Advanced keyboard settings windows 11 doesnt work

Question

So, I have been using left Alt + Shift as a switch key between 2 languages (English and Russian). Today, after last night's update for Windows, It does not work anymore.

In the settings of Input language hotkeys, nothing changed.

If I switch it to Ctrl+Shift, the same thing does not work.

If I switch it to Grave Accent - it works!

Windows key + space - works!

And I'd think the common thing is a Shift, but the Shift DOES work on my keyboard when I type, so its not a keyboard problem.

I tried regedit and deleting the keyboard layouts, then restarting, deleting, and re-installing keyboard drivers, and troubleshooting...

Nothing fixes this.

Answer 1

Hi Aly Hudson,   Welcome to Microsoft Community. Thank you for posting an inquiry about a problem with the language switching key combination not working.

We understand your frustration. This reduced the convenience of the device experience.

We performed testing in two different brands of devices running Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build 26100.2894) with the latest update KB5050009 installed. In our testing, we were unable to reproduce the issue for the time being.

The symptoms you are currently experiencing seem to indicate some sort of configuration file corruption, conflict, or driver corruption, signal conflict for a specific key.

When a problem occurs with a device, restoring the device to a relatively early state to minimize the impact of potential software environment changes is always the preferred option.

To open System Restore, Use the keyboard shortcut Windows +R, type rstrui.exe and press Enter.

• In the Restore system files and settings box, select Next
• Select the restore point that you want to use in the list of results. If you don’t see the restore point that you want to use, select the Show more restore points check box to see more restore points.
• Optionally, select Scan for affected programs.
• Once you find the proper restore point, select Next > Finish.
• After the restore point is applied, Windows restarts automatically.

To uninstall an update,

• In the Settings app on your Windows device, select Windows Update> Update history> Uninstall updates.
• On the list that appears, select update you want to remove, and then select Uninstall.
• **Note:**Some updates cannot be uninstalled.

Some hardware devices may come with some dedicated drivers and firmware to implement "macro" functions and key mapping functions, which may unexpectedly cause specific keys to fail to function as expected in certain software environments.

In our tests, the right Shift and Alt combinations work the same.

If possible, you can compare the right key combinations to see if they work the same.

A software-emulated keyboard can often be used as an alternative to narrow down the scope of the problem analysis.

Windows has a built-in Accessibility tool called the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) 

• Go to Start, then select Settings > Accessibility> Keyboard, and turn on the On-Screen Keyboardtoggle. A keyboard that can be used to move around the screen and enter text will appear on the screen. The keyboard will remain on the screen until you close it.

Safe Mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services, making it easier to identify problems caused by third-party software or settings changes.

• When you restart your PC, press and hold the Shiftkey while you select Power> Restart.
• The device will boot into Windows Recovery Environment.
• Once in Windows RE, select Troubleshoot> Advanced options> Startup Settings> Restart.
• Select Restart, once the device reboots, in the Startup Settings screen pick one of the available options, or press Enter to boot Windows normally. 

A local account provides an independent user environment on your device.  Observing under a different user profile helps to understand if the problem is specific to a corrupted user profile. Using Command Prompt ensures you can bypass user interface issues. To create a new local account via Command Prompt: 

• Press Win or Win + S, type Command Prompt, right-click it, and choose Run as administrator.
• Execute the command to create a new account, replace <Username> with the desired username, and <Password> with the desired password.  

  	net user "<Username>" "<Password>" /add

• Execute the command to promote the account to admin level, replace <Username> with the desired username. 

  	net localgroup Administrators "<Username>" /add

If I misunderstand your situation, feel free to correct me and share the information.Best Regards,Kyo.Y - MSFT | Microsoft Community Technical Support

Answer 2

Ty so so much for your reply!

So its definitely a corrupt user problem, as a new user did the trick and everything works on that profile.

Is there any way to make this one still work, or re-installing my best option?

Answer 3

Hi Aly Hudson,  

We're glad to hear that it's not an issue at the system component level.

A user profile consists of the following elements:

A registry hive. The registry hive is the file NTuser.dat. The hive is loaded by the system at user logon, and it is mapped to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key. The user's registry hive maintains the user's registry-based preferences and configuration.

A set of profile folders stored in the file system. User-profile files are stored in the Profiles directory, on a folder per-user basis. The user-profile folder is a container for applications and other system components to populate with sub-folders, and per-user data such as documents and configuration files. Windows Explorer uses the user-profile folders extensively for such items as the user's Desktop, Start menu and Documents folder.

It is generally difficult to trace back and analyze a specific corrupted user profile.

Reinstalling Windows usually replaces the system components themselves and may not necessarily repair some corrupted user profile data.

Of course, if you are willing to try to perform a Windows reinstallation, you may consider performing a “non-destructive” In-place Upgrade.

Disclaimer: Please back up all your important data before performing it.

• In-place Upgrade Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides:   How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community
• If you are unable to obtain a system image from the above tutorial that is capable of performing an In-place Upgrade (usually one that is equal to or higher than your current system version), you may need to resort to some other sources. Discussion messages from community members in this thread mentioned channel to obtain some of the specific versions of Windows.  The channel is not provided directly by Microsoft and you can refer to the information from Volunteer Moderator or Independent Advisor.Some of the links may be invalid and you may experience multiple redirects.Where can I download the windows 10 and/or 11 iso for ARM - Microsoft Community

| Disclaimer : Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology. | | --- | If the problem doesn't occur under the new user profile, you might consider gradually transferring important data from the old profile to the new user profile.

Troubleshoot Problems Signing In to Windows - Microsoft Support

Thanks for your patience and understanding. 

Best Regards, Kyo.Y - MSFT | Microsoft Community Technical Support