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Modifier Keys stuck when gaming

Go to solution Solved by mamapig,

Finally found the solution. Sadly, it was an external numpad I forgot I had connected. Don't know why this problem happened, but at least I could solve it. Thank you!

I have been searching for a solution to this problem for the last few days. Let me explain:

  • When playing WASD games, after 5-30 mins (it's pretty random), all modifier keys suddenly get stuck (CTRL, SHIFT, ALT, WINDOWS). This happened in Halo CE Anniversary and Apex Legends. This didn't happen in Fall Guys (I play that with a Joystick). When the problem appears, I'm not pressing any of those keys.
  • This is not a Hardware problem, I disconected my keyboard and even conected another one.
  • I have been monitoring with OSK and none of those keys show any sign of the problem until it happens.
  • Sticky keys are deactivated.
  • When this problem happens, all letters become their shortcuts and things like CTRL + SHIFT + ESC become ALT + TAB...
  • I cannot open the context menu (R Click), but I'm able to close everything and click Restart. Then my PC shows the screen to repair Windows. None of the options solve anything and I even selected the "reset Windows" (the option that resets to Factory without deleting anything).
  • Since none of this solved my problem, I reinstalled Windows. This wasn't it either…
  • I ran the commands sfc /scannowdism /online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth and dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth in the CMD to check for corrupted files and Windows fixed them. But the problem persists.
  • I had AutoHotKey installed but never added a script to my processes (just ran by opening them). Didn't reinstall it after reinstalling Windows. None of the scripts were running when this problem happened.

 

Sorry for the long list but I have been looking like crazy to solve this issue. Does anybody know a way?

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I've run into this issue before. In my case, the Windows key becomes locked and A-Z will trigger a Win+* shortcut. The option you are looking to disable is "Lock modifier keys when pressed twice in a row" under Control Panel\Ease of Access\Ease of Access Center\Set up Sticky Keys.

image.thumb.png.68eedd01c170a498e5b7dede9d28d8fe.png

Make sure to quote me or use @PorkishPig to notify me that you replied!

 

 

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4 hours ago, PorkishPig said:

I've run into this issue before. In my case, the Windows key becomes locked and A-Z will trigger a Win+* shortcut. The option you are looking to disable is "Lock modifier keys when pressed twice in a row" under Control Panel\Ease of Access\Ease of Access Center\Set up Sticky Keys.

 

Thank you for the quick answer!

Sadly, the problem persists.

I opened halo MCC after unchecking the lock modifier keys and just went afk for 15 mins (didn't give any input to the game) and the keys were suddenly stuck.

Got any other ideas?

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1 hour ago, mamapig said:

Thank you for the quick answer!

Sadly, the problem persists.

I opened halo MCC after unchecking the lock modifier keys and just went afk for 15 mins (didn't give any input to the game) and the keys were suddenly stuck.

Got any other ideas?

Nothing off the top of my head, unfortunately. The only things I can realistically see causing this this problem are Sticky Keys or a keyboard hardware/firmware defect.

Make sure to quote me or use @PorkishPig to notify me that you replied!

 

 

Desktop

CPU - Ryzen 9 3900X | Cooler - Noctua NH-D15 | Motherboard - ASUS TUF X570-PLUS RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 32GB Case - Meshify C

GPU - RTX 3080 FE PSU - Straight Power 11 850W Platinum Storage - 980 PRO 1TB, 960 EVO 500GB, S31 1TB, MX500 500GB | OS - Windows 11 Pro

 

Homelab

CPU - Core i5-11400 | Cooler - Noctua NH-U12S | Motherboard - ASRock Z590M-ITX RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3600 32GB (2x16)  | Case - Node 304

PSU - EVGA B3 650W | Storage - 860 EVO 256GB, Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB, WD Red 4TB (x6 in RAIDZ1 w/ LSI 9207-8i) | OS - TrueNAS Scale (Debian)

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