Hotkeys/Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working

Question

At random times, all of the hotkeys on my computer just go away. I try to minimize all windows by pressing WIN + D... nothing happens. Even hotkeys in other programs go away. CTRL + S does nothing in any program I use that saves. CTRL + J doesn't open the downloads window in Firefox. Sometimes it just randomly comes back. Logging off/on doesn't help either.

Answer 1

I am having the same behavior sometimes. This is mostly fixed by pressing all the alt-, ctrl-, shift- and windows-keys once. I think one of those become "stuck" sometimes (windows thinks they are pressed, but they aren't). And they are released when pressing (and releasing) them once.

Answer 2

This question is really old, and I fixed it by just using another keyboard.

Answer 3

You should get a hot-key creator or re-install your driver software.

Answer 4

Happens to me sometimes, not just in vista, also happened to me in XP

When that happens, i just click a couple times on the "stuck" key and it starts working fine again

It seems that it is caused by the application thinking that the key is pushed in

Answer 5

I don't wish to appear obtuse and I'm sure you have already checked, but the last time something similar happened to me, it was a paperclip under the Win and CTRL keys of my keyboard... A simple keyboard swap out may also suffice.