There is a good chance that when you’re bored or when you’re thinking in front of your computer that you might type away on your keyboard somewhat absentmindedly. You might press on the spacebar a few times, hit the Esc key, or hit the Shift key. If you have done that, chances are after hitting the Shift key a few times, you’ll get a popup asking if you’d like to enable Sticky Keys.
It can be shocking, especially since the popup comes with a rather loud alert that can be jarring. Thankfully, this is a feature that you can actually turn off and if you’d like to learn how, read on.
Turn off Sticky Keys in Windows 10
- Press the Win key + U at the same time
- You should now be in the Ease of Use settings
- Select keyboard on the left
- Uncheck the box that says “Allow the shortcut key to start Sticky Keys”
Now you’re good to go and when you press the Shift key five times in a row, it will no longer launch the prompt. It’s really as simple as that and a few seconds of your time will help you get rid of that prompt.
Turn off Sticky Keys in Windows 7/8
- Go to Control Panel
- Go to Ease of Access > Make the Keyboard Easier To Use
- Look for Make it Easier To Type
- Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys
- Click Apply
To be fair, Sticky Keys was actually designed to be an accessibility feature meaning that it was aimed at users who are disabled or suffer from repetitive stress injuries.
As the name suggests, Sticky Keys will virtually hold a key down when you press on it, so that if you’re someone who is disabled or injured, you won’t actually have to physically keep holding on it.
This will be useful if you’re either learning how to type and are unsure of the different modifier keys and need a little help.
Unless you have a need to use the feature, like if you’re disabled or suffering from RSI, then yes, disabling Sticky Keys is fine. It will not have an impact on your day to day use of your computer or keyboard, plus turning it back on is just as quick and easy so if you do decide to use it again, you can enable the feature in a matter of seconds.
Filed in . Read more about Keyboards, Microsoft, Windows and Windows 10.