How to remap the office key on your keyboard

Here’s what you need to do to remap any key on Windows 10 using PowerToys:

1. Open PowerToys
2. Toggle on the Keyboard Manager
3. Choose “Remap a key”
4. Choose the plus button (+) to add a new key mapping

Have you ever wanted to change keyboard shortcuts on Windows 10 to something else? In the past the process of remapping keys or keyboard shortcuts usually involved downloading a difficult-to-use third-party application. Now, the process is a a whole lot easier with PowerToys, a Microsoft application that you can use to make any key on your keyboard act like any other key—and even remap keyboard shortcuts.

Remap any key

With PowerToys, it’s easy to remap any key to another key or even change a keyboard shortcut combination. If you don’t already have PowerToys installed, you can download it for free directly from its GitHub page. Once installed, follow these steps.

1. Open PowerToys
2. Toggle on the Keyboard Manager
3. Choose Remap a key

4. Choose the plus button (+) as shown to add a new key mapping

At this point, you will need to choose a key that you want to remap in the “Key” field and what you want the key remapped to in the “Mapped To” field. For this example, I am going to use Scroll Lock as a replacement for Paste on Windows 10. Keep in mind you can choose the key that you want to remap by choosing it from the drop down menu or by choosing Type and simply typing out the key you want to use.

In the “Mapped To” field, I will enter the Paste keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + V) as I want to remap Scroll Lock to act as the Paste command any time I press the key.

Once you are finished making your selections for the key remapping, Choose OK to confirm. At this point you will see a pop-up message confirming your key remapping selection. Choose Continue Anyway to confirm the key remapping.

That’s it! You’re finished. Now as long as PowerToys is running, any time I press Scroll Lock, the key will act as the Paste shortcut on my Windows 10 PC. Now in Keyboard Manager in PowerToys, you will see the key remap that you created.

Delete a key remap

Deleting a key remap is easy. All you need to do is go to Keyboard Manager in PowerToys and click the “Remap a key” button to take you to the list key remaps.

Once there, click the trash icon and press OK to confirm.

The key you remapped will be removed. Now, you can create a new key remap using the guide above or exit PowerToys completely.

Do you use any other PowerToys utilities on Windows 10? Let us know in the comments!

Many computer users think that the functionality provided by different keys on a computer keyboard is fixed in stone and cannot be changed at all. Most might be surprised to hear that it is possible to remap all keys on a computer keyboard in Windows.

But why would someone want to change specific keys on the keyboard so that they have a different functionality? One reason could be to disable or change a key if the functionality of it is never used.

Think of the Caps Lock key for instance. It could be disabled or remapped instead of running the risk of pressing it accidentally and switching all keys to Shift-key mode. The Windows-key is another example as it can have side effects if pressed in the wrong situation (think fullscreen applications).

Another example are media keys and special keys. Media keys for instance can be used to play, pause or stop media and change the volume. Not every software on the other hand supports these keys and some users might be inclined to remap the media keys to different keys.

Some users might want to add functionality to a keyboard by adding keys that it does not have. Laptops without a Windows key come to mind as a basic example. Computer keyboard remapping tools can be used to remap a key like Right-Ctrl, or Right-Alt to the Windows key so that the functionality becomes available.

Keyboard Remapping basics

The direct way of remapping keys in Windows is to use the Windows Registry.

The problem with this approach is that the user needs to know the scan codes to change a key’s functionality. A list of scan codes for common keyboard keys is available here.

A creation of a System Restore Point is advised before changing any keys directly.

Remap Software

A better approach for most users is to use a software instead of directly editing the Registry. A software usually has two advantages.

• It often provides a visual representation of the keyboard which makes the identification of keys easier
• The scan codes are irrelevant as the program does all the remapping automatically

The programs automate the process of remapping the keys in the Registry. They do not need to be running in the background once the keys have been edited.

Sharp Keys

We have reviewed Sharp Keys some time ago. The program does not display a visual representation of the keyboard, just a list of supported keys.

