Customizing Default Values for Soft Keys on the Home Screen

4/8/2010

The default values for the left and right soft keys, SK1 and SK2 for the Home screen s, can be changed by editing registry keys.

Note that, beginning with Windows Mobile 6.5.3, soft keys are replaced by touchable tiles on Windows Mobile Professional phones.**

In these examples, @ is the SK1 or SK2 label and Open is the executable that will be invoked when the soft key is pressed.

The current default assignment is shown in the following table.

Soft Key Assignment

SK1

Start

SK2

Contacts

Changing Soft Key 1

The default SK1 values for the Windows Default Home screen and the Windows Classic Home screen are specified in separate registry keys.

Windows Default Home Screen

To change the displayed text value of the left soft key (SK1) on the Windows Default Home screen, use the following registry key:

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CHome\SK1TEXT]
                @="<SK label>"

To change the default value of the left soft key (SK1) on the Windows Default Home screen, use the following registry key:

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\CHome\SK1URL]
                "Open"= <handling app>

Windows Classic Home Screen

To change the default value of the left soft key (SK1) on the Windows Classic Home screen, use the following registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Keys\112]
                @="<SK label>"
                "Open"= <handling app>

Changing Soft Key 2

The default SK2 values for the Windows Default Home screen and the Windows Classic Home screen are specified under the same registry key and value.

Windows Default Home Screen and Windows Classic Home Screen

To change the default value of the right soft key (SK2) on Windows Mobile Professional or Windows Mobile Classic, use the following registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Keys\113]
                @="<SK label>"
                "Open"= <handling app>

Home Screen on Windows Mobile Standard

To change the default value of the right soft key (SK2) on Windows Mobile Standard, use the following registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Home\Keys\113]
                @="<SK label>"
                "Open"= <handling app>

See Also

Other Resources

Soft Keys