Mouse Without Borders can cause Ctrl/Shift key combinations to stop working until PowerToys is closed

[LZong-tw]

Microsoft PowerToys version

0.98.0

Installation method

PowerToys (Preview) x64, installed under C:\Program Files\PowerToys\.

Running as admin

Yes. Local PowerToys settings show is_elevated=true and run_elevated=true.

Area(s) with issue?

Mouse Without Borders; possibly global keyboard hook handling.

Keyboard Manager is enabled, but its default profile has no remapped keys or shortcuts:

{"remapKeys":{"inProcess":[]},"remapKeysToText":{"inProcess":[]},"remapShortcuts":{"global":[],"appSpecific":[]},"remapShortcutsToText":{"global":[],"appSpecific":[]}}

Steps to reproduce

I do not yet have a deterministic minimal trigger, but I was able to isolate the recovery condition:

1. Start PowerToys v0.98.0 with Mouse Without Borders enabled.
2. Use Windows normally for a while.
3. Ctrl/Shift key combinations stop working system-wide. Examples affected include common combinations such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+L, and Shift-modified typing.
4. Exit PowerToys completely from the tray.
5. The same Ctrl/Shift combinations immediately start working again.

I did not need to quit Logitech Options+ or reboot Windows. Closing PowerToys alone restored the shortcuts.

Expected Behavior

Ctrl and Shift key combinations should continue working normally while PowerToys / Mouse Without Borders is running.

Actual Behavior

Ctrl/Shift combinations can stop working system-wide. Exiting PowerToys immediately restores normal behavior.

Log evidence

I searched PowerToys logs and Windows Application/System events for the incident window 2026-06-05 13:00-18:30 local time. I only used log lines that explicitly include 2026-06-05 or 06/05; some PowerToys files contain undated [HH:mm:ss] lines, so I did not treat those as evidence unless adjacent dated lines established the date.

The strongest PowerToys log evidence is in Mouse Without Borders. It shows socket cancellation / disposed clipboard socket activity, followed by TCP listener startup and keyboard/mouse hook reinstall around 13:53:47-13:54:02:

<PowerToys>\MouseWithoutBorders\Logs\0.98.0.0\Log_2026-05-30.log

360:    06/05 13:53:47.062(6)server.AcceptSocket: A blocking socket call was canceled.
362:    06/05 13:53:47.062(27)TCPServerThread.AcceptSocket: A blocking socket call was canceled.
364:    06/05 13:53:47.070(6)The clipboard socket could have been closed. Cannot access a disposed object.
365:Object name: 'System.Net.Sockets.Socket'.
375:    06/05 13:53:49.087(2)TCP listening on port: 15101
377:    06/05 13:53:49.090(2)TCP listening on port: 15100
378:[13:53:49.0974090] [Info] frmInputCallback.cs::InstallKeyboardAndMouseHook::69
379:    06/05 13:53:49.097(9)(((((Keyboard/Mouse hooks installed/reinstalled!)))))
381:    06/05 13:53:49.137(2)Helper process started.
383:    06/05 13:54:00.524(30)TCPServerThread.AcceptSocket: A blocking socket call was canceled.
385:    06/05 13:54:00.525(20)server.AcceptSocket: A blocking socket call was canceled.
387:    06/05 13:54:00.525(20)The clipboard socket could have been closed. Cannot access a disposed object.
388:Object name: 'System.Net.Sockets.Socket'.
398:    06/05 13:54:02.185(2)TCP listening on port: 15101
400:    06/05 13:54:02.186(2)TCP listening on port: 15100
401:[13:54:02.1874803] [Info] frmInputCallback.cs::InstallKeyboardAndMouseHook::69
402:    06/05 13:54:02.187(9)(((((Keyboard/Mouse hooks installed/reinstalled!)))))
404:    06/05 13:54:02.223(2)Helper process started.
406:    06/05 13:55:07.801(2)Helper process found running.
408:    06/05 13:57:19.094(2)Helper process found running.

During the same 13:00-18:30 window, Windows Application events also show MouseWithoutBordersHelper warnings around the same time and later clipboard helper activity:

2026-06-05 13:53:49 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: SetProcessDpiAwareness: -2147024891.
2026-06-05 13:53:49 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: SetProcessDPIAware: True.
2026-06-05 13:53:49 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: Trace: Clipboard monitor method AddClipboardFormatListener is used.
2026-06-05 13:54:02 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: SetProcessDpiAwareness: -2147024891.
2026-06-05 13:54:02 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: SetProcessDPIAware: True.
2026-06-05 13:54:02 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: Trace: Clipboard monitor method AddClipboardFormatListener is used.
2026-06-05 18:28:17 MouseWithoutBordersHelper Warning: GetClipboardText: TXT = 40, RTF = 0, HTM = 0.

PowerAccent also had reset-trigger-key debug lines in the window, but I am not sure whether they are related:

<PowerToys>\PowerAccent\PowerAccentKeyboardService\Logs\v0.98.0\log_2026-06-05.log

21:[2026-06-05 13:46:14.497092] [p-40200] [t-35664] [debug] Reset trigger key
22:[2026-06-05 13:46:20.032419] [p-40200] [t-35664] [debug] Reset trigger key
23:[2026-06-05 13:46:24.261505] [p-40200] [t-35664] [debug] Reset trigger key
24:[2026-06-05 13:52:11.576041] [p-40200] [t-35664] [debug] Reset trigger key
25:[2026-06-05 15:17:45.103784] [p-40200] [t-35664] [debug] Reset trigger key

PowerToys was exited later, outside the incident-search window, and keyboard shortcuts worked again immediately afterward:

<PowerToys>\RunnerLogs\runner-log_2026-06-05.log

4:[2026-06-05 18:57:48.654579] [p-48048] [t-32900] [info] QuickAccessHost::stop() called
5:[2026-06-05 18:57:49.536227] [p-48048] [t-32900] [info] QuickAccessHost::stop: WaitForSingleObject result=0

<PowerToys>\PowerToys Run\Logs\0.98.0.0\2026-06-05.txt

115:Runner with pid=48048 exited. Exiting PowerToys Run
124:Application.Current.Exit
127:Start PowerToys Run Exit----------------------------------------------------
151:End PowerToys Run Exit ----------------------------------------------------
153:[2026-06-05 18:57:50.6873] [INFO] [C:\a\_work\1\s\src\modules\launcher\Wox.Infrastructure\Stopwatch.cs::46]
154:App.OnExit - Exit cost <150ms>

Additional Information

• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro, version 10.0.26200, x64.
• Logitech Options+ processes were running, but the issue recovered by closing PowerToys alone.
• I searched open issues and found possibly related but different symptoms in Mouse Without Borders: Repeating key press causes sequential key output (key buffer corruption?) #40494 and CmdPal: if you assign a hotkey to a top-level command, then uninstall that extension, we still eat that hotkey #45452.
• I am not attaching the full PowerToys bug report zip yet because it may contain machine names / Mouse Without Borders connection details. I can provide a redacted diagnostics package if useful.