Command option/alt Escape does not bring up the Force Quit Window

So I did the following:

• PRAM reset (2 startup chimes)
• Booted to SafeBoot Mode, logged in and tried command-alt-esc to Force Quit but it didn't work.
• Restarted from Safeboot Mode, logged in and tried command-alt-esc to Force Quit but it didn't work.

Thank you for the two potential steps.

I am beginning to suspect it is a setting in System Preferences but on the other hand a new user account shows the same behavior. Is there a plist, maybe in /Library, that governs the keyboard shortcut.

It's odd that the Apple menu displays a keyboard shortcut that doesn't work.

Do you have any other ideas?

I see what caused the shift to appear, As of Mac OS X 10.3, adding the shift key to the command-option-escape keystroke forces the current application to quit. So having taken a screenshot required shift (command-shift-4) this caused the shift to get added to the menu in the screenshot.

I took a new screenshot using Grab.app to correctly show the default keyboard shortcut.

The shortcut has worked with command-alt-esc since at least Mac OS X 10.4, perhaps since its inception (10.0 or 10.1).

If you are still there could you do me a small favor please? If you could open the keyboard viewer and press the ESC key. It turns out that it really is not registering in my keyboard viewer. I tried using the escape key in apps that accept this key as a means of escaping full screen and it is not reacting to the key press. I am beginning to suspect that the key is actually faulty.

I would appreciate that small favor so that I can rule out software and begin focusing on the physical keyboard itself as a potential.

Thank you.

As I waited for your reply I removed the keycap from the Apple wireless keyboard and used a can of air and cleaned everything inside with a little bit of isopropyl alcohol. The issue remains, it is the keyboard.

Thank you for your help and reply.

The issue can only be resolved with a keyboard replacement. The keyboard has a hardware issue.

That's ok, I appreciate your interaction and your sharp eye (noticing the shift in the first screenshot). Have a great day!

One more note of information.

If I hold down command-alt on the physical keyboard and using the mouse, press on the ESC displayed in the keyboard viewer, I do get the Force Quit window.