How do I disable CTRL+W in Internet Explorer?

I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.

I don't ever want to use it.

When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever I've
been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.

Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.

How can I do this?

I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this (it even
took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Shenan
Sun Feb 03 10:15:34 PST 2008

Pendant wrote:
> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.

How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Leonard
Sun Feb 03 10:23:57 PST 2008

Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.

Doctor: Don't do it.

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Pendant wrote:
> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever I've
> been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this (it even
> took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.
>

Pendant
Sun Feb 03 10:26:01 PST 2008



"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Pendant wrote:
> > I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
> >
> > I don't ever want to use it.
> >
> > When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> > I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
> >
> > Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
> >
> > How can I do this?
> >
> > I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> > (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> > shortcut!).
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any ideas.
>
> How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?
>

You can certainly ask, although I'm only partially puzzled as to why you do
- I can only assume that you believe that this is unlikely.

It's not only not unlikely, it's actually quite a distinct possibility, if
you're using the Dvorak keyboard layout: CTRL+W is right next to CTRL+V.

Hence my desire to disable this potentially destructive shortcut.

Shenan
Sun Feb 03 10:31:13 PST 2008

Pendant wrote:
> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> shortcut!).

Looking around - I have found an inordinate number of references to the
CTRL+W One google search for it will bring up MANY hits) - but disabling
it...

List of the shortcuts in Windows XP/etc:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/2503b91d-d780-4c80-8f08-2f48878dc5661033.mspx

I found how to disable all of the new "EXTRA" shortcut keys in Vista:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-winx-shortcut-keys-on-windows-vista/

Maybe someone else will come up with something.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Shenan
Sun Feb 03 10:36:20 PST 2008

Pendant wrote:
> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
> How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?

Pendant wrote:
> You can certainly ask, although I'm only partially puzzled as to
> why you do - I can only assume that you believe that this is
> unlikely.
>
> It's not only not unlikely, it's actually quite a distinct
> possibility, if you're using the Dvorak keyboard layout: CTRL+W is
> right next to CTRL+V.
>
> Hence my desire to disable this potentially destructive shortcut.

The Dvorak layout usage is uncommon - at least in my experience. It may
well be different where you are located or by preference but yes - you have
pinpointed my confusion.

QWERTY layout causes it to be less often an accidental press, as CTRL+Q and
CTRL+E aren't really used all that much I would presume. ;-)

Thank you for indulging my curiosity and broadening my thought processes on
the matter.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Stan
Sun Feb 03 10:46:51 PST 2008

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 12:15:34 -0600 from Shenan Stanley
<newshelper@gmail.com>:
> Pendant wrote:
> > I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
> >
> > When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> > I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
> >
> > Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?

Isn't it obvious? "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
get rid of it. Whoops! the focus was somewhere other than I thought,
so I got rid of a window I want to keep instead of one I wanted to
get rid of."

And there's also "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
get rid of it. Whoops! I just realized I still needed that window
after all."

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/

Stan
Sun Feb 03 10:48:11 PST 2008

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 12:36:20 -0600 from Shenan Stanley
<newshelper@gmail.com>:
> QWERTY layout causes it to be less often an accidental press, as
> CTRL+Q and CTRL+E aren't really used all that much I would presume.

Two types of accidents (or more): (1) pressing a key you didn't mean
to press, and (2) pressing a key you *did* mean to press, but making
a mistake about the desired action.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/

Shenan
Sun Feb 03 10:56:40 PST 2008

Pendant wrote:
> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
> How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?

Stan Brown wrote:
> Isn't it obvious? "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> get rid of it. Whoops! the focus was somewhere other than I
> thought, so I got rid of a window I want to keep instead of one I
> wanted to get rid of."
>
> And there's also "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> get rid of it. Whoops! I just realized I still needed that window
> after all."

If you read the answer given by the OP to my query - I think you will find
that is not the case.

Here it is...
Pendant wrote:
> You can certainly ask, although I'm only partially puzzled as to
> why you do - I can only assume that you believe that this is
> unlikely.
>
> It's not only not unlikely, it's actually quite a distinct
> possibility, if you're using the Dvorak keyboard layout: CTRL+W is
> right next to CTRL+V.
>
> Hence my desire to disable this potentially destructive shortcut.

Even peaked my interest in trying a few new keyboards. hah

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Twayne
Sun Feb 03 16:37:29 PST 2008

> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Spend the time you're using to persue this little detail instead for
improving your typing accuracy and you'll find yourself miles ahead of
the game. You're in for a long and bumpy ride if something that simple
bothers you that much, that often, etc. etc..
--

Regards,

Twayne

OO0 is a GREAT MS Office replacement
www.openoffice.org

Please respond to the newsgroup, not to
my e-mail, so that all may benefit. I do not
always respond to newsgroup e-mails.

