How To Enable And Disable Sticky Keys On Windows 10
Windows has an Ease of access feature called Sticky Keys. It makes it easier to execute multi-key keyboard shortcuts by letting you press modifier keys one at a time. For example, on most browsers, you can tap Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen the last tab you just closed. This requires pressing three keys at the same time. For people with disabilities, this may not be easy so they have the option to use Sticky Keys. With Sticky Keys enabled, you can tap and release the Ctrl key, then the Shift key, and finally the T key. You don’t have to hold all three down at once. Here’s how you can enable and disable sticky keys on Windows 10.
Sticky Keys On Windows 10
Open the Settings app and go to Ease of access. Scroll down to the Interaction group of tabs, and select Keyboard. Scroll down to the Sticky Keys section. You can enable it by turning on the ‘Press one key at a time for keyboard shortcuts’ switch. Alternatively, you can also enable the ‘Allow the shortcut key to start Sticky Keys’ option.
If you enable the shortcut key option, you can tap the Shift key five times, consecutively, and Sticky Keys will be enabled. If you tap the Shift key five times again, it will disable Sticky Keys on Windows 10.
If you don’t use Sticky Keys, it might be a good idea to disable the shortcut for them. The shift key is a fairly common key and when you use apps that support complex keyboard shortcuts like Photoshop or Illustrator, you often end up pressing the Shift key five times in a row when you don’t mean to. The Sticky Key prompt likely interrupts your workflow so it’s a good idea to disable it.
If you enable Sticky Keys on Windows 10, you have a few additional options that you can use to make executing keyboard shortcuts even easier. For example, you can enable an option to lock modifier keys if they’re pressed twice in a row, automatically turn off Sticky Keys if two keys are pressed at the same time, and you can play a sound when a modifier key is pressed, and released.
All these options appear under the Sticky Keys section in the Settings app once you turn the feature on. Sticky Keys have been a part of Windows for a long time. This feature is not exclusive to Windows 10. On older versions of Windows, you can enable and disable Sticky Keys from the Control Panel.
