Hello, the Windows key on my keyboard in Windows 11 suddenly stopped working for 99% of inputs. Problem seemed to start when I walked away from PC for a bit. Weirdly, the key still works when I hit 'Win+L', but nothing else. The issue isn't at the keyboard level, as I've tried hitting the Win key on both the laptop and external keyboard. Here are some things I've tried/ruled out: Problem persists across Restarts Sticky keys and Filter Keys are switched off Tried uninstalling and reinstalling all keyboards in Device Manager sfc /scannow doesn't fix the problem. Tried restarting Explorer.exe process I don't have Win Lock on my keyboard, but maybe there's some other secret keyboard shortcut that I accidentally hit that caused this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**Repair all Windows apps via PowerShell Thank you so much, this worked

For me with an HP OMEN laptop. Try both FN and F12 keys. Completely forgot i had a windows shut off key for my F12. Got lost for a second because FN + windows key didn't solve it and thought it was the OMEN gaming hub bugging out. Trying examining you're guyes keyboard to look for any other keys with the windows symbol than the normal one. will defo save you the headache i had.

Windows key not working (but is detected by Windows 11)

Anonymous

Hello, the Windows key on my keyboard in Windows 11 suddenly stopped working for 99% of inputs. Problem seemed to start when I walked away from PC for a bit. Weirdly, the key still works when I hit 'Win+L', but nothing else. The issue isn't at the keyboard level, as I've tried hitting the Win key on both the laptop and external keyboard.

Here are some things I've tried/ruled out:

Problem persists across Restarts
Sticky keys and Filter Keys are switched off
Tried uninstalling and reinstalling all keyboards in Device Manager
sfc /scannow doesn't fix the problem.
Tried restarting Explorer.exe process
I don't have Win Lock on my keyboard, but maybe there's some other secret keyboard shortcut that I accidentally hit that caused this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

Also, FN + Windows could resolve your issue. Like I had it couple of minutes ago, during the gaming I accidentally hit Windows + FN and after quitting the game I've noticed that it stopped to work. So I hit again FN + Windows and it worked.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Thanks John. I've now solved the issue. After 2 days, the ASUS Armory Crate app finally gave me a pop-up telling me that my Windows key was disabled. I sometimes use the app to turn on 'Eco Mode' when I'm using the laptop on battery, so must have mis-clicked and pressed the button to disable the Windows key.

Cheers,

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45 additional answers

Anonymous

2024-07-04T01:14:43+00:00

Also, FN + Windows could resolve your issue. Like I had it couple of minutes ago, during the gaming I accidentally hit Windows + FN and after quitting the game I've noticed that it stopped to work. So I hit again FN + Windows and it worked.

It works 😂
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Anonymous

2024-07-13T12:54:57+00:00

**Repair all Windows apps via PowerShell

Thank you so much, this worked
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Anonymous

2024-07-30T03:12:37+00:00

For me with an HP OMEN laptop. Try both FN and F12 keys. Completely forgot i had a windows shut off key for my F12. Got lost for a second because FN + windows key didn't solve it and thought it was the OMEN gaming hub bugging out. Trying examining you're guyes keyboard to look for any other keys with the windows symbol than the normal one. will defo save you the headache i had.
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