Regularly turning off your personal computer allows you to restore high performance of your gadget. When the power is turned off, the cache is cleared and unloaded RAM, all background programs and applications are closed.

There are situations when it is urgently necessary to turn off the computer, but due to a number of circumstances, do this in a standard way impossible. For example, one of the applications caused the PC to freeze. Or a broken mouse prevents you from opening the Start menu and shutting down your work.

Some users even prefer to save time and use all possible hot keys and turn off the power of a computer or laptop using a keyboard shortcut. In such cases, many PC owners have difficulty with how to turn off the computer using the keyboard. There are several ways to shut down your device without a mouse.

How to Shut Down Your Computer Using the Keyboard: Using the Start Menu

The first and easiest way to turn off a laptop or computer using only the keyboard is to use the Start menu options. But how do you turn off your computer using the keyboard through the Start menu?

First you need to click. It is located in the bottom row of keys and the “Windows” flag is drawn on it. After clicking, the standard Start window will open. Next, using the Tab key, you will need to switch focus to the “Shutdown” or “Shutdown” line. After pressing the enter button, the user will be presented with several options: Shut down, Restart, Sleep and Hibernate. You can select the one you need using the navigation keys.

Shutting down the computer via Win+X

There is a faster and easier way, using the keyboard in a few seconds. You need to activate the Win+X key combination. After clicking, a list of actions will open from which you will need to select “Shut down” or “Log out.”

Once the focus has been moved to the desired item, you can use the right arrow to call up additional functions, which determine how to shut down the computer.

Shutting down the computer: calling the “Shut down” menu

Another way to quickly turn off your computer using the keyboard involves using a hotkey combination.

The user will need to call a special “Shutdown” menu. To do this, you need to press Alt+F4. In the window that appears, use the navigation keys to select the required function: shutdown, reboot or hibernation mode. To start the shutdown process, you only need to press the enter button.

Shutting down your computer using the Run window

Among the many ways to turn off a computer using the keyboard, there is one that many users do not know about. This method shutdown involves using the Run window.

To open the window, you will need to press the Win+R key combination. In the pop-up dialog box, you must enter the following text shutdown/. The rest depends on the user's intentions. If you need to turn off the computer, the letter s is printed after the special character. If you need to restart your personal computer - r.

The command is activated using the enter button.

Turning off the computer using the keyboard in Windows 8 and 10

IN latest versions Windows operating systems have introduced some interface changes. And thanks to this, there is another way to turn off the computer using the keyboard in Windows 8 and 10.

To quickly turn off the computer, the user needs to press the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del. The familiar desktop screen will be replaced by a system window, where using the Tab key you can set the focus to the computer shutdown icon in the lower right corner.

To turn off the device, simply press the enter button and select the desired option.

Mouse emulation

Manage personal computer It's inconvenient without a mouse. Standard Features keyboards do not provide for complete replacement of the mouse using keys. However additional features operating system Windows allows you to almost completely replace computer mouse keyboard. To do this, you need to activate the “Mouse Emulation” mode.

To enable emulation mode, you need to press LeftShift+LeftAlt+NumLock. Next, a dialog box will open in which the user will be reminded that this combination enables a new keyboard mode. To start emulation, you will need to agree to the proposed conditions and click on the “Yes” button.

After activating the mode, you can start working without a mouse. The entire digital panel, with the exception of the “0” and “5” buttons, is screen navigation. By pressing these buttons, you can gradually move to the desired areas of the desktop. The number “5” is a click. Her quick double tap is a double click.

Thus, when using “Mouse Emulation”, you can quickly get to the Start menu and turn off the computer in the usual way, without using the touchpad or mouse.

The Windows operating system can be completely customized, both using built-in utilities and third-party applications. Accessories, such as a keyboard, can also be customized. On it you can reassign the necessary keys by installing the necessary commands on them or completely disabling them.

The Windows key on your keyboard defaults to launching the Start menu. Also, using it in combination with other buttons allows you to execute various quick commands, for example, by pressing Windows + R you can launch the “Run” line, and Windows + I will open the parameters. At the same time, not all users use the Windows key, and some may want to disable it if for some reason it interferes, for example, it gets stuck or because of its accidental pressing the game, application, program is minimized.

In this article we will look at various ways How to disable the Windows key on your keyboard or reassign it.

Table of contents:

How to disable the Windows key using system tools

Although many users reassign some keys on the built-in keyboard Windows utilities, which would allow you to do this conveniently, is not available. In this case, disable the key Windows means operating system is possible if you change some registry settings.

To disable the Windows key using the system, do the following:


After you restart your computer, the registry changes will take effect and the Windows key will no longer do anything when you press it. If in the future you need to return the Windows button to working condition, delete the setting created in the registry and restart the computer.

How to disable the Windows key with third-party applications

There are a lot of programs on the Internet that allow you to reassign, disable, and combine keys into shortcuts to perform certain actions. Large companies supply similar programs along with keyboard drivers, but there are also a number of “generic” applications that cope with similar tasks just as well. Below we will look at two free programs, which allow you to disable or customize the Windows key.

The SharpKeys program is distributed free of charge on the developers' website and does an excellent job of reassigning or disabling keys on the keyboard. The application works on the principle of making changes to the registry, that is, it does not have to be active all the time background, due to which it can be used even on low-performance computers.

To disable the Windows key using the SharpKeys application, download it, install it and launch it. A window will open in which you need to click Add. Next, on the left side of the window you will need to select a key, and on the right the action that it will perform. Select the "Special Left Windows" and "Special Right Windows" keys and set them in the right column to "Turn off", then click "OK".

