How to uninstall SharpKeys on Windows

SharpKeys writes your key remappings into Windows itself, as a Scancode Map value under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout, and Windows applies it at every sign-in whether SharpKeys is installed or not. Uninstalling the app does not undo your remappings. If you want your keyboard back to normal, clear them in SharpKeys before you uninstall; if you want to keep them, just uninstall. This guide covers SharpKeys installed machine-wide from the RandyRants.SharpKeys winget package. SharpKeys on GitHub

Clear your remappings first, if you want them gone

Open SharpKeys, choose Delete All, then Write to Registry, and sign out or restart. Windows reads the map at sign-in, so the keys only change back after that.

Quit SharpKeys first

Close the SharpKeys window. It does not run in the background or add a startup entry, and the remappings work without it.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find SharpKeys, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id RandyRants.SharpKeys

SharpKeys is a Windows Installer package, so Windows shows a short progress window and asks for administrator access.

Where the data lives

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

winget list --id RandyRants.SharpKeys
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\RandyRants.com\SharpKeys"
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout" -Name "Scancode Map" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

• A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
• Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
• Get-ItemProperty returning values means the entry remains. With no output, check for permission or other query errors before deciding that it is absent.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same Windows Installer removal Settings › Apps uses, with the same result; it does not touch the Scancode Map value.

What Mole lists

For SharpKeys installed machine-wide from winget:

• The app row, and the Start Menu shortcut, selected by default.
• %ProgramFiles%\RandyRants.com\SharpKeys is not listed; the uninstaller removed it in this test, so check it yourself after the uninstall.
• The Scancode Map value is not listed. It belongs to Windows, and removing SharpKeys never changes your remappings.

What this test covered

Tested on 2026-09-28 with SharpKeys 3.9.4000, the x64 Windows Installer package from the RandyRants.SharpKeys winget manifest, machine scope, on an ARM64 virtual machine. No remappings were written during the test. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test.