Why did Ctrl+Space (Autocomplete) suddenly stop working in Android Studio, Intellij, and other JetBrains IDEs?

Question

I noticed that Ctrl + Space had stopped giving me autocomplete suggestions.

I had to delete the preceding code and start typing again to get any autocomplete suggestions. At first I thought it was related to suggestions from GitHub CoPilot, but disabling didn't help.

The strangest thing was that when I went to check if the keymap had been messed up, Ctrl + Space would not be detected, but Ctrl + Shift + Space would.

You can use this tool to check if you're having the same problem in the IDE by opening Settings > Keymap > Click the Magnifying Glass 🔎 with the little keys on it on the right, then see if anything shows up when you hit Ctrl + Space if it doesn't but other keys combinations do work, you've likely got the same problem.

Answer 1

Edit: As of July 2023, PowerToys has addressed this bug and now Ctrl+Space is only captured in File Explorer rather than system wide, so if upgrading your power toys installation is an option, v0.70.1 works. If not, follow the instructions below to disable the feature with a conflicting hotkey.

Disable PowerToys new Peek feature that uses Ctrl + Space

After a while and not finding answers easily from searching (even saw a bug report on JetBrains bug tracker) I found the cause.

I had recently upgraded PowerToys, a Windows utility that gives a bunch of powerful tools like a color picker, and bulk file rename capabilities, window snapping regions, etc.

The updated added a new feature called Peek. When you have a text file selected in the File Browser, you can press Ctrl + Space to open a preview of the file. Because PowerToys is watching for this shortcut at an OS level, it never makes it to other Applications running.

To disable the feature and get your Autocomplete back, simply:

Open PowerToys from the system tray

Click More >

Scroll down and toggle off Peek.