How to disable Windows system menu triggered by Alt+Arrow keys in WebStorm (without modifying Alt shortcuts)
Problem Description
I'm experiencing an issue in WebStorm 2025.1 on Windows 11 where tapping the Alt key, releasing it, and then pressing any arrow key (↑/↓) causes Windows to display the system menu (Restore/Move/Size/Minimize/Maximize/Close). This behavior interferes with my workflow as I use many Alt-based shortcuts in WebStorm.
I've found similar post and issues reported previously, but it seems to still in same state and have none solutions have worked for me.
What I've Already Tried
-
WebStorm Registry Settings:
- Enabled
actionSystem.win.suppressAlt - Enabled
actionSystem.win.suppressAlt.new - Restarted the IDE after each change, but the issue persists
- Enabled
-
WebStorm UI Settings:
- Disabled "Enable mnemonics in menu" under Settings → Appearance & Behavior → Appearance
- No change in behavior
-
Windows Settings:
- Enabled "Underline access keys when available" in Keyboard settings
- Made various changes to Alt+Tab behavior settings
- None of these resolved the issue
What I'm Looking For
Is there any hidden JetBrains Runtime VM option, registry setting, or configuration that would solve this issue?
Thank you for any assistance!
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Hello Valentin,
This is a system window triggered by the
Win+Alt+Spacekey press. Do you see the same result, if press the same key in Notepad, not in IDE? If yes, this means it's system-wide Windows settings.By now, I'm not aware of common application and/or accessibility settings which makes Alt+Arrow to behave like
Win+Alt+Spacesystem-wide. Here is the list of common applications that are known to alter the system-wide behaviour:This list is not complete, as new tweaking applications are released every day. If you have none of the above, I suggest contacting Windows support. Unfortunately, for IntelliJ IDEs it's not possible to overwrite system-wide settings.