Is there a way to disable the [WINDOWS+ARROW] key shortcut?

There is an extremely simple answer to this question which I haven't seen described anywhere else.

To enable or disable the Win + arrow keys that move windows around (docking, maximizing, moving to other monitors, etc), go to the Ease of Access Center in the Control Panel:

Control Panel\Ease of Access\Ease of Access Center\Make it easier to focus on tasks

On this screen, the section "Make it easier to manage windows" has a checkbox for "Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen". Checking this box disables all the Win + arrow keys.

Ease of Access Dialog


You can use AutoHotKey to disable any standard windows shortcut keys. This does not involve updating the registry. Simply download the standalone autohotkey program. Then create a file, say "DisableWinKeys.ahk" on Desktop. Open it in Notepad and write following in it:

#right::return ;This will disable the effect of Win + -> 
#left::return ;This will disable the effect of Win + <- 

Save the file and open it with ahk.exe from AutoHotKey folder. That's it. If you close the "H" icon from System Tray, it will enable the shortcuts again.


Microsoft has a little doohickie that will disable your Windows key for you here, or you can disable it yourself by modifying your registry:

  • Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
  • On the Windows menu, click HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE on Local Machine.
  • Double-click the System\CurrentControlSet\Control folder, and then click the Keyboard Layout folder.
  • On the Edit menu, click Add Value, type in Scancode Map, click REG_BINARY as the Data Type, and then click OK.
  • Type 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000 in the Data field, and then click OK.
  • Close Registry Editor and restart the computer.