Alt+WinKey+F shortcut not working in Win10

Question

Recently, I have noticed that the [WinKey+Alt+F] shortcut no longer functions, even though the [WinKey+Alt+F3] works.

I have checked under "Tools // Shell-Integration // Enable HotKey-Launch"

Using "Spy++" (as suggested in this SuperUser Post) , I have noticed that the [WinKey+Alt+F] shortcut seems to be captured by "explorer.exe" , but wasn't able to find much more.

I have also tried on a second machine (a Win10 laptop), and it seems to have the same behaviour.

Just wondered if you were aware of this (and whether it is specific to the recent Windows10 "Fall Creators" update - v1709)

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Note: I am using (FileLocator Pro, Build 2751 ) , (Windows 10 v1709 Biuld 10.0.16299.64 )

Answer 1

It looks like Explorer is now registering the hot key Alt+WinKey+F when it starts up. The call to RegisterHotKey now fails with an error code 0x0581, which translates to:

Hot key is already registered.

Since Explorer will normally start before the FileLocator Pro hot key app there's not much we can do about it apart from pick another hot key combination.

Annoyingly it looks like Explorer doesn't even use the hot key.