The portable software supports key identification making it easier to find a key in the list. A key can be remapped by selecting it in the left column and selecting the new key in the right column afterwards.

Map Keyboard

This portable 30K application displays a visual keyboard on screen. Keys can be changed by selecting them first with the left mouse button and picking a remap key in the pull down menu afterwards. All remapped keys are displayed in green. There is also an option to save the layout and reset the keyboard layout in case something went wrong or is no longer needed.

Map Keyboard does not support media keys and other special keys. Users who need that functionality have to rely on Sharp Keys or the keyboard remapper KeyTweak instead. Download the program with a click on the following link: mapkeyboard

KeyTweak

keytweak keyboard remapper

KeyTweak is the most advanced program of this guide. It supports standard keyboard layouts and specialty buttons. The program offers a teach mode that comes in handy to identify and remap keys. The teach mode is also helpful if the key is not displayed as part of the virtual keyboard. KeyTweak will recognize the scan code of the key in teach mode so that it can be changed.

Keys can either be changed by using the handy teach mode or by clicking on a key in the program’s interface right away. The Choose new remapping menu holds all the keys that the selected key can be remapped to.

Defaults can be restored with a click and remapped keyboard layouts saved to import them on other computer systems.

KeyTweak contains the functionality of both Sharp Keys and Map Keyboard making it an excellent choice to remap keys. It is on the other hand the only software in this guide that needs to be installed. Click on the following link to download the program: KeyTweak_install

All three programs have been tested to work on 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Here is a list of other programs to remap keyboard keys on Windows:

I’ve tried using the special key detection and the intellitype applicaiton but nothing is helping so far. The great part is someone has already discovered the right keyboard scan codes for most Microsoft keyboards (including mine):
es-6.html#ss6.4

I want to remap some keys like the Application Left and Application Right keys, as well as the Office Home keys.

e0 3c Office Home (on F2)
e0 09 Application Left
e0 1e Application Right

I guess what i’m having issues with is converting the scancodes i’m used to seeing (ie e009 and such) into one that AutoKey works with (VK and SC (Virtual Key and Scan Code)).

The absolute best would be to remap the Office Home key to F2 so that i don’t need to worry about wether or not i have the F Lock on. I know there are things out there to disabel the f lock but i dont want to disable it or toggle the mode. i ove the setup of the office keyboard, just want to alway have the Rename key on F2.

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Special Keys
If your keyboard or mouse has a key not listed above, you might still be able to make it a hotkey by using the following steps (requires Windows XP/2000/NT or later):

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How do I … remap my keyboard with KeyTweak?

How do I … remap my keyboard with KeyTweak?

For the power user nothing equals efficiency like having your keyboard keys mapped in just the right way for your particular needs. Jack Wallen explains how to use KeyTweak to map the keys on your keyboard just they way you want them.

For the power user, nothing equals efficiency like having your keyboard keys mapped in just the right way for your particular needs. Say, for example, you would rather the Caps Lock key function as the Delete key (it would mean, in many instances, the Delete key would be within reach of the pinky without moving your hands), with KeyTweak this is possible. Or say you have taken your keyboard apart (for whatever reason) and cannot remember what each key does (it could happen). With KeyTweak you can quickly find out what key does what with the click of a button.

Before we get started with this, I will say that KeyTweak cannot combine keys. So your hopes of getting Ctrl-Alt-Delete mapped to a single key press are lost. KeyTweak also cannot affect either the Function keys on laptops or the Pause/Break key. It is also worth noting that KeyTweak changes are global, so they will affect all users on a system. And finally, any changes made by KeyTweak require a reboot to take effect. With all of that in mind, let’s see how KeyTweak works.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a TechRepublic download.

