Override HDR Shortcut Alt-Winkey-B?

[kkleinfelter]

How can I override the Windows 11 shortcut for enabling/disabling HDR -- Alt-Winkey-B?

Back in the day of Win 10, I defined a bunch of personal shortcut keys, using Alt-Winkey. Then Win 11 added a bunch of Game Bar shortcuts which also use Alt-Winkey. I've disabled the Game Bar, which gave me back some of my shortcuts, but the HDR shortcut, Alt-Winkey-B still persists, even when I define:

Code: Select all

#persistent
#InstallKeybdHook
!#b::DoMyCustomThing()

TIA

[mikeyww]

I would pick a different hotkey, because trying to override Windows may yield inconsistent results.

[kkleinfelter]

I was there first, then Windows claimed it. I'm not giving it up. I'll write my own keyboard driver if I must.

That being said, I've noticed that my AHK double-colon definition for alt-winkey-b is getting executed. The problem is that Windows is also doing its HDR mode switch, which involves a superfluous message and a screen flash to black. I just need to find a way to prevent Windows from acting on it.

[mikeyww]

I imagine that your new keyboard driver will take care of all of that for you.

[kkleinfelter]

Oh man! They are really pushy about that particular hotkey. \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\DisabledHotkeys can disable other Windows hotkeys involving Winkey, but not Winkey-B and Alt-Winkey-B.

[mikeyww]

Some tips are here (towards bottom of page). https://www.elevenforum.com/t/turn-on-or-off-hdr-for-display-in-windows-11.877/

[kkleinfelter]

They are out-and-out over the top with Alt-Winkey-B. Using the Keyboard Manager of PowerToys, one can remap most shortcuts, but not that one.

This looks like a challenge.

[kkleinfelter]

Thank you to the pointers. I have already disabled Game Bar and HDR. Pressing Alt-Winkey-B re-enables it. Shopping for a non-HDR monitor isn't an option because... I'm using a laptop.

[mikeyww]

You described two things but not the two things at the Web page. The first was uninstalling Game Bar. The second was a PowerShell script. I did not try either of them, but it could be worth a go-- but explore at your own risk!

[kkleinfelter]

Ah. I just looked at the main article. The additional steps you reference are in the dialog below the article.

Code: Select all

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -PackageTypeFilter Bundle *xboxgaming* | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

is sufficient to get Windows to stop with the HDR hotkey. Thank you!