Disable Sticky Keys

July 3, 2008 8:18 PM

How do I permanently disable sticky keys?

I accidentally engaged sticky keys in Windows XP last week. I figured out how to turn it off, however everytime I reboot and log in the sticky keys are back.

How do I get rid of them forever?

posted by my_thai to computers & internet (7 answers total)

Press shift 5 times, then when the dialog pops up saying you have enabled sticky keys, press settings, then disable the shortcut, that should help.
posted by mhp at 8:28 PM on July 3, 2008

Yes, hit shift 5 times and it will take you to the place where you can control it. If that fails, you can try googling it.
posted by phunniemee at 8:30 PM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

In the control panel there's an applet called "accessibility options". You can disable sticky keys there, and you can disable the keyboard shortcut as well.

In Vista, it's called "Ease of Access" in the control panel.
posted by Class Goat at 11:32 PM on July 3, 2008

On an only-vaguely-related matter, I physically removed my caps-lock key from my keyboard a few weeks ago and would heartily recommend it.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:48 AM on July 4, 2008

@LMDBA: I remapped it to left control, that's worth considering too.
posted by trouserbat at 7:56 AM on July 4, 2008

In XP, it is possible to uninstall the Accessibility Options control panel option whilst leaving StickyKeys active. Should you respond to the unwanted pop-up with 'Settings', nothing happens.

To fix this, re-install Accessories->Accessibility Wizard from Add/Remove Windows Components in Add/Remove Programs. Or just stop playing games that are stupid enough to use the shifting keys for fire buttons.

I heartily endorse ripping off the caps lock key, or using MSKLC to make a keyboard layout where it has no effect.
posted by BobInce at 10:51 AM on July 4, 2008

Don’t you have to press the left Shift key five times?
posted by joeclark at 3:19 PM on July 4, 2008