I'm trying to remove the shortcut (cmd + w) and cannot find it in the system preferences list of shortcuts which can be edited. I have also tried looking into ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist , but I don't know exactly how to change the hotkeys or which one I should be changing. How can I disable the shortcut without paying for software to do it for me?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)
Not all apps use the exact same menu entry spelling, so you are going to have to create a replacement shortcut for each and every app using the exact "Close" spelling the App has in its menu.
You might be able to use a several All Application shortcuts, with one for each unique spelling an App uses to mean close.
Example changing TextEdit
This is the original TextEdit menu with "Close"
This is the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. I selected TextEdit for the Application, I entered the EXACT spelling from the TextEdit menu for closing a window "Close", and then I pressed the keys I wanted to be my TextEdit Close
Going back to TextyEdit, you can see the Menu has replaced Cmd+W with Option-Shift-Command-3
My point is that NOT ALL Applications use the same menu spelling for closing a window, and the shortcut must match the menu entry spelling exactly. In this example I'm showing you that Safari uses the menu entry "Close Window", so for Safari you have to create a shortcut using the spelling "Close Window".
You should test you shortcut for each app to make sure it is working as expected.
Not all apps use the exact same menu entry spelling, so you are going to have to create a replacement shortcut for each and every app using the exact "Close" spelling the App has in its menu.
You might be able to use a several All Application shortcuts, with one for each unique spelling an App uses to mean close.
Example changing TextEdit
This is the original TextEdit menu with "Close"
This is the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. I selected TextEdit for the Application, I entered the EXACT spelling from the TextEdit menu for closing a window "Close", and then I pressed the keys I wanted to be my TextEdit Close
Going back to TextyEdit, you can see the Menu has replaced Cmd+W with Option-Shift-Command-3
My point is that NOT ALL Applications use the same menu spelling for closing a window, and the shortcut must match the menu entry spelling exactly. In this example I'm showing you that Safari uses the menu entry "Close Window", so for Safari you have to create a shortcut using the spelling "Close Window".
You should test you shortcut for each app to make sure it is working as expected.
For each app change the "Close Window" menu entry to some other key combination that will not be easy to trigger.
Get a hotkey creation app that allows you to create a new function for Command-W.
My perferred is BetterTouchTool as it allows me to create all kinds of trackpad gestures making the trackpad more useful than a million button mouse 🙂, but BTT has hotkey mapping (and I was able to create a Global Commmand-W with no action and this disabled Command-W for other apps).
As I'm hoping to not have to buy an app such as BetterTouchTool, I've tried to re-label the close window shortcut in the system preferences but with no success.
I go to Keyboard, Shortcuts, App Shortcuts, press "+" and then try to add a replacement shortcut but it seems to have no effect.
I select all applications (which is what I want) but what should I type into the Menu Title box in order for it to have the function of it closing the window?
Thanks for the help
How to change default shortcuts?