Getting and installing

As per usual, installing KeyTweak is just a matter of downloading the installation binary from the creators’ (Travis Krumsick) KeyTweak Web site. Once you have the file downloaded, double-click the file to install it. Once the installation is complete, you will find the application binary in the KeyTweak submenu of the Start Menu. To start the application, click on the KeyTweak entry in the KeyTweak menu.

The main window

The main window consists of a menu bar, a Remapping section, Keyboard Control section, Specialty Buttons section, Pending Changes section, and buttons to toggle full and half teaching modes (Figure A).

Figure A

The mapped keyboard is not specific to your keyboard but is universal.

Here is a brief description of each section.

• Remapping: The remapping section includes a listing of currently remapped keys, a virtual keyboard, and buttons to restore defaults and Raw Map display.
• Keyboard Control: The keyboard control is where you will select the new remapping for a chosen key. This is done via a drop-down list and a Remap button.
• Specialty Buttons: This section allows you to remap any specialty buttons that are available on your keyboard.
• Pending Changes: This shows any changes that will take affect upon next reboot.
• Half/Full Teaching Mode Buttons: By toggling either of these buttons you will be switched to its respective mode of teaching.

Remapping a key

Let’s stick with our introductory example. What we are going to do is remap the Caps Lock key to function as the Delete key. Once you know how to do this, you can apply it to any change you want to make.

The first thing you need to do is to select the Caps Lock key on the virtual keyboard. That key should be numbered “30.” Once you click the “30” key, you will see it listed in the Keyboard Controls section, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

If you aren’t sure which key you clicked, you will know as soon as you check out the Keyboard Controls section.

Now, from the Choose New Remapping drop-down list, select Delete and then click Remap Key. Once you have clicked the Remap Key button, you will see this remapping appear in the Pending Changes section (Figure C).

Figure C

You can stop the remapping at this point by clicking the Clear All button.

Now click on the Apply button to apply the change. As stated earlier, the change will not take place until the machine is rebooted.

Full teach mode

The full teach mode is really just another method of achieving the same goal. When you click the Full Teach mode, a new window (Figure D) will open. This new window allows you to select a key for one slot (#1) and a second key for another slot (#2) and then remap #1 to #2.

Figure D

This is the full teach mode.

So sticking with our example you would first click the Begin Teach Mode button, which will automatically highlight the Key #1 section. Click the key you want to remap (for our example it would be the Caps Lock key) and then the #2 section will automatically highlight. Click the Delete key and then, to finalize the remapping selection, click the Remap Key button. Once you click the Remap Key button, the Full Teach mode window will go away.

Half teach mode

To be honest I am not quite sure why the half teach mode is necessary, because this pretty much re-creates what is already on the screen. You select a key, choose where the key is to be remapped to from a drop-down list, and then click the Remap button. To me that is too similar to the default method of remapping in the main window to be necessary.

Special buttons

Of course this section will apply only to those keyboards that include such buttons. For example, not all keyboards have a WWW Home key. But if your keyboard does include that button you’re in luck, because you can remap it!

Final thoughts

There have been many occasions when I have wanted to remap keys on my Windows keyboard. But not being a registry pro I didn’t have the skill to do this. Now, with KeyTweak, I don’t need to have epic skills with the registry to remap a Windows keyboard. This piece of “donation ware” is very much worth the price of admission.

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– Last updated on May 26, 2020 by VG

In this article, we’ll tell you how to customize and change functionality of any desired key in your computer keyboard. You’ll be able to remap any key and assign any other key functionality to it.

For example, you may want to change function of Ctrl key and want to force it to work like Enter or any other key. Similarly, you may want to change functionality of any hotkey (keyboard shortcut) such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, etc.

Today we are sharing 2 free keyboard remapper software which can be used in Windows operating system to redefine or remap desired keys. With the help of these software, you’ll be able to assign any key functionality to another key.

Let’s start the tutorial:

1. Keyboard Manager

Keyboard Manager (KBM) is a part of Windows 10 PowerToys and comes bundled with PowerToys program. Keyboard Manager can be used in Windows 10 operating system only.

