How to Configure Media Keys in Windows 10

Despite the great features and new features that Windows 10 brings, it is not free of bugs and configuration problems that can harm the user experience. Among these, one of the most frequent is the problem for configure multimedia keys since you cannot get the most out of this function.

The multimedia keys are those that allow us to have shortcuts on our keyboard for when we want to play, increase the volume, pause, fast forward or rewind some multimedia content such as music, videos or movies and make playback much more comfortable.

Configure multimedia keys in Windows 10

Problems configuring multimedia keys in Windows 10 can have different causes that cause them to malfunction. Among the most common, we have that a Windows application, or a third-party application, has appropriated the function of the multimedia keys on our keyboard, that is, by configuration this application or only this application can correctly use these keys.

On the other hand, it may happen that when configuring the multimedia keys the desktop overlay option has been activated and this prevents them from being available for all the required applications. Finally, the cause may come from problems with the operation of some extension of especially one from Google Music that causes a failure to configure the multimedia keys.

Beyond the cause of this problem, below we will present the best solutions so that you don’t have to deal with it anymore.

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Configure Human Interface Device Access Services

Human interface device access services, or HID, are those devices that are programmed to receive and send information and data to a natural person. These devices are usually the mouse and, most importantly, the keyboard.

Therefore, one of the problems in configuring multimedia keys may arise from the fact that this access service for human interface devices is not enabled and therefore cannot be used correctly. To check this, just follow these simple instructions:

• In the search box type Services
• Seeks Human Interface Device Services
• Right click and go to Properties
• In the startup type, set it to Automatic

After this, you can test if your multimedia keys are working correctly.

Change the default program

On some occasions, the inconvenience in configuring the multimedia keys is due to the fact that the user is using an application for which they are not configured and, therefore, would not work for it.

So if we need our multimedia keys for a particular application, the ideal is to configure this as the default application and you will most likely be able to solve this defect. To make this change, :

• Enter to Setting
• Go to Programs
• Choose Default programs
• In the section of Music player, select Default Application
• Select the app you want from the list and choose it as the default one.

This should allow you to configure the multimedia keys correctly and make them work properly.

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Disable Google Play Music

If you installed the extension Music on your Google Chrome this may be the reason that prevents you from configuring the multimedia keys effectively, since this tells the system that you can only use it for this service and disables it for the rest of the applications.

Therefore, the ideal solution would be to disable the Google Play Music extension so you can use the multimedia keys on your keyboard normally. This is also applicable for other extensions such as or other programs, but the procedure is similar in all of them. To do this, you just have to follow these steps:

• Open Google Chrome
• Locate the three dots in the upper right corner of your browser
• Choose More Tools
• Click on Extensions
• Disable the extension by selecting on it and sliding the button to the right.

If you don’t want to completely disable the extension, you can try this alternative:

• Repeat the four previous steps until you reach the Extensions menu.
• Go to Keyboard shortcutswhich you will find in the three bars that are on the upper left side of the window.
• Find the extension you want to modify.
• In the drop down menus you will see some options set like Globalchange them to the extension name.

Update keyboard driver

It may happen that the defect in configuring the multimedia keys is due to problems with the keyboard drivers that are outdated and therefore do not support the multimedia function. Therefore, the ideal is to keep these drivers updated.

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You can update your keyboard driver by following this route:

If this procedure is not possible to update, you can use programs such as which have a huge catalog of drivers and will install them automatically after scanning your computer.

Change media keys to FN keys

It is possible that the problem with the multimedia keys is due to a malfunction of the Fn or function key, which is the key we use on our keyboard that allows access to secondary functions in our system.

Therefore, we can change the behavior of said key and see if this solves the problem with configuring the multimedia keys. To do this, you must follow these steps:

• Go to Control Panel
• Open the Windows Mobility Center
• Go to Row of function keys and choose the Fn key

This should make the media keys work correctly.

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Run Keyboard Troubleshooter

If the previous steps have not worked, you can always use the default Windows Troubleshooter, which offers a series of alternatives to detect and solve hardware problems that arise.

Open it as explained below:

• Go to Setting.
• Choose Update and security
• Choose Solve problems
• Click on Keyboard and let solved do its review and if it detects the error, it corrects it automatically.

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