Disable Windows logo hotkeys in Windows 7

Windows 7 offers a high number of Windows logo hotkeys. For example, you can press Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog. You can have a look at the full list of Windows logo hotkeys here : Windows logo shortcut keys. But if for some reason you want to disable these hotkeys, then you can disable them as shown below :

Method 1

  1. Press the key combination Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type gpedit.msc in the Run dialog and press Enter. This would start the Local Group Policy Editor.

    Run Group Policy Editor

  3. In the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Explorer as shown

    Disable Windows logo keys

  4. Scroll down the list on the right side pane and find Turn off Windows + X hotkeys and double-click on it.
  5. In theP roperties window that opens, select Enabled and click OK to save the settings.

    Disable Windows + X hotkeys

  6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 2

  1. Press the key combination Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type regedit.exe in the Run dialog and press Enter. This would start the Registry Editor.

    Run Registry Editor

  3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key :
    HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
  4. Right-click anywhere on the right side pane and choose New → DWORD (32-bit) Value. Give the new DWORD value a name NoWinKeys.
  5. Double-click on this new created value and set its value to 1.

    Disable Windows Logo Keys

  6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.