Disable "Ctrl + N"

Question

_{Thursday, April 14, 2016 10:07 PM}

I need to disable the "Ctrl + N" Hotkey.

We are locking down a computer at an academic institution and we've run into a problem. If the Ctrl + N shortcut is pressed while the desktop is open a "new" window of File Explorer is opened. File Explorer is supposed to be blocked to student users, but needs to be available for some home brew tools we added to the account for administrators, so we can't block it completely. Is there any way to disable this through group policy or perhaps through the registry? 

I know that AutoHotkey and similar applications are a good option, but we are trying to keep our student computer image as small as possible and are avoiding installing 3rd party apps.

Thanks!

All replies (4)

_{Wednesday, April 27, 2016 6:03 AM ✅Answered}

Hi  Tumulus,

I don't think there is group policy or registry key available to disable special Ctrl + N shortcut keys. Those keyborad shortcut are hardcoded into Windows, in addition to what shared, I didn't find any documents talking about how to disable the other keys.

In addition, using scripts should help here.

You may take a look at the article below:

http://www.arraystudio.com/as-workshop/disable-ctrl-n-and-other-ctrl-key-combinations-in-javascript.html

Please note: Since this website is not hosted by Microsoft, the information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Or you may consider ask at the scripting forums.

Regards

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_{Friday, April 15, 2016 2:04 AM}

This might help : 

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa460734(v=winembedded.5).aspx

Nothing specifically is there in GPO to block Ctrl + N

Arnav Sharma | http://arnavsharma.net/ Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

_{Tuesday, April 26, 2016 7:11 PM}

That does help, and makes me think there is some sort of registry item I could modify to stop the command, but I am not really sure what key I should modify...

_{Friday, April 29, 2016 5:07 PM}

Alright, I figured that may be the case. I think I will just work with AutoHotKey. Thanks for the info!