Is Win + P Not Working on Windows? Here’s How to Fix It
When you pressWin + Pon Windows, you should see a flyout appear that contains options to switch your display. But, sometimes, when you press this shortcut, nothing happens, leaving you unable to change displays easily and quickly. Luckily, we’re going to show you some fixes you can try to get theWin + Pshortcut to work again.
1. Troubleshoot the Keyboard
Before we get to the other fixes, we highly recommend you trytroubleshooting the keyboard. This includes checking if the keys are damaged, running the Keyboard Troubleshooter, and updating and reinstalling the keyboard driver.
For theWin + Pshortcut in particular, if updating and reinstalling the keyboard driver doesn’t work, we recommend doing the same to the display driver as well.
Another generic fix you can try isperforming an SFC scanto find and replace any corrupted or damaged system files on your PC that can causeWin+Pto not work. Also, if you managed tocreate a system restore pointwhen the shortcut was working, you can revert your PC’s settings to that restore point to potentially fix the issue.
2. Turn Off Game Mode
Game Mode on Windows is a feature that turns off programs and tasks running in the background. That way, your PC has more resources to dedicate toward a smooth gaming experience. However, this feature is known to cause conflicts with the keyboard, and you can fix this by turning it off.
To do that, pressWin+Sto bring up Windows Search, typegame mode settingsin the text box, and then click onGame Mode settingswhen it appears in the results.
If theGame Modetoggle isOn, click on it to set it to theOffposition.
Now, try theWin + Pshortcut again to see if the display switch options will show up.
3. Make Sure the Action Center Is Working
If the Action Center (Quick Settings on Windows 11) isn’t working, it can cause theWin + Pshortcut to not work. Try clicking on the Action Center and see if it will come up. If it doesn’t, you could learnhow to fix the Action Centerwhen it is not opening.
Usually, it could just be that you, someone else, or a virus has somehow disabled the Action Center. In that case, you just need to re-enable it to get the shortcut to work again. If the reason is a virus, fire up your antivirus and scan your PC.
4. Try a Different User Account
If your user account on Windows is corrupted, it can cause certain things to not work, including theWin + Pshortcut. To verify whether your account is the problem or not, sign out and sign in to a different user account on your PC. Then, try the shortcut on the other user account, and if it works, you may use that one when you need to bring up the display switch options.
Don’t have another user account on your Windows computer? If that’s the case, you can learn how tocreate a local account on Windows 10orcreate a local account on Windows 11. Afterward, you can test if the shortcut is working on the user account you just created.
5. Create a Display Switch Shortcut
If nothing you’ve done so far has worked, it might be time to use a workaround. One thing you can do is create a display switch shortcut that you can use to switch the display on your Windows PC.
To do that, right-click an empty part of your Desktop and selectNew > Shortcut.
The table below shows the locations of the various shortcuts for the display options:
Display Option
Shortcut Location
PC screen only
%windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
%windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /clone
%windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
Second screen only
%windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /external
Depending on the option you want to use, enter the appropriate shortcut location in the text box of the Create Shortcut wizard and clickNext.
Give the display switch shortcut a name and clickFinish.
You will find the display switch shortcut on the desktop, and when you double-click it, it will switch to the desired display option. You can create display switches for each option if you want.
Get Win + P Working Again on Windows
When you want to switch displays on Windows, theWin + Pshortcut comes in handy. If it’s not working, you can try the fixes above to get it to work. And if nothing helps, try creating a display switch shortcut as we’ve shown you.
If you don’t want to use the display switch shortcut, and you’re sure there’s nothing wrong with your keyboard, you can try the nuclear option: resetting your Windows PC.
Learn how to factory reset Windows using several methods, including from boot and manually reinstalling.
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