Windows 10: How to disable menu bar toggle by pressing ALT?

Question

Is there a way to do this on W10?

When using any editing software like Photoshop, Illustrator or in this case PyxelEdit, I use ALT+scrollwheel to zoom in and out. Afterwards, the menu bar is focused, so when I press SPACEBAR to get the drag-hand to navigate on my canvas, I get the typical Windows DING sound and it drives me insane.

Is there a way to disable ALT menu bar toggle? If not, does anyone have a workaround?

Solution

I had the same issue. I tried Adobe forums, bug reports and feature requests but they haven't implemented a solution yet--mainly because the 'alt' menu feature complies with ADA federal guidelines for accessibility compatible software. No solution was found on microsoft/windows support forums either.

The best solution I found and use after weeks of searching and tweaking is to download AutoHotkey.
Do the following once autoHotKey is installed:

1. Create a new text file (txt, not word) and rename it with a *.ahk extension (eg: noAlt.ahk)
2. Right click on the *.ahk file and 'Edit'
3. Copy and paste into document: ~LAlt Up:: return
4. Save, then right click on file and select, "Compile Script"

An exe with the same name as your file (eg: notAlt.exe) should be created in the same directory.

5. Run the *.exe, which will appear in the notification area.
6. Profit!

Good luck!

( Note: The script must be running in the background to work. You might consider setting it as a startup item, or copying to the startup folder. )

Comments

[qxz]

For anyone else reading this, AHK is extremely useful. +1

[NickSoft]

I already use AHK, so for me this works fine.

[NickSoft]

Please add following. In order AHK to work for administrative programs it must be run as administrator. If you want it run as administrator at startup without warning - use task scheduler "At log on" option and "run with highest privileges"

[NickSoft]

It is a problem if you want to switch keyboards using ctrl-alt though. You have to do release ctrl first, before alt and sometimes alt key gets stuck pressed, preventing you from typing. You have to individually press each of the keys you used in the last key combination.

[Codesmith]

:-/ I know this is a couple years old.. sadly it doesn't seem to work anymore. Was there an update to AHK's syntax? Or maybe a Windows update that prevents it from working?

[applephx]

Are you still having this issue @codesmith? I haven't had to use this hack for a while as the issue no longer presents for me. Does AHK work for other scripts? If not, it may need to be run as admin. If AHK does still work for you, it may be a windows/adobe program issue or maybe the 'ding' is coming from another issue. I don't see why AHK would change their syntax and break all previously made scripts. (Then again, I am not sure why many poor design or programming decisions are made these days. j/k...kinda)

[applephx]

@NickSoft , yeah, this is not a perfect fix. I usually hit 'esc' or similar if something like this happens.