disable all keyboard shortcuts in windows

Question

I want to disable all keyboard shortcuts in windows, not only the WIN-X ones, but also the CTRL-X ones.

I have found a way to disable the WIN-X ones, by using the registry editor and navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Exlporer and adding a key NoWinKeys and setting it to 0. However, I haven't yet found something like that for the CTRL-X shortcuts.

I want to do this without using any third party tools, preferably using Group Policy or the registry.

Solution

For disabling any physical key on the keyboard is a registry entry too.

It's in [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
You create a key with the name Scancode Map. It can redirect any key to another key or disable it.

That key is a hex-value with the following meaning:

00,00,00,00 Header: Version. Set to all zeroes.
00,00,00,00 Header: Flags. Set to all zeroes.
03,00,00,00 3 entries in the map (including null entry).
00,00,xx,yy key xx xx -> Disable (0x00) but can also be another key
00,00,xx,xx key yy yy -> Disable (0x00).
00,00,00,00 Null entry.

To completely disable the CTRL you only need two entries (plus null).
The Left Left-CTRL (1d 00) and Right-CTRL (1d e0).

So you can create a .reg file like this: Disable_CTRL-key.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,1d,00,00,00,1d,e0,00,00,00,00

Execute (double click) the .reg file and log out and back in (or restart your computer). Now your CTRL-keys are completely disabled.

Other useful keys to know:

1d 00    Left Ctrl
1d e0    Right Ctrl
38 00    Left Alt
38 e0    Right Alt
5b e0    Left Windows Key
5c e0    Right Windows Key
5d e0    Windows Menu Key

If you are not comfortable with changing the registry or you want other keys too you can use the program SharpKeys to edit them more easily. It also has a convenient list of all keys so you can just add them in a window.

Comments

[Rik]

In what programs do you want to disable the ctrl+x? Do you mind that ctrl+fx is also disabled? You can follow the instructions on this page to completely disable the ctrl-key using the scancode for ctrl instead of win-key (but it will also disable ctrl+fx). askvg.com/…

[Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style]

This is the REG_BINARY value data to disable the Windows Flag key on the keyboard from the console..... 00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000 but I'll have to dig to see if it does anything further but perhaps this codeplex tool you use can shed some light on that. Something I noticed though, is it does not see to take effect within an RDP session on the machine so it seems to be console specific.