After this, the selected keys will appear in the list of program combinations. For the changes to take effect, click “Write to registry”.

After rebooting the computer Windows keys will no longer work. If you need to make them work again, you will need to run the SharpKeys program and delete the changes made.

Simple Disable Key

Above were scenarios on how to completely disable the Windows key in the operating system. However, you may want to disable only the commands that run when you press a keyboard shortcut, including Windows. This can also be done using the third-party application Simple Disable Key.

To disable keyboard shortcuts from Windows button, you need to do the following:


Please note: Changes made to the program only work while it is active. If you want a certain keyboard shortcut not to work all the time, you need to add the program to startup.

Interaction with the computer largely occurs through the keyboard, which, if necessary, can even replace the mouse. The keyboard often breaks down, for example, one of the buttons that is often used may break. In such a situation, you should not get rid of the keyboard, because program level You can reassign the functionality of the faulty button to any other one. However, there are opposite situations in which, for example, you need to completely disable the keyboard. We will look at how to perform certain non-standard actions with the keyboard in this article.

How to disable the keyboard in Windows

This may sound unusual, but some users in one situation or another have to think about how to disable the keyboard completely. For example, this may be needed on a laptop if it is left to the child as a TV, running cartoons on the screen. To prevent your child from accidentally closing the video, just disable the keyboard and mouse (touchpad). This can be done either using the system or using some third party applications. Let's look at the main options.

How to disable the keyboard using system tools

To completely disable the activation of keyboard keys, just make changes in the “Device Manager”. You will need to do the following:


Having completed 3 simple steps, you will be able to completely disable the keyboard on your computer, after which not a single key will work on it. To turn the keyboard back on, you will also need to go to “Device Manager”, press again right click mouse on the disabled manipulator and turn it on.

Please note: In rare cases, the "Disable" button when right-clicking on the keyboard is grayed out. In such a situation, in order to disable the manipulator, you will need to remove it. When it is removed, you can enable it by clicking the “Action” - “Update hardware configuration” button in the “Device Manager”.

How to disable the keyboard with third-party applications

There are a number of third-party programs that allow you to completely disable the keyboard. They don't differ much in terms of functionality, but they do have some differences in the interface and controls. There are two most popular programs that allow you to disable the keyboard of a laptop or any other Windows computer:


There are dozens of other apps that let you completely disable the keyboard in Windows.

How to replace or disable a keyboard button in Windows

There are situations when you only need to disable one button, for example, if it gets stuck and is pressed spontaneously. It may also be necessary to replace the purpose of one of the buttons with another, for example, if Esc is broken, set its action to the F12 key or another “useless” one on the keyboard. In such a situation, you can use the MapKeyboard program, which has the necessary functionality.

Download the MapKeyboard application from the official developer website and run it to replace or disable a key on the keyboard. Next, do the following:


It is worth noting that if you need to reset all the changes made and return the buttons to their default values, you must click “Reset keyboard layout”.

Hello. As you can imagine, the keyboard is a constantly used tool for me. Both as an author of articles, and as a gamer, and even banal surfing on the Internet, I am associated with constant typing to search for new ideas. And, of course, I still have presses on the Win key (the one that Windows icon). Yes, this happens much less often now, but it does happen. Due to the specifics of my site, I cannot disable it, I need it for work. But for you, those who don’t need it in principle and who never use it, I can tell you how to do it.

So, for this we need in the registry, in the branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout

create binary parameter Scancode Map. And give it a value:

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00

But you won't be able to do this through the built-in Windows editor registry And everything written above is indicated for professionals who can do it manually themselves. For ordinary users I have simpler solutions :)

So, since the registry editor is not suitable for us, we have several options left:

1) Add a parameter via cmd

3) Using registry export files

More primitive, but no less effective way- reg files. Let's move on

Today we will look at a simple, but in some cases useful operating room setup Windows systems 7 is Power button action. In other words, we will set the action of the power button that will occur when this button is pressed while the computer is running.

This material will be especially useful for those who have small children who periodically turn off your computer by simply pressing the power button on system unit. And as you know, it’s quite difficult to explain to a small child that it’s better not to do this, or rather it’s possible, of course, but from experience I can say that they will do it anyway. This feature will also be useful for those who sometimes accidentally turn off the computer, for example with their foot :).

Many novice computer users, in particular Windows 7 and 8 operating systems, do not know that such power button settings even exist. Therefore, today I will talk about these settings, with which you can prevent the computer from turning off by pressing the power button on the system unit.

Power button settings in Windows

There are several actions that you can set when you press the power button in the Windows operating system, namely:

  • No action required– everything is clear, nothing will happen when pressed;
  • Dream– putting the computer into sleep mode;
  • Hibernation– putting the computer into hibernation mode, this is a kind of more economical mode in terms of energy consumption compared to sleep mode;
  • Shutdown– as I understand it, this is the default action, i.e. turning off the computer.

Note! I have described the power button settings for Windows 7 Professional, and the screenshots below are also taken on this operating system.

How to customize the action of the power button?

To do this we open “Control Panel -> Power Options -> Power Button Action”.

And after that the computer will no longer turn off when you press this button.

Warning

Remember that the computer can now be turned off correctly only through the menu "Start -> Shutdown".

If you want to know a few more useful settings operating system Windows 7, then I advise you to read the material - Inconspicuous functions of Windows 7.

After the steps listed above, your child will not be able to turn off the computer by pressing the power button on the system unit, but this will not help in cases where the child turns off, for example, the UPS or surge protector :).