WinKeySwitch

Русская версия

A lightweight Windows utility that remaps the Win key (Left/Right) to switch keyboard layouts using your system's Alt+Shift combination.

Technically it:

• Installs a low-level keyboard hook (WH_KEYBOARD_LL) to intercept LWin/RWin
• Solo Win press (tap and release) switches keyboard layout via SendInput (emulating Alt+Shift)
• Win + other keys (e.g., Win+D, Win+E, Win+L) work normally — the utility re-injects the Win key event to preserve standard Windows shortcuts

Important: Many games/anti-cheats may flag any input hooks as suspicious. Use at your own risk.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• .NET SDK 8 (for building from source)

Installation

Option 1: Installer (recommended)

• Download WinKeySwitchSetup.exe from the latest release
• Run installer → optional checkbox “Start WinKeySwitch automatically when I sign in” adds HKCU\Run autostart

Option 2: From source

# From the project directory
$env:PATH = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','Machine') + ';' + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','User')

dotnet build .\WinKeySwitch.csproj -c Release
Start-Process .\bin\Release\net8.0-windows\WinKeySwitch.exe

The compiled binary will be at: bin\Release\net8.0-windows\WinKeySwitch.exe

Usage

• Press Win solo (quick tap: press/release without other keys) — the keyboard layout will switch, Start menu will not open
• Win + other keys (e.g., Win+D, Win+E, Win+L, Win+1-9) work as usual — all standard Windows shortcuts are preserved

Autostart (manual)

Two manual methods if you skip the installer checkbox:

Option A: via Registry (HKCU)

$exe = (Resolve-Path .\bin\Release\net8.0-windows\WinKeySwitch.exe).Path
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" -Name "WinKeySwitch" -PropertyType String -Value "`"$exe`"" -Force | Out-Null

Option B: Shortcut in Startup folder

$exe = (Resolve-Path .\bin\Release\net8.0-windows\WinKeySwitch.exe).Path
$startup = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
$WshShell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell
$Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("$startup\WinKeySwitch.lnk")
$Shortcut.TargetPath = $exe
$Shortcut.WorkingDirectory = Split-Path $exe
$Shortcut.Save()

Stopping / Removal

Stop the process:

Stop-Process -Name WinKeySwitch -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Remove from autostart (registry):

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" -Name "WinKeySwitch" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Remove shortcut from Startup:

Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\WinKeySwitch.lnk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Logs

The application writes logs to:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\WinKeySwitch\WinKeySwitch.log

Useful for diagnostics (e.g., if SendInput returns an error).

Notes

• The utility assumes Windows layout switching is configured to use Alt+Shift
• Some applications/games may block input hooks