an issue with keyboard software there too. I'd be super curious to hear if this persists if you change keyboards and/or uninstall any keyboard management software you might be running. (global settings tend to stick, so if you do have something to uninstall, you may need a reboot to see results)
I don't have any keyboard management tools. My setup is a regular Cherry KC 1000 office keyboard with standard drivers. This morning I started my computer and noticed that the mute toggle no longer responds to LeftCtrl or F9. I haven't made any changes since yesterday, and I've restarted it several times already. I don't know why this shortcut disappeared. No updates were installed, and it just stopped working suddenly. PowerToys claims it remapped LeftCtrl (Volume Mute) to F9 for "All Apps." I'll share another update if the problem comes back.
We need to figure out what to do next. The situation keeps shifting, and it’s clear your device might be broken.
It seems like something might be malfunctioning. I’d check if the computer behaves differently with another keyboard and see how another machine reacts to this one. The solution really depends on how much you’re willing to adjust or replace parts. If the issue persists, a fresh installation might be necessary.