How to change the Charms bar hover timeout delay

The recently leaked Windows 8.1 Update 1 build features some hidden tweakable settings. Amongst these are settings to control the Charms bar hover timeout which in my opinion, is a killer improvement. You can finally prevent the Charms bar from accidentally displaying when the mouse pointer goes to the screen corners. Let's see how it can be done.

1. Open the Registry Editor (see how).
2. Navigate to the following key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\EdgeUi

   If this key doesn't exist, just create it.
   Tip: You can access any desired Registry key with one click.

3. Create a new DWORD value named CharmsBarDesktopDelay. This value is used to set the Charms bar hover timeout for the classic Desktop and is expressed in milliseconds. Double click the CharmsBarDesktopDelay that you created and specify its value data in decimals. e.g. to set the hover timeout to 5 seconds, set the CharmsBarDesktopDelay parameter to 5000 in decimals. After that you will have to wait for 5 seconds before the Charms Bar appears on the screen when you move the mouse pointer to the top or bottom right corner in the classic Desktop mode.
4. Create a new DWORD value named CharmsBarImmersiveDelay. It is used to control the Charms bar hover timeout for the Start screen and Modern apps, also in milliseconds. As in the previous step, set the CharmsBarImmersiveDelay parameter to 5000 in decimals (or whatever delay you prefer). After that, you will have to wait 5 seconds before the Charms Bar appears over the Start screen or inside some Modern app, when you move your mouse pointer to the top or bottom right corner of the screen.
   

These tweaks will take effect immediately, you need not restart the Explorer shell or log out of your user session.

The same can be done using Winaero Tweaker. Go to Windows 8 Modern UI -> Charms bar hover timeout delay:

Use this option to avoid Registry editing.

It looks like Microsoft is trying to make Windows 8 a bit more customizable to classic Desktop users and more usable. Nevertheless, this tweak only affects the charms activation by the mouse. If you wish to avoid the Charms from popping up unexpectedly with a touchpad, see this article.

You can also kill the Charms with our Charms Bar Killer.

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