14 Effective Ways to Fix Windows Key Not Working

The Windows Key is practical when you want to use it with other keys, and if it does not work, it will break all these shortcut rules. Therefore, any problem with the Windows key can make your workflow slower. Considering all these problems, we need to know how to fix the Windows key not working?. Hopefully, there are many ways to solve this problem. In this article, we presented some ways to solve this issue.

Reasons of the Windows Key Not Working Problem

There are some reasons presented below for Windows key when it stops working:

1. Hardware Problem. If you have a physical problem with your keyboard, it brings some problems with the Windows key. Usually, it is because of the cable. Thus, wireless keyboards are less likely to face this problem. 
2. The Windows key may be disabled. May be the Windows key was disabled in the system by an application, a person, or Game Mode.
3. Game Mode in Windows 10 interferes with keyboard. Special keyboards like Razer Blackwidow have interferences with Game Mode. Disabling the Game Mode fix the problem.
4. A new update of Windows 10 came out. Sometimes updates can cause problems on your system.
5. There may be a bug with the Filter of Windows 10 key.

Ways to Fix Windows Key Not Working in Windows 10

Some ways are here to help you to fix the problem:

Activate On-Screen Keyboard

You can activate the on-screen keyboard to surf Windows 10 menus. If on the system the Windows key is disabled, the virtual keyboard might not be practical for using it. to activate the on-screen keyboard, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Ease of Access.
3. Choose Keyboard.
4. The on-screen keyboard is available now.

Stop Game Mode

In Windows 10, there is a feature named Game Mode to make the games better in playing. This feature is practical for accessing your computer’s CPU and GPU to reach a stable frame rate. The problem with this feature is interference with the keyboard, and it makes the Windows key useless. In this situation, if you disable Game Mode, your Windows key will work again.  To stop this feature, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Start Menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Then choose Gaming.
4. On the left pane, choose Game Mode and change the switch to stop it.
5. Check whether the Windows key works or not after stopping Game Mode.

Re-enter All Applications

When you re-register all your applications, it solves the interference of applications with the keyboard. To solve the problem and re-register your applications, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click the taskbar.
2. Choose Task Manager.
3. Go to File.
4. Select Run New Task.
5. Type powershell.
6. Choose OK.
7. Copy and paste the following script:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

• Hit Enter.
• Restart you system to check whether the Windows key works or not.

Run Keyboard Troubleshooter in Windows 10

The keyboard troubleshooter helps you find the problems with your keyboard and solve the issues automatically. To use it, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Start Menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Choose Update and Security.
4. Choose Troubleshoot.
5. Select Additional Troubleshooters.
6. Choose Keyboard.
7. Select Run the Troubleshooter to let it find and fix the problem.

Activate Start Menu

If you hold the Windows key and the Start menu does not open, you can activate it with the Windows Registry. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Right click on Start.
2. Select Run.
3. Type regedit.
4. Hit Enter.
5. Surf to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
6. Select Software.
7. Choose Microsoft.
8. Select Windows.
9. Click on CurrentVersion.
10. Click Explorer.
11. Choose Advanced Key.
12. On the right panel, right click and choose New.
13. Select DWORD (32-bit) value.
14. Name the key as EnableXamlStartMenu.
15. Restart your system and check the Windows key.

Activate Windows Key with Registry Edit

Many things can be limited by the Windows registry, like items in the menu or keyboard keys. to activate the Windows key with a registry edit, follow the steps below:

1. Right click on the Start Menu.
2. Select Run.
3. Type regedit in the Run box.
4. Hit Enter.
5. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
6. Choose System\CurrentControlSet\Control Folder.
7. Click on Keyboard Layout folder.
8. Click right on Scancode Map.
9. Click on Delete.
10. To confirm the action click on Yes.

Note: Maybe because of the Scancode Map, the Windows Key disabled.

