Control+F4 Not Work in Windows Machine

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by IdoR, Oct 13, 2010.

  1. IdoR

    IdoR Bit poster

    Messages:
    8
    Hi,
    I've recently upgrade to Parallels 6. I am using Visual Studio on the Windows machine I run in Parallels.
    Since I upgrade I can't use Control+F4 to close documents inside Visual Studio.
    It is very common key combination.

    The problem is that Parallels treat it as Mac OS X system shortcut. I know this because I can go into preferences->Keyboard and if I uncheck Enable Mac OS X System Shortcut Control+F4 works, but now Control+1 which move to the first screen in Spaces is not working.

    I'm pretty sure in Parallels 5 both Space change combination and Control+F4 worked together.

    Is there any way to do that in Parallels 6?

    Thank you,
    Ido
     
  2. joevt

    joevt Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,229
    Try deselect "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" in System Preferences -> Keyboard.
     
  3. IdoR

    IdoR Bit poster

    Messages:
    8
    No, I'm sorry to say it does not change anything.

    Thank you,
    Ido.
     
  4. Gary Kellogg

    Gary Kellogg Member

    Messages:
    36
    I solved a problem similar to this by going into the Parallels General Preferences and working with the Keyboard Preferences. For example, I have a habit of using Command + Q to quit programs in general and I want to use that key combo in my VM. The "factory default" maps this combo to Alt + F4. However, on my MacBook Pro, actually pressing Alt +F4 in my XP virtual machine does nothing because I have set up the Mac so that I need to press the "fn" key to use the F keys at the top. I discovered that if I map Command + Q to Alt + "Windows Key" + F4 then it works. From within the VM I can also press Alt + Command + F4 to get the same result.

    My conclusion is that the Command key is understood by the virtual machine as the Windows Key but am not 100% certain. Yes, I know that I can set the fn key up in the Mac Preferences so that its behavior is reversed, but I am not about to let the tail wag the dog. Mac preferences and habits prevail.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2010
  5. joevt

    joevt Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,229
    If you add CTRL-F4 to the Parallels Windows Keyboard profile, then CTRL-F4 will close the window in Visual Studio and it will also perform the Mac OS X system shortcut "Move focus to active or next window".

    Parallels needs to fix it so that if a keyboard shortcut is defined in Parallels, then it should not also perform the Mac OS X system shortcut. This is normally done by putting the shortcut in a menu.

    In the meantime, you can goto System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Keyboard & Text Input, and disable the ^F4 keyboard short cut. The problem with this is that it disables the system shortcut for every app and not just Parallels.
     
  6. soundevolution

    soundevolution Member

    Messages:
    62
    Yep, that solved it for me too. I had the same problem and was hunting around in parallels preferences for the setting.

    But the setting is in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> "Keyboard & Text Input" -> disable ^F4 = Move focus to active or next window.
     

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