To use Keyboard Manager, first of all download and install PowerToys utility from following topic:

After downloading and installing, launch PowerToys program. If the main program window doesn’t appear on screen, double-click on its icon present in Taskbar notification area (system tray). Now PowerToys program window will display on screen.

Go to Keyboard Manager tab and make sure “Enable Keyboard Manager” toggle button is set to ON.

To change any key function i.e. remap a key, click on “Remap a key” button.

It’ll open a new window. Click on “+” button given under “Key:” section to tell Windows which key do you want to remap.

Now you can select the desired key from the given drop-down box. Alternatively, you can click on “Type Key” button and press the key which you want to remap. Windows will automatically detect it.

Now select the other key using “Mapped To:” section. This is the key which functionality you want to assign to the first key. Again you can select the mapped key using drop-down box or by typing the key manually.

You can remap more than one key using the same procedure.

At last click on “OK” button. The program can show a message “The following keys are unassigned and you won’t be able to use them“. Ignore the message and click on “Continue Anyway” button.

That’s it. You have successfully remapped your desired key. Now you can try to press the key and it’ll function like a different key which you set using the above mentioned method.

Similarly, you can remap a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) by clicking on “Remap a Shortcut” button.

You can delete or remove any mapped key by clicking on the “Remap a key” or “Remap a shortcut” button and then clicking on Recycle Bin icon given next to the mapped key entry.

2. SharpKeys

SharpKeys is a very old software program. It can be used in all Windows versions. We have reviewed this program long time back on this website.

SharpKeys functionality is quite similar to above mentioned Keyboard Manager program.

You can download and install the program from following topic:

The above mentioned article will teach you how to use SharpKeys to remap one key to any other key.

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About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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I got to this page (and many similar) when I was looking how to get Enter key to be considered to be “any key” as in when you get “Press any key to close this window . . .”, but seems like when you use microsoft windows, this ain’t possible and it feels so wrong as when you get a similar message in Unix/Linux (including microssoft’s own Unix/Linux applications) it means exactly what it says, I can press which ever button on the keyboard.

Why can’t you fix this trivial thing in microsoft windows? I guess it’s the world longest running bug…

Summary

This article describes how to change keyboard layouts for the Microsoft keyboards listed in the “Applies To” section.

You can configure your keyboard to use a different language or keyboard layout, such as Canadian Multilingual, Spanish, or United States-Dvorak. A large selection of keyboard layouts is installed with the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Generally, you should configure your keyboard layout in Windows to match the actual keyboard that you use. If you can choose a different layout, be aware that the keys on your keyboard may display different characters than those that appear on screen.

More Information

To configure your keyboard to use a different language or keyboard layout, use the appropriate method for your version of Windows.

Note These methods use the Canadian French keyboard layout as an example.

Windows 7 or Windows Vista

Click Start , type intl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

On the Keyboards and Language tab, click Change keyboards.

Expand the language that you want. For example, expand French (Canada).

Expand Keyboard list, click to select the Canadian French check box, and then click OK.

In the options, click View Layout to compare the layout with the actual keyboard.

In the Default input language list, click French (Canada) – Canadian French, and then click OK two times.

In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, click OK.

Note The Language bar appears on the taskbar. When you rest the mouse pointer over this bar, a tooltip appears that describes the active keyboard layout.

Click the Language bar, and then click FR French (Canada).

Windows XP

Click Start , type intl.cpl in the Run box, and then press ENTER.

On the Languages tab, click Details.

Under Installed services, click Add.

In the Input language list, select the language that you want. For example, select French (Canada) .

In the Keyboard layout/IME list, click Canadian French, and then click OK .

In the Select one of the installed input languages to use when you start your computer list, click French (Canada) – Canadian French, and then click OK.

In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, click OK.

Note The Language bar appears on the taskbar. When you rest the mouse pointer over this bar, a tooltip appears that describes the active keyboard layout.