Stan
Sun Feb 03 18:59:51 PST 2008

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 12:56:40 -0600 from Shenan Stanley
<newshelper@gmail.com>:
> Shenan Stanley wrote:
> > How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?
>
> Stan Brown wrote:
> > Isn't it obvious? "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> > get rid of it. Whoops! the focus was somewhere other than I
> > thought, so I got rid of a window I want to keep instead of one I
> > wanted to get rid of."
> >
> > And there's also "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> > get rid of it. Whoops! I just realized I still needed that window
> > after all."
>
> If you read the answer given by the OP to my query - I think you will find
> that is not the case.

I was answering for myself, not for someone else. Those are the
principal ways *I* hit Ctrl-W by mistake.

I guess it wasn't obvious, though. :-)

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/

Pendant
Mon Feb 04 06:43:04 PST 2008

Having raised the issue for other reasons, Stan has highlighted that my query
also has other relevance.

A user interface should not have a feature such as this that is potentially
destructive, with no recovery.

Or at the very least if it is included, it should be possible to disable it.

"Stan Brown" wrote:

> Sun, 3 Feb 2008 12:56:40 -0600 from Shenan Stanley
> <newshelper@gmail.com>:
> > Shenan Stanley wrote:
> > > How do you - might I ask - accidentally press CTRL+W?
> >
> > Stan Brown wrote:
> > > Isn't it obvious? "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> > > get rid of it. Whoops! the focus was somewhere other than I
> > > thought, so I got rid of a window I want to keep instead of one I
> > > wanted to get rid of."
> > >
> > > And there's also "I'm done with this window now, so I'll Ctrl-W to
> > > get rid of it. Whoops! I just realized I still needed that window
> > > after all."
> >
> > If you read the answer given by the OP to my query - I think you will find
> > that is not the case.
>
> I was answering for myself, not for someone else. Those are the
> principal ways *I* hit Ctrl-W by mistake.
>
> I guess it wasn't obvious, though. :-)
>
> --
> Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
> http://OakRoadSystems.com/
> "If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
> been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/
>

Pendant
Mon Feb 04 06:53:03 PST 2008

"In for a long and bumpy ride"? I've been on it ever since computers were
invented.

This problem situation does not arise very often, it's true.

When it DOES happen, sod's law says that it will be disastrous.

The time taken to 'pursue this little detail' is far less costly than the
time it can take to compose a single time-sensitive email (for instance).

I believe that it makes perfect sense to try to discover a solution to such
a situation; finding one will not only enable me to avoid a needless
irritation, it will also enable me to assist others who are in the same boat.

Thinks: why is it that whenever someone points out that something is flawed,
there are always many people who delight in claiming that it isn't?

"Twayne" wrote:

> > I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
> >
> > I don't ever want to use it.
> >
> > When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
> > I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
> >
> > Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
> >
> > How can I do this?
> >
> > I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
> > (it even took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W
> > shortcut!).
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any ideas.
>
> Spend the time you're using to persue this little detail instead for
> improving your typing accuracy and you'll find yourself miles ahead of
> the game. You're in for a long and bumpy ride if something that simple
> bothers you that much, that often, etc. etc..
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Twayne
>
> OO0 is a GREAT MS Office replacement
> www.openoffice.org
>
> Please respond to the newsgroup, not to
> my e-mail, so that all may benefit. I do not
> always respond to newsgroup e-mails.
>
>
>
>

1776
Mon Feb 04 16:01:41 PST 2008


"Pendant" <Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:52C921DB-D346-4879-80D8-E5335A10AEDB@microsoft.com...
>I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>
> I don't ever want to use it.
>
> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever I've
> been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>
> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>
> How can I do this?
>
> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this (it
> even
> took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).
>
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.

To actually answer your question...Search for "key mapper" on google. Among
others it will lead you to sharewareconnection.com which lists many (some
reviewed) mappers. One that is listed there that may be what you need is
http://www.easysofts.com.cn/en/, but I can't be positive from the
description, however you can ask them. At least this will point you in the
right direction. Take the usual precautions when downloading and installing
shareware.

I believe that this will allow you to disable CTRL-W on a Windows level (not
just IE), but perhaps that is what you meant by "I don't *ever* want to use
it."

Pendant
Tue Feb 05 06:05:03 PST 2008

"1776" wrote:

>
> "Pendant" <Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:52C921DB-D346-4879-80D8-E5335A10AEDB@microsoft.com...
> >I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
> >
> > I don't ever want to use it.
> >
> > When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever I've
> > been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
> >
> > Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
> >
> > How can I do this?
> >
> > I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this (it
> > even
> > took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any ideas.
>
> To actually answer your question...Search for "key mapper" on google. Among
> others it will lead you to sharewareconnection.com which lists many (some
> reviewed) mappers. One that is listed there that may be what you need is
> http://www.easysofts.com.cn/en/, but I can't be positive from the
> description, however you can ask them. At least this will point you in the
> right direction. Take the usual precautions when downloading and installing
> shareware.
>
> I believe that this will allow you to disable CTRL-W on a Windows level (not
> just IE), but perhaps that is what you meant by "I don't *ever* want to use
> it."
>

Many thanks for the suggestion. I'm aware that there are keyboard layout
configuration tools - Microsoft itself offers one, although I couldn't get
that to work (and I asked on here why not, and got nowhere with that). All
the others I've seen so far require the purchase of the tool (to access
mappings such as this) as well as time to learn a new tool for a single
purpose.

