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I've tried setting HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\DisabledHotkeys = "W,C". I've also tried enabling Local Computer Policy\User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File Explorter\Turn off Windows Key hot keys

Neither of them are preventing Win+C from opening the "try teams" ad

enter image description here

nor the Win+W from opening the Weather app full of ads

enter image description here

This answer may disable other keys (no idea) but it does not disable these keys.

How can I disable these hot keys? (without 3rd party software)

gman
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  • BTW, if you do not use those apps, uninstall them and the shortcut key does nothing. – DrMoishe Pippik Aug 21 '22 at 17:27
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    @DrMoishi Pippik, Not my experience. I uninstalled Microsoft Teams (or whatever it was that was auto-installed by Windows 11 called Microsoft Teams). Win+C still brings up the MS Teams message above. As for the Weather app, no such app is listed in my programs so not sure which app to uninstall. If you find it then please post an answer. – gman Aug 22 '22 at 03:39
  • Interesting: on two Window PC's, I've removed unwanted Windows apps (per https://winbuzzer.com/2020/06/16/how-to-remove-windows-10s-built-in-apps-bloatware-and-and-restore-them-again-xcxwbt/ and https://www.bcuninstaller.com/), and those Windows shortcuts do nothing on these PC's. – DrMoishe Pippik Aug 22 '22 at 16:06
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    @DrMoishePippik, I tried it, I uninstalled all those apps. Even rebooted. I still get the prompts. The page you linked to is Windows 10. Maybe it doesn't work on Windows 11? – gman Aug 23 '22 at 02:50
  • sorry about that! Yes, they're Win10 -- this appears to be another subtle difference between 10 & 11; MS *really* doesn't want those apps removed. – DrMoishe Pippik Aug 23 '22 at 13:28

3 Answers3

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The answer found on answers.microsoft.com says:

You can use Microsoft's own tool called Power Toys. Power Toys for Windows 11 is available from the Microsoft Store. After installing the tool you will find in it the "Keyboard Manager" there you will be able to set the shortcut Win + c as disabled.

harrymc
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    FYI, I had to click the ["re-run as admin" like button](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/administrator) and then the "launch as admin" otherwise pressing those keys in any app that I was running in admin still launched the shortcuts – gman Aug 23 '22 at 02:41
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    Well, sadly this does not work with Microsoft Remote Desktop. When I RDP in all the hot keys show up and mess up my typing. It's especially frustrating because I use the same keyboard for Mac and Windows so pressing Win-C is the key I press on Mac for copy, which means I press it often, and everytime I do I get an ad for MS Teams chat >:( – gman Oct 04 '22 at 18:23
  • I remember there was a post on our site for using the host keyboard on the RDP target. Look for it. It may depend on your RDP software. – harrymc Oct 04 '22 at 19:04
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    This did the trick for me, but I find it annoying that I have to download 226MB application in order to disable a shortcut. Microsoft at its best I guess. – Luxian Aug 03 '23 at 17:48
  • @Luxian: AutoHotKey can also do it, and it's much smaller. – harrymc Aug 03 '23 at 17:51
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The answer from @harrymc is in the right direction, but I had to find additional information.

  1. First, install PowerToys from the App Store
  2. Start PowerToys, and navigate to “Keyboard Manager”
  3. Remap a shortcut
  4. Set the “Physical shortcut” to Win+W or Win+C
  5. In “Mapped to”, under the “Type” button, scroll all the way up in the scrolldown, and select “Disabled”

The details to do so for the Alt+Tab shortcut, with screenshots, can be found at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/disable-alttab-shortcut-key/b70dbd0a-201d-415b-9ed7-ca07d055959e.

Note: to fully disable Widget, look at this answer: https://superuser.com/a/1684511/1728760

qsantos
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Widgets can be disabled entirely through Group Policies:

Open the Local Group Policy Editor and go to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Widgets/Allow widgets and set it to Disabled

To disable the the chat:

Open the Local Group Policy Editor and go to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Chat/Configures the chat icon on the taskbar and set it to Enabled, but set the state to Disabled enter image description here

Ares9323
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  • this question is about disabling the hotkeys, your answer doesn't help for that – Nben Jun 07 '23 at 05:32
  • @Nben my answer ALSO disables the hotkeys, but I wanted to disable these features completely and, in my specific case, this is the only valid option. I've been using power toys for years but just overriding a shortcut for something I'll never use sounds really bad to me. – Ares9323 Jun 08 '23 at 06:31
  • The OP specifically asks for "no third party software" and clearly doesn't use Teams (if it says to try it, it's not even installed) or the widget panel (he says it's full of ads), so technically my answer is more appropriate than the chosen one, but thanks for the downvote... – Ares9323 Jun 08 '23 at 06:38
  • but setting `Configures the chat icon on the taskbar` to `enabled` and state to `disabled` doesn't affect the hotkey Win+C, it still triggers the "try Teams" window – Nben Jun 08 '23 at 08:16
  • I did that both on my laptop and desktop PC and it works in both, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.. – Ares9323 Jun 08 '23 at 09:33