Global hotkeys not firing on Windows 11 even when running .py (PyQt6 overlay, F1 / Ctrl+Alt+Q unresponsive)

[stealthboy-cyber]

Environment

Windows 11 (10.0.26100)

Python 3.13.7

keyboard 0.13.5

(Context: PyQt6 6.9.1 overlay window, also using pynput 1.8.1 for other inputs)

Purpose / Context
I’m building a transparent, click-through PyQt6 overlay to assist with a timing-based game mini-game (e.g., FF7 Remake’s dart mini-game). The overlay shows a circular ROI and status HUD, and I need global hotkeys to toggle features (F1–F9) and to quit (Q, Ctrl+Alt+Q), regardless of focus.

Problem (not PyInstaller-specific):
Even when I run the script directly with python script.py, global hotkeys do not fire.

F1–F9 do nothing

Q / Ctrl+Alt+Q do not trigger my quit callback

When I try to quit, the overlay sometimes just drops to background (appears minimized or loses topmost) instead of exiting

This happens before packaging; i.e., it’s reproducible with plain Python. (I initially thought it was PyInstaller, but it’s not.)

What I expected

keyboard.add_hotkey("f1", ...) and keyboard.add_hotkey("ctrl+alt+q", ...) should trigger callbacks even if the overlay window is non-focusable (click-through).

keyboard.is_pressed("f1") polling should also detect the presses.

What I tried

Plain Python run (no packaging) → still broken

With/without administrator privileges (please see notes below)

Using suppress=False

Using pynput side-by-side (for other keys)

Ensuring no other hotkey tools are running

Different keyboard layouts/IME (Korean/English)

Minimal Reproducible Example

Save as overlay_minimal.py and run python overlay_minimal.py.
You should see a full-screen transparent overlay with a small status panel bottom-left.
Expected: F1 toggles a flag (and prints to console), Ctrl+Alt+Q exits.
Actual: On my machine, both are unresponsive; sometimes pressing quit keys seems to push overlay to background rather than exiting.

import os
import sys
import time
import threading
from PyQt6 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
import keyboard  # global hotkeys

running = True
flag_enabled = False
state_lock = threading.Lock()

class Overlay(QtWidgets.QWidget):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.setWindowTitle("OverlayClassWindow")
        self.setWindowFlags(
            QtCore.Qt.WindowType.FramelessWindowHint
            | QtCore.Qt.WindowType.WindowStaysOnTopHint
            | QtCore.Qt.WindowType.Tool
        )
        self.setAttribute(QtCore.Qt.WidgetAttribute.WA_TranslucentBackground, True)
        self.setWindowFlag(QtCore.Qt.WindowType.WindowTransparentForInput, True)
        self.setWindowFlag(QtCore.Qt.WindowType.WindowDoesNotAcceptFocus, True)
        screen = QtGui.QGuiApplication.primaryScreen()
        self.setGeometry(screen.geometry())
        self.timer = QtCore.QTimer(self)
        self.timer.timeout.connect(self.update)
        self.timer.start(16)
        self.font = QtGui.QFont("Segoe UI", 18)

    def paintEvent(self, event):
        painter = QtGui.QPainter(self)
        with state_lock:
            enabled = flag_enabled
        lines = [
            "Minimal Overlay (PyQt6)",
            f"F1: Toggle flag   → {'ON' if enabled else 'OFF'}",
            "Ctrl+Alt+Q: Quit",
        ]
        pad = 12
        panel_w = 420
        panel_h = pad * 2 + 34 * len(lines)
        x0 = 20
        y0 = self.height() - panel_h - 20
        rect = QtCore.QRect(x0, y0, panel_w, panel_h)
        painter.setPen(QtCore.Qt.GlobalColor.transparent)
        painter.setBrush(QtGui.QBrush(QtGui.QColor(40, 40, 40, 180)))
        painter.drawRect(rect)
        painter.setPen(QtGui.QPen(QtGui.QColor(255, 255, 0)))
        painter.setFont(self.font)
        for i, text in enumerate(lines):
            painter.drawText(x0 + 14, y0 + pad + (i + 1) * 34, text)
        painter.end()

def toggle_flag():
    global flag_enabled
    with state_lock:
        flag_enabled = not flag_enabled
    print("[Hotkey] F1 pressed →", "ON" if flag_enabled else "OFF")

def request_quit():
    global running
    print("[Hotkey] Quit requested")
    running = False
    try:
        keyboard.unhook_all_hotkeys()
    except Exception:
        pass
    QtWidgets.QApplication.quit()

def logic_loop():
    global running
    last_log = 0.0
    while running:
        # Fallback polling (also unresponsive in my environment)
        if keyboard.is_pressed("f1"):
            toggle_flag()
            time.sleep(0.2)
        if keyboard.is_pressed("ctrl") and keyboard.is_pressed("alt") and keyboard.is_pressed("q"):
            request_quit()
            break
        now = time.time()
        if now - last_log > 1.0:
            with state_lock:
                st = "ON" if flag_enabled else "OFF"
            print(f"[Loop] running, flag={st}")
            last_log = now
        time.sleep(0.01)

def main():
    keyboard.add_hotkey("f1", toggle_flag, suppress=False)
    keyboard.add_hotkey("ctrl+alt+q", request_quit, suppress=False)

    app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
    ov = Overlay()
    ov.showFullScreen()

    t = threading.Thread(target=logic_loop, daemon=True)
    t.start()
    ret = app.exec()
    print("[Exit] app.exec() returned", ret)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Questions

Are there known cases in Windows 11 where keyboard global hooks fail when the foreground app or any overlay uses special window flags (non-focusable / transparent for input)?

Are admin rights required for keyboard to hook globally in some configurations? (Any recommended check/fix?)

Any known conflicts with IME, accessibility features, or recent Windows security settings that would block low-level hooks?

Any recommended alternative approach (e.g., using a different backend) for reliable global hotkeys?

Extra notes

I see this even on the desktop without the game running.

Sometimes when trying to quit via hotkeys, the overlay seems to get pushed to background rather than exiting.

If you need, I can further trim the Qt overlay away and test a pure-console hotkey sample—please advise.

[bwoodsend]

We're not specialists in how Windows/Qt process key events. You'd be better off looking up how to format code blocks in markdown then taking your question to StackOverflow.

[rokm]

FWIW, your example seems to work for me as expected when ran in my Win 11 VM. Both the callbacks and the fallback polling produce events (so I had to disable the latter to keep it from interfering with F1 toggle, or from emitting two quit events).

[rokm]

I guess the first thing to check would be if basic keyboard examples (without any PyQt6) work on your machine?