If that is the only answer, it's a pity; a lot of effort to cure a trivial
annoyance that arguably shouldn't be there in the first place.

Twayne
Tue Feb 05 08:42:15 PST 2008

> "1776" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Pendant" <Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:52C921DB-D346-4879-80D8-E5335A10AEDB@microsoft.com...
>>> I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
>>>
>>> I don't ever want to use it.
>>>
>>> When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
>>> I've been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
>>>
>>> Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
>>>
>>> How can I do this?
>>>
>>> I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
>>> (it even
>>> took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any ideas.
>>
>> To actually answer your question...Search for "key mapper" on
>> google. Among others it will lead you to sharewareconnection.com
>> which lists many (some reviewed) mappers. One that is listed there
>> that may be what you need is http://www.easysofts.com.cn/en/, but I
>> can't be positive from the description, however you can ask them.
>> At least this will point you in the right direction. Take the usual
>> precautions when downloading and installing shareware.
>>
>> I believe that this will allow you to disable CTRL-W on a Windows
>> level (not just IE), but perhaps that is what you meant by "I don't
>> *ever* want to use it."
>>
>
> Many thanks for the suggestion. I'm aware that there are keyboard
> layout configuration tools - Microsoft itself offers one, although I
> couldn't get that to work (and I asked on here why not, and got
> nowhere with that). All the others I've seen so far require the
> purchase of the tool (to access mappings such as this) as well as
> time to learn a new tool for a single purpose.
>
> If that is the only answer, it's a pity; a lot of effort to cure a
> trivial annoyance that arguably shouldn't be there in the first place.

Yes it is a lot of effort for a trivial annoyance; that's why I
recommended becoming more accuate with your typing. It's easy to do and
only take practice. That will help counter the other similar situations
you'll encounter too.

--

Regards,

Twayne

OO0 is a GREAT MS Office replacement
www.openoffice.org

Please respond to the newsgroup, not to
my e-mail, so that all may benefit. I do not
always respond to newsgroup e-mails.

Stan
Thu Feb 07 02:07:18 PST 2008

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 06:43:04 -0800 from Pendant
<Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com>:
> A user interface should not have a feature such as this that is potentially
> destructive, with no recovery.

One of the nice features of the Multizilla add-in to Mozilla: "reopen
closed tabs".

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
A: Maybe because some people are too annoyed by top posting.
Q: Why do I not get an answer to my question(s)?
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?

GS
Wed Feb 13 17:03:55 PST 2008


"Pendant" <Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7DAF55E2-AFB0-43AF-ACBD-F6CC9A7B278E@microsoft.com...
> "1776" wrote:
>
> >
> > "Pendant" <Pendant@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:52C921DB-D346-4879-80D8-E5335A10AEDB@microsoft.com...
> > >I never use CTRL+W to close all windows.
> > >
> > > I don't ever want to use it.
> > >
> > > When I press it by mistake it sometimes results in loss of whatever
I've
> > > been working on, with no warning, and no recovery.
> > >
> > > Naturally, I want to disable this annoying shortcut.
> > >
> > > How can I do this?
> > >
> > > I've searched and cannot find anything that tells me how to do this
(it
> > > even
> > > took a while before I found a reference to the CTRL+W shortcut!).
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance for any ideas.
> >
> > To actually answer your question...Search for "key mapper" on google.
Among
> > others it will lead you to sharewareconnection.com which lists many
(some
> > reviewed) mappers. One that is listed there that may be what you need
is
> > http://www.easysofts.com.cn/en/, but I can't be positive from the
> > description, however you can ask them. At least this will point you in
the
> > right direction. Take the usual precautions when downloading and
installing
> > shareware.
> >
> > I believe that this will allow you to disable CTRL-W on a Windows level
(not
> > just IE), but perhaps that is what you meant by "I don't *ever* want to
use
> > it."
> >
>
> Many thanks for the suggestion. I'm aware that there are keyboard layout
> configuration tools - Microsoft itself offers one, although I couldn't get
> that to work (and I asked on here why not, and got nowhere with that). All
> the others I've seen so far require the purchase of the tool (to access
> mappings such as this) as well as time to learn a new tool for a single
> purpose.
>
> If that is the only answer, it's a pity; a lot of effort to cure a trivial
> annoyance that arguably shouldn't be there in the first place.
>
>
BTW: you don't have to use ctl-v to paste: you can use shift-ins key or
even mouse to avoid the problem