An example method is provided to process an input in a virtualized computing environment. The virtualized computing environment may include a physical machine running a host operating system and a virtualization software with one or more virtual machines. The example method may include detecting activation of at least one key input that causes a first message to be generated, the first message associated with the key input, comparing the first message with a set of stored messages, wherein any of the set of stored messages can be properly executed by targets in both the host operating system and the virtual machine but with different responses, and determining, based on the comparing, whether the first message is intended for a target in the host operating system or in the virtual machine.