The Sticky Keys box just popped up in the middle of a game or a sentence. To clear it right now, dismiss the prompt without turning the feature on, or press Shift five more times if it already switched on. To stop it for good in current versions of Windows 11, open Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, switch off Sticky keys, then open its options and switch off the keyboard shortcut too.
If the Sticky Keys prompt is on your screen right now
The prompt appears because pressing Shift five times in a row is the Windows shortcut that turns Sticky Keys on or off. Games that use Shift to sprint or crouch hit it easily, and the prompt can pull you out of a full-screen game. Three quick ways out:
- Dismiss the prompt without accepting it, and nothing changes.
- Press Shift five times again if Sticky Keys already turned on. The same shortcut switches it back off.
- Use Quick settings: press Windows + A, choose Accessibility, and switch Sticky keys off. Sticky keys is one of the six default options in that flyout.
Pressing two modifier keys at once (for example Ctrl and Alt) also turns it off, but only if the option to do that is on, which the table below explains.
Switch it off for good: the toggle and the shortcut
Turning off Sticky keys alone isn’t enough: if the shortcut stays on, the next five Shift presses bring the prompt back. Change both.
- Press Windows + I to open Settings.
- Select Accessibility in the left pane, then Keyboard on the right.
- Switch Sticky keys to Off.
- Select the Sticky keys row itself (not the switch) to open its options. Inside, the main switch may be labeled Use Sticky keys.
- Switch off Keyboard shortcut for Sticky keys. Now five Shift presses do nothing.
To check it worked, press Shift five times in a text box. No prompt should appear and Shift should behave normally.
What each Sticky keys option does
With Sticky Keys on, a modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt or the Windows key) stays “latched” after you press it once, until you press a regular key. That lets you type Ctrl+C as two separate taps. The options under the Sticky keys row control how that works:
| Option | What it does | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard shortcut for Sticky keys | Lets Shift pressed five times turn the feature on or off | Turn off if you never use Sticky Keys, especially for gaming |
| Show the Sticky keys icon on the taskbar | Shows an icon that reflects which modifiers are active | Turn on if you use the feature and lose track of latched keys |
| Lock shortcut keys when pressed twice in a row | Pressing a modifier twice keeps it held until you press it again | Useful for repeated shortcuts such as several Ctrl+clicks |
| Turn off Sticky keys when two keys are pressed at the same time | Pressing two modifiers together switches the feature off | Keep on if others share the PC and may turn it on by accident |
| Play a sound when shortcut keys are pressed and released | Sounds a tone as each modifier latches or releases | Turn off if the beeps are distracting |
Faster ways to reach the Keyboard page
- Search: select Start, type sticky keys, and open the Settings result.
- Run box: press Windows + R, type ms-settings:easeofaccess-keyboard, and press Enter. This settings link, listed in Microsoft’s Settings URI reference, opens the Accessibility keyboard page directly.
- Sign-in screen: the Accessibility icon at the bottom right of the sign-in screen offers some accessibility switches before you sign in.
The older Control Panel route
The Ease of Access Center from earlier Windows versions is still reachable in Windows 11 and changes the same settings.
- Open Control Panel > Ease of Access > Ease of Access Center.
- Select Make the keyboard easier to use.
- Clear Turn on Sticky Keys and select Apply.
- Select Set up Sticky Keys, clear Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times, then select OK.
Sticky, Filter or Toggle keys?
Three keyboard features have their own shortcuts, and they’re easy to mix up. Microsoft’s accessibility keyboard shortcuts list gives each trigger:
| Feature | What you notice | Shortcut that toggles it |
|---|---|---|
| Sticky keys | Shift, Ctrl or Alt seem stuck; shortcuts fire unexpectedly | Shift five times |
| Filter keys | Quick taps are ignored or keys need to be held down | Hold right Shift for eight seconds |
| Toggle keys | A tone plays when you press Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock | Hold Num Lock for five seconds |
Filter keys and Toggle keys sit on the same Accessibility > Keyboard page. If typing feels slow after you rule out Sticky Keys, see how to fix keyboard delay in Windows 11.
When the setting keeps coming back
- Backed-up preferences: Windows Backup’s “Remember my preferences” includes Sticky keys and Filter keys settings, so a setting saved on another PC under your Microsoft account can carry over. Change it on each PC, or check the backup settings.
- Work or school PCs: if the switches are grayed out or reset after a restart, your organization may manage them. Ask your administrator.
- Still odd after everything: press and release each Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Windows key once, or sign out and back in. If keys still misbehave, reset the keyboard settings in Windows 11.
If the keyboard still seems stuck after these switches are off, check the other causes in this list of ways to fix a keyboard that seems locked.
Sticky Keys questions
Can I stop the pop-up but keep Sticky Keys available?
Yes. The simplest way is to turn off only Keyboard shortcut for Sticky keys and switch the feature on from Quick settings (Windows + A) when you need it. The Keyboard page also has Notification preferences with Notify me when I turn on Sticky, Filter, or Toggle keys from the keyboard, but turning that off while the shortcut stays on means five Shift presses switch Sticky Keys on silently, which is worse during a game.
Next, if you rarely use any of these features, take a moment on the same Keyboard page to switch off the Filter keys and Toggle keys shortcuts too.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.