If the Windows 10 system is stuck in tablet mode, follow the steps given below to quickly fix the issue restore the regular desktop mode.
Windows 10 has two different modes. i.e, desktop mode, and tablet mode. As you can guess from the names itself, the desktop mode is your regular mode which is keyboard and mouse-friendly. The tablet mode is optimized for touchscreen. Since most Windows 10 touch screen laptops are convertibles, Windows 10 can seamlessly switch between the two modes. For example, when you switch a convertible to touchscreen-only mode, Windows 10 prompts you to switch to the tablet mode for a better user experience. When in tablet mode, the icons will have better spacing, the options will be touch-friendly, and you will get access to the software keyboard whenever you need to type something.
By default configuration, Windows 10 asks whether you want to switch to tablet mode or not. However, under certain circumstances, Windows 10 may accidentally switch to tablet mode and even get stuck in tablet mode. When Windows 10 is stuck in tablet mode, no matter how many times you try to enable and disable the tablet mode, it will not switch to the regular desktop mode.
In those cases, you have to force Windows 10 to switch to desktop mode. In this quick and simple guide, let me show you the steps to fix Windows 10 stuck in tablet mode.
Steps to Fix Windows 10 Stuck in Tablet Mode
To fix Windows 10 stuck in tablet mode, you can do two things. i.e, disable tablet mode in the Settings or change a registry key. I will show both approaches. Follow the registry method if the first approach did not work.
1. Disable Tablet Mode in Windows 10 Settings
- Press “Start key” + “I” to open the Settings app. You can also click on the Settings (gear) icon in the Start menu.
- Click on the “System” option.
- Now, select “Tablet” from the left panel.
- Select “Never use tablet mode” under the “When I sign in” section.
- Next, select “Ask before switching modes” from the “When I use this device as a tablet” section.
- Close the Settings app.
- Restart Windows 10.
Once restarted, Windows 10 should no longer switch to the tablet mode automatically. If needed, you can also select the “Don’t switch to tablet mode” option from the “When I use this device as a tablet” dropdown menu. When needed, you can enable tablet mode manually from the Settings app or from the Notification center.
2. Change Registry to Fix Stuck Tablet Mode in Windows 10
You can also change a registry key called “TabletMode” to restore desktop mode when stuck in tablet mode. This is particularly helpful if the registry key is stopping you from changing tablet mode to desktop mode. Here’re the steps to follow.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search and open “Registry Editor“.
- After opening the registry editor, paste the below path in the address bar and press “Enter“.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell
- Here, find and double-click on the “TabletMode” value. You see it on the right page.
- Type “0” in the “Value Data” field.
- Click the “Ok” button.
- Close the registry editor.
- Restart Windows 10.
That is it. What we did here is very similar to setting “When I sign in” to “Never use tablet mode” in the Settings app. It’s just that we did in a low level way. Once you restart the system, Windows 10 shouldn’t accidentally enable the tablet mode and your system shouldn’t get stuck in the tablet mode.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
