How to handle HotKey in WinUI3 window

Question

Hi,

I'm working on a WinUI 3 desktop application in C++. I need to capture the CTRL + I shortcut in a WinUI 3 window. Since WinUI 3 does not support KeyboardAccelerators for windows, I tried using WM_HOTKEY. However, when a TextBox has focus and uses the same shortcut (CTRL +I), the hotkey is not triggered for the TextBox but is still captured at the window level. How can I ensure proper handling of CTRL + I without overriding TextBox behavior?

What is the best way to handle a HOTKEY in window level

Answer 1

Hi

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Currently, WinUI3 does not support KeyboardAccelerators for Windows. And someone has already submitted a feature request, refer to the GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/issues/6467

You could try to create a page under the windows and then using KeyboardAccelerators on the page to capture the Hotkey.

How can I ensure proper handling of CTRL + I without overriding TextBox behavior?

You couldn't do that. If the textbox has focus, then its CTRL +I event will always fire before the page. The reason is that the textbox is one layer above the page, and events are routed from the top layer to the bottom layer.

Thank you

Jeanine