1. Close Windows Registry and restart your system.

Toggle off the Filter Keys feature

Sometimes, the Filter Keys may cause problems with your keyboard. You should turn it off to fix the problem. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Hold the Windows + R keys.
2. Type control.
3. Click on OK to open the Control Panel.
4. Ensure you view mode is set to Category.
5. Select the Ease of Access.
6. Select Change how your keyboard works link.
7. Ensure that the box next to the item of Turn on Filter Keys is empty.
8. Click on Apply.
9. Select OK.

Upgrade Keyboard Drivers

Sometimes, because of old and discordant keyboard drivers, some keys, like the Windows key stops working. Upgrading the driver may help to fix the issue. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Click right on Start.
2. Choose Device Manager.
3. Develop the Keyboards category.
4. Click right your keyboard and choose Update Driver.
5. Click on Search automatically for drivers.

Use a PowerShell Command

PowerShell is a powerful tool to set your computer’s settings. It gives you the ability to do commands and tell your computer what to do with a scripting language. Using PowerShell may seem complicated, but we are going to tell you how to use it in detail:

1. Hold Windows + R to Run it.
2. Type Powershell.
3. Hold Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys on your keyboard
4. Click Yes to let PowerShell to make changes.
5. Copy and paste the following command: Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation) \AppXManifest.xml”}
6. Press Enter.

From the Command Prompt, Use the DISM

DISM is another command to repair an image of Windows 10. To use it functionally, follow the steps below:

1. Hold the Windows + R to Run it.
2. Type cmd.
3. Hold Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
4. Hit Yes to let the Command Prompt to make changes.
5. Copy and paste the following command: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup, Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
6. Press Enter.
7. After applying the command, restart your computer.

Turn off Sticky Keys

Another feature of Windows 10 is Sticky Keys which helps the users to use their keyboards. This feature may cause interference with the keyboard. Therefore, toggling off this feature can help solve this problem. To turn this feature off, follow the steps below:

1. Select Start.
2. Look for Control Panel, and select it.
3. Click on Ease of Access.
4.   Select Change How your Keyboard Works link.
5. Unselect Turn on Sticky Keys.
6. Click on Apply.
7. Select OK.

Perform an SFC Scan in the Command Line

The system file scan can be useful to solve many problems on your Windows 10, such as Windows key not working.

1. Select Start on your desktop.
2. Look for cmd.
3. Select Run as Administrator.
4. In this command, paste sfc /scannow.
5. Press Enter.

Note: It takes some times. After finishing the procedure, restart your computer.

Restart your File Explorer or Windows

To fix the Windows key issue, you may need to restart the explorer.exe. Follow the steps below to restart it:

1. Go to the Task Manger. To do so, hold Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
2. Go to the Details tab.
3. Place explorer.exe.
4. Right click on it and choose End task.
5. After going back, go to the Task Manager again.
6. Select File.
7. From the drop-down menu, choose Run New Task.
8. In the window of Create New Task, type explorer.exe.
9. Hit Enter.

Make a New User Account

Another way to fix this problem is making a new user account. To make a new user account, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Start Menu.
2. Select Settings.

Note: You can press Windows + I instead.

• Select Accounts.
• With the panel navigation on the left side, switch to the Family & Other Users.
• Scroll down and select Add someone else to this PC.
• Select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information link instead of signing in to a Microsoft account.
• Select Add a user without Microsoft account link.
• Choose a username and password.
• Click Next.

Check for Malware on Your Computer

Follow the steps below to use Malwarebytes to remove and scan viruses on your system. This method will help you to remove harmful applications:

1. Open the application of Malwarebytes.
2. Select Start Scan on the left side menu.
3. Wait until the scanning finishes.

Note: After finding harmful files, allow Malwarebytes to neutralize them and delete them.

Conclusion

There are many ways to fix the problem of not working the Windows key. Which method will you choose if you face this problem? Have you ever experienced this issue? Share your experiences with us.