Windows 10: Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Windows 10

How to: Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Windows 10


An access key gives you access to a command by pressing a specific key on the keyboard. Access keys appear on the menu by displaying the underscore character under the shortcut letter.

To use access keys, first press ALT or F10 to highlight the specific menu or dialog box, press the underlined letter of the specific menu or dialog box you want to open, and then press the TAB key to navigate through the menu or dialog box. Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys to navigate through menus, or you can press the specific access key for the menu or command that you want to access.

To see underlined access keys in context menus, you would normally need to Shift + right click instead of just right clicking.

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off always underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys in menus when they are available for your account in Windows 10.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Settings
• Option Two: Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Control Panel
• Option Three: Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Underline access keys in menus turned on and off










OPTION ONE [/i] Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Settings

*note This option is only available starting with the version 1709.

1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Ease of Access icon.

2. Click/tap on Keyboard on the left side, and turn on or off (default) Underline access key shortcuts in menus when they are available on the right side for what you want. (see screenshot below)

3. You can now close Settings if you like.









OPTION TWO [/i] Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Control Panel
1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Ease of Access Center icon.

2. Click/tap on the Make the keyboard easier to use link. (see screenshot below)



3. Under Make it easier to use keyboard shortcuts, check (on) or uncheck (off default) Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys for what you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)








OPTION THREE [/i] Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will modify the string value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\Keyboard Preference

On string value

0 = Off
1 = On


1. Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Turn On Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_ON_underline_keyboard_shortcuts_in_menus.reg

Download

3. To Turn Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_OFF_underline_keyboard_shortcuts_in_menus.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. sign in to apply.

8. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• List of Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10
• How to Change Menu Show Delay Time in Windows 10
• How to Set Menus to Open Aligned to Left or Right in Windows 10
• How to Change Text Size for Menus in Windows 10
• How to Right Click using Keyboard in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10
• How to Perform a Right Click on a Touchscreen in Windows 10

:)

 

Turn On or Off Underline Access Key Shortcuts in Menus in Windows 10


Can someone suggest, how to add an Underline Access Key Shortcut to a cascading menu item in Desktop Context Menu, whether existing by default, or new item manually added by a user?

 

enable shortcut underlines does not stay on

Hi,

My apologies for the delayed response.

I suggest you to follow below steps to enable shortcut underlines and check if it resolves the issue.

1. Open Control Panel by right click on
Start Button.

2. Select Ease of Access Center and scroll down the list and click “Make the Keyboard Easier to Use”

3. Check the option Underline Keyboard Shortcuts
and Access Keys under Make it easier to use keyboard shortcuts.

Now you’ll see the shortcut keys are underlined.

Please post back with the status of the issue and we will be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

enable shortcut underlines does not stay on

Hi Dallas,

Welcome to Microsoft Community and thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

I will definitely assist you.

Let’s try simple troubleshooting steps and check if it helps. Follow the below steps:

• 
  Click on Start Menu and click on
  Settings.
  
• 
  Choose Ease of Access.
  
• 
  Click on Keyboard and turn on Enable shortcut underlines in
  Other Settings on right pane.
  

Hope this helps. Post us with the status we will be glad to help you.

 

Windows 10 - Enable Underline Shortcuts for Keyboard

Hello,

I'm having the same issue on Windows 10 Pro build 10240

With "Underline shortcut keys" enabled, the shortcut keys are not shown/underlined in start menu, explorer etc.

Activating the option "Enable shortcut underlines" thru: Settings / Ease of Access / Keyboard doesn't work.

as stated by others, this setting always returns to "OFF" after leaving and reopening the settings.

Enabling the setting thru "Ease of Access Center" / "Make the keyboard easier to use" there it remains "ON" however still no shortcut keys in the Start Menu, Explorer etc.

 

enable shortcut underlines does not stay on

Although this is the correct method to initially enable the feature the OP (And several others including myself) is experiencing an issue where even after setting this, the features does not remain enabled. Therefore the replies from Billion and Vinodh are
NOT correct.

To force this feature to remain enabled revise the registry entry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\Keyboard Preference] as follows:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\Keyboard Preference]

"On"="1"

Best Of luck