Windows 11 ALT+Spacebar shortcut brings up search bar versus window menu

[LimonPelador]

Microsoft PowerToys version

0.57.2

Running as admin

• Yes

Area(s) with issue?

Keyboard Manager

Steps to reproduce

STEP ONE: Press ALT-Spacebar when in a Windows Explorer window.
STEP TWO: Observe that a search field is displayed rather than the active window menu.

COMMENT: Some internet articles have indicated this is a result of installing the new PowerToys software. For some reason, the ALT+Spacebar Windows 11 shortcut key has been altered without explanation. This is a problem since we frequently use the ALT+Spacebar shortcut to access the window menu for resizing and moving windows. How do we fix this?

✔️ Expected Behavior

Should open the window menu for moving and resizing the window along with other options. Instead of this expected behavior, a search bar is opened.

❌ Actual Behavior

Opens a one-line search field with the text prompt "Start typing..."

Other Software

No response

[Jay-o-Way]

The default hotkey for PowerToys Run is Alt+Space. I recommend to open PowerToys Settings and change to hotkey to (for example) Win+Q.

[crutkas]

Change the hot key, this is acting as expected with PowerToys installed. Win+Space would be a good alternative but we chose not to do this as that is the hotkey for changing keyboard layouts.

[fredless]

sure it can be changed, but seemed like a poor choice to default to a more commonly used combination (alt-space) versus a less commonly used one (win-space)

[crutkas]

Win-space is used to switch languages. It is common

[fredless]

Understood - but I would have a hard time believing it's more commonly used than Alt-Space, but maybe that's just my perspective being a 30+ year Windows user, in a geo that overwhelmingly leverages en-US.

Alt-Space has been around since (at least) Windows 3.0. With the modern task bar, it is now also the only way to access a window's menu (or "control box" as it was known way back when) when the window is not visible; perhaps because it's been moved entirely off screen inadvertently. People who work with multiple monitor setups need to be very familiar with this keyboard shortcut.

[hucker75]

+1

I just had a game crash. I couldn't close it. I needed the task manager, but that opened (with CTRL-ESC) behind the game. I needed to move it to another screen with ALT-SPACE.

Countless times a window is placed off the screen due to horrendously bad programming - Windows should simply not allow a window to do so. Alt-space is a standard often used shortcut. Do not ever ever reuse a shortcut. What a monumentally stupid decision. Use an unused key combo for goodness sake!!!

Powertoys is meant to enhance Windows, not cripple it.

And why was this closed without fixing the problem?

[rupertleveneucd]

I had the same annoyance. Then I accidentally discovered that Win+Alt+Space makes the window menu appear.

[mellevsen]

I've found PowerToys remaps quite a few standard long-standing shortcuts. It's killing my productivity, such that I have to occasionally disable PowerToys to get something urgent done, until I can find time to reconfigure PowerToys. As another 30+ year Windows veteran, programmer, and PowerToys user ever since it was first introduced, I find it ridiculous that a complementary keyset wasn't implemented for these new utilities. It's just bad design.