Issue with double tap ctrl (no powertoys installed)

Question

Hello,
I am experiencing an issue in windows 11 where when I double tap ctrl key - mouse and keyboard is stuck until I press spacebar or esc (these two keys I noticed, letters i.e. don't work). I found multiple threads that mention PowerToys, but I don't have that installed in my machine.
Anybody experienced this issue or know what might cause it (I want to stress out - I don't have PowerToys installed)? I'd really appreciate any help.

Answer 1

Hello there,

The Ctrl double tab should only trigger the highlight, for some reason it is also switching Focus Assist. Disabling this Mouse utility feature in PowerToys solved the issue. I believe this feature is turned on by default after updating your PowerToys.

Double press the left Ctrl key or shake the mouse to activate a spotlight that focuses on the cursor's position. Click the mouse or press any keyboard key to dismiss it. If you move the mouse while the spotlight is active, the spotlight will dismiss on its own shortly after the mouse stops moving.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/mouse-utilities

Hope this resolves your Query !!

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Answer 2

I had this exact issue driving me crazy for a while. I finally discovered it was the Iogear GCS932UB KVM switch I use. The default hotkey for the KVM is ScrLock+ScrLock followed by various single character codes. But the KVM can be switched to use CTRL+CTRL instead of ScrLock+ScrLock via the x code or by holding the physical switch button for 3 seconds.

Simply hit CTRL+CTRL then x then enter to toggle it back to ScrLock+ScrLock.