Shortcut Conflict Helper

An NVDA add-on that finds the keys assigned to more than one command in the Input gestures window (NVDA menu, Preferences, Input gestures).

When Input gestures opens

If there are conflicts, the Key Conflicts window opens on top of Input gestures. If there are none, nothing happens.

The list has a row for each command involved, with four columns:

• Shortcut, with the keyboard in brackets.
• Command.
• Category, as in Input gestures.
• Status: what happens when the key is pressed.
  • "Wins": this is the command that runs.
  • "Covered by: ...": it does not run, because another command wins.
  • "Conflict: same level": several commands of the same kind (for example two add-ons) have the same key, and it is not known which one runs.

Which command wins follows NVDA's order: first add-ons, then the program in use, then browse mode, then the focused object, and last NVDA's own commands.

The buttons:

• Edit (or Enter): asks for the new shortcut. Press the combination; Escape cancels. If the new shortcut is already used, it asks whether to remove it from the other commands.
• Remove (or Delete): removes the key from the chosen command.
• Ignore: for overlaps made on purpose (for example an add-on that replaces an NVDA key on purpose). The conflict no longer appears; it comes back if another command is added to the same key.
• Close (or Escape).

After each change you stay on the same row of the list. When there are no more conflicts the window says so and closes.

Important: as in Input gestures, changes are saved only by pressing OK in Input gestures. With Cancel they are lost.

When assigning a key

In Input gestures, when you add a key to a command and the key is already used, the add-on lists the commands that use it and asks whether to remove it from them. If you answer No, the key is not added.

Search by key

The Input gestures filter only searches command names. To find a command from its key there is the Search by key button (Alt+K), after the Add, Remove and Reset buttons:

1. Press Alt+K: the "New Shortcut" window opens.
2. Press the key you are looking for (Escape cancels).
3. The tree shows only the commands that use that key, with the categories expanded and the focus on the first one; NVDA says how many there are, for example "2 commands with NVDA+Shift+J". From there you use the usual Add and Remove buttons.

To see all the commands again: type in the Filter by field, or press Alt+K again and then Escape. Here too, the key for all keyboards and the key for the current layout only count as the same key.

To quickly find out what a key does, without opening Input gestures, NVDA also has input help: NVDA+1 turns it on and off.

What counts as the same key

• A key valid for all keyboards and the same key valid only for the desktop layout (or only for the laptop layout) are the same key.
• Keys of the keyboard layout you do not use (desktop or laptop, set in NVDA) do not count.

Settings

NVDA Settings, Key Conflicts category:

• Show the conflicts when Input gestures opens.
• Warn when assigning a key that is already used.
• Restore ignored conflicts button, with their number: makes all the ignored conflicts appear again.

Ignored conflicts are saved in shortcutConflictHelper-ignorati.json, in the NVDA settings folder.

Limits

• Input gestures only shows the commands valid in the program from which it is opened: for example, opened from the browser it does not contain the Thunderbird commands. To check the keys of a program, open Input gestures while you are in that program.
• Between two add-ons with the same key it is not possible to know which one runs: it depends on the order in which NVDA loads them.

Updates

Every time NVDA starts, the add-on checks on andreadessolis.com whether there is a new version. If there is, it shows what's new and asks whether to update: answering Yes downloads it, checks that the file is the right one and hands it to NVDA, which asks for confirmation, installs it and offers to restart. The check only reads a small file on the site and sends no data.

• NVDA Settings, Key Conflicts category: check box Check for updates when NVDA starts (on by default).
• The "Checks for updates of this add-on" command, in the Shortcut Conflict Helper category of Input gestures and with no key (assign one there), checks right away and also tells you when the installed version is already the latest.

Languages

The add-on speaks the language of NVDA: English or Italian.

Compatibility

NVDA 2024.1 and later (32 bit too). Tested with NVDA 2026.3.

Author and license

Andrea Dessolis, andreadessolis.com. GNU GPL version 2.