Keyboard media keys

[Luke_Atmey]

Plan

Premium

Country

 Netherlands

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

The media keys on my Corsair K95 RGB Platinum don't work with Spotify when the app is not in focus. A Google search for a solution to this problem tells me to do something with the Google Music extension in Chrome. Thing is, I don't even have Chrome installed, nor do I use Google Music in any way.

Are there any easy fixes for this?

[Loxer]

Hey @Luke_Atmey, welcome to the Community.

Hope you are doing great!

I know it sounds simple, but it's often overlooked. Could you try restarting your device? If that doesn't help, try a quick clean reinstallation of the app. Just follow the steps here. Please try to follow the steps from this guide

Hope it helps 🙂

[Luke_Atmey]

I have both restarted my pc and reinstalled the software multiple times, but it never worked.

[Ardonjr]

Any solutions to this?
When I have Spotify in focus media keys work great (K70) but as soon as Spotify has lost focus (for instance I open Excel or Notepad) the mediakeys stop working.
So I tried several things like Stopping/Restarting mediaservices (tips I found in other related topics) but nothing seems to work.

[Novy]

Hey there @Ardonjr, 

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

Would you mind letting us know if the media keys worked fine previously with the app out of focus?

We'd also recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app. This is often an overlooked step, but it’s more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful to get rid of any cache that might be causing trouble.

Keep us posted.

[Luke_Atmey]

I just did a clean reinstall following the instructions from your link to the letter and it still doesn't work.

[Novy]

Hey @Luke_Atmey, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Could you send over the exact Spotify version you're currently running?

We'll be on the lookout. 

[Luke_Atmey]

I'm currently using version 1.156.595.0, that's the version the Windows Apps store defaulted to.

[Ardonjr]

After a removal, download and clean reinstall (AND REBOOT) the issue seems to be resolved. Thanks @Novy

Oh by the way the implementation of reCaptcha on this forum/website is real disaster. I had to make around 5 puzzles before I could post this comment. And it failed first (throwing an exception so I had to type this comment twice before I could post it)
This reCaptcha implementation is not very user friendly if you ask me.

[Ivan]

Hey @Ardonjr, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. 

We're happy to hear that the clean reinstall and reboot of the device fixed this for you. Keep in mind that our website needs the reCAPTCHA feature in order to stop automated access which could affect the genuine user experience. If you experience any issues with this, we recommend opening the page a private/incognito window to avoid issues that could be caused by the cache of your browser. 

@Luke_Atmey Just to confirm, do you still see the issue after downloading the app from the official Spotify website, and not from the Microsoft Store? Give it a try and let us know the outcome. 

Another thing we'd suggest trying is to check the hosts file on your device for entries that need to be removed. Follow the steps described here on how to do that. 

Let us know how you get on! We'll be here in case you need any further help with this. 

[Luke_Atmey]

I removed the Windows store app, following the guide you posted earlier, then downloaded the version from the official website you linked to, did a clean install, rebooted and it's still not working.

[Ivan]

Hey @Luke_Atmey, 

Thanks for getting back. 

As a next step we suggest accessing the configuration software of the keyboard and checking if you're able to select which apps get affected by the media keys and what function they do execute for each app. If you find such an option, make sure it's enabled for the Spotify app. 

It's also a good idea to have a look at the keyboard drivers and make sure you update them.  

If this doesn't help, start the System Configuration on your device and disable the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. Another step worth trying is changing the startup type of the Human Interface Device Services Properties from 'manual' to 'automatic'. 

Could you also let us know the current Spotify version on your device after performing the clean reinstall? This will helps us take a closer look. 

Keep us in the loop here. 

[Luke_Atmey]

I checked the software and the drivers are up to date. There's seemingly no option to select which apps get affected by the media keys. Not that that would matter, since the media keys do work as long as Spotify is focused, as soon as I click anywhere outside of Spotify the media keys stop pausing/fast forwarding/etc.

I also tried the other two suggestions, but to no avail. The version of Spotify I'm currently on is 1.1.56.595.g2d2da0de

[Ivan]

Hey @Luke_Atmey, 

Thanks for keeping us posted. 

In this case we recommend testing out if another keyboard with similar media controls would work with Spotify on your device. 

If it works as expected with a different keyboard, the firmware and drivers of your original keyboard need to be updated to support Spotify, since it looks like whatever input those keys send it doesn't seem to be working with the Spotify app.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any questions.

[Luke_Atmey]

Again, the media keys DO work with Spotify. My problem is that they only work when Spotify is in Focus. It works just fine with other software. I don't have the money to buy another keyboard atm, nor do I want to buy one I'll never use anyway.
It's fine though. I've lived with this problem for years now and never got a decent answer. These last few days got my hopes up a little, but I guess I should've known better.

Probably gonna check out another service. Thanks for the help nonetheless.

[Ivan]

Hey @Luke_Atmey, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

We understand how inconvenient this could be and we wish we could provide you with a better solution, but at this point this seems to be something related to a third-party device which isn't entirely within our control. 

We still recommend that you reach out to Corsair as well and make them aware that this is something some users still experience. Our friends from Corsair can always get in touch with the relevant Spotify team and work together on a solution for this issue. 

Cheers!