Solved Quick Link Menu -- Have keyboard shortcuts been removed?

Long time visitor to these forums (well, the Win10 version) and have found many answers here. First time posting a question.

When I press Win-X, the Quick Link menu appears ... as it should. However ... whereas it used to respond to further keystrokes, such as Win-X-U-U to shut down, etc., my system is no longer doing so. I'd swear it was working as recently as a couple days ago, but it's not doing so now. After the menu pops up, it won't respond to any key at all ... it just sits there. Of course, I can use the mouse to click on any of the options and they do work, but what's the point in using a keystroke if I then have to grab the mouse?!?!

In addition, I notice that while there used to be underlined characters in the menu to hint at which key would do what next, that's no longer the case. There are no underlined hints visible.

Has Microsoft changed this feature ?? And if so, what madness compelled them to do so !!!

System is running Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.469) at the moment ... it was updated to build 493 this AM which is when I noticed the issue, but I restored a backup made this past weekend since I thought that might have done the deed, but that didn't fix the issue. I swear this was working in the last couple days, but since the restored backup is exhibiting the same behavior, I'm no longer sure of myself on that.

Anyhoot, if someone can shed some light on the problem ... hopefully can suggest a FIX for the problem ... that would be splendid indeed.

Many thanks in advance,
Victor

Hello Victor, :)

The underlined shortcut keys are still available for the Quick Link Menu.

You'll have to open it with the Win+X keys to see them though.

Brink,

Thanks for the quick reply ... and yes, I'm aware that the menu needs to be accessed via Win-X to show those hints AND to allow the keyboard shortcuts to work. My problem is, that's not what happens !!

I press Win-X, I get no underline hints, and the menu DOES NOT respond to any follow on keystrokes. Just to be clear, I press Win-X and regardless of what key is hit next ... D, U, R, S, E, N, etc. etc. ... nothing happens. Nada. Zilch. Bupkiss.

Something is clearly not right, and restoring a backup from when I am pretty sure it was working hasn't changed anything. I even tried it with a different keyboard and still "nuthin' honey".

Any other ideas as to how to proceed to fix this?

Thanks again,
VictorZ

Just to verify, do you have any software installed that may affect the taskbar and causing this?

Can confirm there's nothing I've installed re the taskbar. At least knowingly.

As Alice would say ... curiouser and curiouser. Win+X key combo appears to work correctly immediately after a reboot but after a few minutes, with nothing particular going on, it no longer works. That is to say, the hints and the follow on keystrokes work when I try it right after a reboot, but not long after ... 5 mins or less ... it behaves as if I'm right-clicking the mouse instead of hitting Win+X ... this is making ZERO sense to me.

And again, I have nothing installed that is related to the taskbar ... not even installed but disabled, nothing at all that I'm aware of.

I've run SFC /scannow, I've run virus malware checks, everything comes up clean.

<grumble grumble>

Could be a bug in that build.

If wanted, you could try doing a repair install below to see if it may fix it without losing anything.

Yup, was definitely considering the repair install route.

Before going down that route tho, I spent several hours last night burning the midnight oil to try and clarify what is going on and I think I've stumbled upon a possible culprit ... Microsoft PowerToys of all things.

I've had it installed on my system pretty much since it released -- it was, and is on my other systems running Win10 as well as on this new box that runs Win11. I've not had issues with PowerToys in the past, and frankly, I don't use most of the "features", but do occasionally find one or two useful.

In any case, if I shut down PowerToys, the Win+X key works correctly. If PowerToys is running, it works intermittently. Before you ask, I do NOT now, nor have I had the Keyboard Manager function / utility in PT enabled.

I don't know if this is a bug in the latest build of PowerToys, but since I barely use it and have everything disabled except for the "Run" shortcut feature, I'll leave the whole thing disabled and wait to see if a future update on PT behaves better.

In any case, if someone else comes across the same problem and finds this thread, perhaps it will be of help.

Many thanks for your help and suggestions Brink. This has always been a helpful and friendly place!

VictorZ

Thank you for posting back with your findings on the culprit.

It's most likely a bug with PowerToys. Please be sure to report the bug below.

Report bug ... will do!

I had the same issue, Win + X , U, U in my case. It would usually take a few attempts for the shortcut to work. And as you pointed out, the salient fact is that the shortcuts never worked when they weren't underlined. I don't generally use anything like PowerToys so I kept digging.

Accessibility Options/Keyboard/Underline access keys ---> Turn On

Once I did that, the underlines were back and and the shortcuts worked every time.

DAMieN said:

I had the same issue, Win + X , U, U in my case. It would usually take a few attempts for the shortcut to work. And as you pointed out, the salient fact is that the shortcuts never worked when they weren't underlined. I don't generally use anything like PowerToys so I kept digging.

Accessibility Options/Keyboard/Underline access keys ---> Turn On

Once I did that, the underlines were back and and the shortcuts worked every time.

Turn On or Off Always Underline Access Keys in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off always underline access keys for your account in Windows 11. An access key is an underlined character in the text of a menu, context menu item, or the label of a control such as a button. You can press and hold the Shift, Alt, or F10 key while...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

I have just registered purely just to thank you. This has been doing my head in for a while now.

This was much hardr to find the correct answer to than I thought it would be.

Thank you so much

As Adam did, I registered to thank you, and to help others find this as it's been the bane of my existence (1st world probs aye?) for ages!

Popping my Bing AI search notes in here (which was useless btw) to help with SEO for others on this silly issue.

"windows 11 hotkey shortcuts not working after pressing Windows and X"

DAMieN said:

I had the same issue, Win + X , U, U in my case. It would usually take a few attempts for the shortcut to work. And as you pointed out, the salient fact is that the shortcuts never worked when they weren't underlined. I don't generally use anything like PowerToys so I kept digging.

Accessibility Options/Keyboard/Underline access keys ---> Turn On

Once I did that, the underlines were back and and the shortcuts worked every time.

Turn On or Off Always Underline Access Keys in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off always underline access keys for your account in Windows 11. An access key is an underlined character in the text of a menu, context menu item, or the label of a control such as a button. You can press and hold the Shift, Alt, or F10 key while...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

This was the ticket, thank you so so much! I also registered to say this - as it still plagues us.