Ctrl Alt F8 disconnects displays?

Question

Learning debugging in PhpStorm and keep accidentally hitting Ctrl + Alt + F8. I use 3 displays this disconnects the two remotes and goes back to just the laptop.

I cannot see this documented anywhere (running Win 10).

The worst part is that hitting the combination again does NOT reconnect the displays.

Anyone know either:

combination to reverse the effect - IE reconnect displays
how I can stop it or
a tool that will help me find out where it is firing from (motherboard/Windows/Intel/nVidia/USB monitor driver - goodness knows where).

Grateful for a helping hand. F8 in various combinations are the debugging shortcuts for PhpStorm and I keep hitting Ctrl + Alt + F8 accidentally. I am about to throw a monitor out of the window.

EDIT Apologies. When I posted this it said Ctrl + Shift + F8 in error. Hope did not confuse anyone.

Oops misremembered my own post!.

score 83 · Accepted Answer · edited May 24 '18 at 19:28

83

What causes this is additional software that comes with the Intel Graphics chip. This software monitors for the Ctrl + Alt + F8 shortcut and then resets the display settings to a default value.

While the "Intel HD Graphics Control Panel" setup utility allows configuring keyboard shortcuts for other tasks, it does specifically say that you cannot change or disable the shortcut for the "reset settings" task.

The only way to disable this is by disabling the Windows Service installed by the Intel Software.

Go to Windows Services list
Find the "Intel(R) HD Graphics Control Panel" service.
Disable it (open its properties, stop it AND make sure to set its startup type to "Disabled")
You may need to reboot the computer once.

Note that this answer was written in 2016. Newer versions of the Intel Graphics software have options to disable the hotkey without having to disable the service. See the comments of this answer on superuser

edited May 24 '18 at 19:28

stenci

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answered Jan 31 '16 at 00:41

NineBerry

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Just in case anyone is as stupid as me - the service needs to be disabled as @NineBerry said (I just stopped it and of course it came back at restart). Worked perfectly then. – BeNice Jan 31 '16 at 01:12
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On my machines the service was called: "Intel(R) HD Graphics Control Panel Service" and the executable was: "IntelCpHDCPSvc.exe". – MemphiZ Feb 08 '17 at 14:27
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In my case it was "ifgxHK.exe", can be disabled as here: https://superuser.com/questions/796396/how-to-disable-igfxhk-module-process-from-starting-up-with-windows – Agent_L Jun 27 '17 at 09:07
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As of April, 2018, the Intel Graphics software does NOT have the option to disable the Ctrl+Alt-F8 hotkey. Quoting: "This hotkey cannot be disabled and is not customizable". Even with all hotkeys disabled, the Ctl+Alt+F8 hotkey still disables all but the primary display adapter. – Robin Davies Apr 16 '19 at 21:18

score 45 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 05 '20 at 10:39

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This is about reconnecting.

If it happens just hit WindowsKey+ P, and select again your screen settings.

edited Jan 05 '20 at 10:39

Misha Akopov

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answered Sep 26 '18 at 14:46

Dan Ortega

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This should be higher. Thanks btw. – laancelot Feb 18 '19 at 19:44
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I have 3 displays and this worked for me to restore all three monitors. Thanks for this time saver! – Ron DeFulio Aug 08 '19 at 16:30
Never find this v helpful when I have more than two monitors going NOR if you want to change orientation, resolution and so on. For that I go to the Windows menu (hit the Windows key) and just type in "moni" and up comes the old monitor page which is MUCH more powerful. – BeNice Dec 04 '19 at 21:48

score 40 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 08 '17 at 10:09

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Just stumbled across this now. In the hope it helps someone else, and in addition to the accepted answer, here is how to re-connect your 'disconnected' display(s) in Windows 10:

Right Click on the desktop and select display settings:

.

Click on the icon for your disconnected display:

.

Scroll down, down, down and select Extend / Duplicate form list:

answered Sep 08 '17 at 10:09

SlowLearner

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Yep that works but I was trying to modify the behaviour permanently. But all relevant helpful info always welcome :-) – BeNice Sep 29 '17 at 21:53
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@BeNice I wish I knew how to disable the so-called 'short-cut' without killing off things I don't understand... but yeah, I spent ages trying to reconnect my monitors hence my contribution in the hopes it helps someone else. But... perhaps the re-connecting could be automated in something like powershell... still not a solution but less frustrating... hmmm – SlowLearner Oct 01 '17 at 03:18

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 07 '18 at 17:14

If you don't have Administrator access to your computer, you can do what I do:

I use AutoHotKey to define lots of useful function keys. You can easily redefine Ctrl+Alt+F8 to bypass the Intel HD driver with this one-line .ahk text file:

^!f8::msgbox, You hit Ctrl+Alt+F8

If you'd rather just ignore the keystroke:

^!f8::return

While this prevents the Intel driver from seeing that key combination, it prevents all other programs you may be running from seeing it, too. That can also be fixed. For example, if you know that in application "myapp" that keystroke is the same as a series of clicks in the menu, say Alt+E, F, G, you can emulate those clicks just inside that application:

#ifwinactive,myapp
^!f8::send,!efg
#ifwinnotactive,myapp
^!f8::msgbox, You hit Ctrl+Alt+F8

I have this exact problem at my work. Thanks for saving me. This problem occurred 4 times today and enough is enough! — Babyburger, Oct 23 '19 at 14:34

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 27 '17 at 08:21

Something else to try in order to return to some sort of working order quickly...

If your using windows 7 or newer, you can always try getting your screens back by pressing the window key (on the keyboard-bottom left) and the P key at the same time. This will bring up options normally as to how you want your screen to be projected (single, dual, or extended displays). If you tried Win + P and still cannot see anything, try pressing the down arrow on the keyboard. This should bring the display back to normal mode(s).

score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:55

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This is on ubuntu 18.04 press on

Ctrl+Alt+F1

edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:55

Misha Akopov

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answered Jan 02 '20 at 08:21

Ganesan J

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score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Jan 05 '20 at 10:38

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Problem with the Dockingstation (in my case)

I had the same problem and reset the settings with Ctrl + Alt + F8.

For me even the restart did not help
The 2nd screen was not even recognized

But my screens are on a docking station because I have an on / off switch. Once off and on again and then it went again.

So users with docking station, should first try to turn the devices on and off.

edited Jan 05 '20 at 10:38

Misha Akopov

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answered Aug 17 '18 at 07:55

B.Irneos

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Ctrl Alt F8 disconnects displays?

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