On Windows 7-10 (maybe also lower versions?) to disable the F1 button in all programs (just for the currently logged in user), save this file as disable.reg
and run it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Typelib\{8cec5860-07a1-11d9-b15e-000d56bfe6ee}\1.0\0\win32]
@=""
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Typelib\{8cec5860-07a1-11d9-b15e-000d56bfe6ee}\1.0\0\win64]
@=""
Or open regedit
, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Typelib
, create a Key (folder) named {8cec5860-07a1-11d9-b15e-000d56bfe6ee}
, then create a Key inside that named 1.0
, then create a Key inside that named 0
, then create 2 Keys inside that named win32
and win64
. Open each of the winXX
Keys, double click (Default)
and then press OK. Observe that the Data
has changed from (value not set)
to be blank.
To re-enable the F1 key, save this file as enable.reg
and run it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Typelib\{8cec5860-07a1-11d9-b15e-000d56bfe6ee}]
Or open regedit
, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Typelib
and delete the folder named {8cec5860-07a1-11d9-b15e-000d56bfe6ee}
F1
to help is convention, not law. What about programs that use it for something else? What about combos (e.g.,Shift+F1
,Ctrl+Alt+F1
)? Many programs use such combos for special purposes; do you want those disabled as well?