Windows 11 includes a massive “Widgets” board that slides out from the left side of your screen, containing a personalized feed of news, weather, stock prices, and sports scores. By default, this board is instantly summoned by pressing Windows Key + W.
Because the “W” key is arguably the most used key in PC gaming (used for moving forward), accidentally grazing the Windows key while playing a game will instantly deploy the massive Widgets board over your game, pausing your action and usually causing you to lose your match. If you rely on WASD for gaming or simply never use the Widgets board, you can completely disable this shortcut.
How to Disable the Windows Key + W Shortcut
You must use Microsoft’s official PowerToys utility to safely intercept and unbind the shortcut.
- Download and install Microsoft PowerToys from the Microsoft Store or GitHub.
- Launch the PowerToys application from your Start menu.
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on Keyboard Manager.
- Ensure the “Enable Keyboard Manager” toggle switch is turned On.
- Click the Remap a shortcut button in the main window.
- A new configuration window will appear. Click the plus (+) icon to create a new rule.
- Under the “Shortcut” column on the left, click the Type button and press Windows Key + W.
- Under the “Mapped To” column on the right, click the drop-down menu and select Disable from the very top of the list.
- Click OK at the top right of the window.
The shortcut is now completely dead. As long as the PowerToys utility is running in the background, your WASD gaming sessions are entirely safe from accidental news feeds and weather updates.