Click the Language bar, and then click French (Canada).

How to make sure that the selected layout matches the keyboard

Windows 7 or Windows Vista

Click Start, type osk in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

Match the keyboard on the screen with the physical keyboard to make sure that the layout matches.

To check the uppercase characters, click the shift key on the keyboard or on the screen, and match the characters printed on the keyboard.

Windows XP

Click Start, type osk in the Run box, and then press ENTER.

Match the keyboard on the screen with the physical keyboard to make sure that the layout matches.

To check the uppercase characters, click the shift key on the keyboard or on the screen, and match the characters printed on the keyboard.

References

For more information about the Language bar, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

306993 HOW TO: Use the Language Bar in Windows XP

For more information about how to use the United States-International keyboard layout, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

306560 How to use the United States-International keyboard layout in Windows 7, in Windows Vista, and in Windows XP

You can reprogram the keys on your computer keyboard to perform special functions, courtesy of a free utility from Microsoft.

Ever want to tweak your physical keyboard to change the function of certain keys or use them to type out special characters? All you need is a keyboard utility, or key remapper.

For example, you may remap one key to type out a foreign-language character, or you may alter what certain keys can do when combined with other keys. You can perform these feats courtesy of a free Microsoft utility called the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (Opens in a new window) (MKLC). This software doesn’t officially support client versions of Windows beyond Vista. However, I was able to get it to perform just fine in Windows 10. Here’s how it works:

With MKLC, you can build a new keyboard layout from scratch or modify an existing one based on layouts for English and other languages. Download it from the Microsoft Download Center (Opens in a new window) . Run the downloaded MSKLC.exe file to install the software and then open the application via its Start menu shortcut.

The MKLC displays a typical keyboard layout, highlighting the keys you can remap and the ones you cannot. Keys like Backspace, Tab, Caps, Return, Shift, Ctrl and Alt are off limits, but standard alphanumeric keys are all up for grabs.

Your best bet is to load an existing keyboard rather than start from scratch. Click on the File menu and choose Load Existing Keyboard; selecting US loads US English.

On the keyboard layout, click on the key you wish to remap, such as the “a” key. A text field appears for you to enter the replacement character. This is where the Windows Character Map can come in handy. Click on Start > Windows Accessories > Character Map. Double-click on one of the “a” keys that has an accent over it and then click on the Copy button. Return to the MKLC, paste the character in the text field, and then click OK. Do the same thing for the uppercase version of the “A” key, which you can access in MKLC by clicking on the checkbox for “Show the Caps Lock.”

Continue remapping your keyboard layout until you’re finished. Then you’ll have to validate it. Click on the Project menu and select Validate Keyboard. If all the remapped keys work, the MKLC lets you know that the verification succeeded. If not, the program prompts you to view a log file with details on any warnings. Depending on the warnings you receive, you may need to correct or modify your layout.

You can now test your keyboard layout by typing the new keystrokes. Click on the Project menu and select Test Keyboard Layout. A blank screen appears for you to type the new keys you’ve created to ensure that they all work. Now you can name your revised keyboard layout. Click on the Project menu and select Properties. Type the name in the Name field, up to eight characters with no spaces.

Then save the layout by clicking the File menu and selecting Save Source File. Choose a name and location to save the .klc file. You can then load this file at any time to make further changes by clicking the File menu and choosing Load Source File.

After you’ve finished building the keyboard layout, it’s time to create the actual installation package. Click the Project menu and select Build DLL and Setup Package.

The MKLC will build a Windows Installer package and then prompt you to view the directory’s contents. You’ll find subdirectories with DLL files for the various Windows platforms along with .msi files and an overall setup.exe file. Double-click on the setup.exe file to install the keyboard layout.

Reboot your computer. After you sign back into Windows, you should see the name of your current keyboard layout displayed in the System Tray. Click on that keyboard name and change the layout to the keyboard you created. You can now use your custom keyboard in any application, document, or file in Windows, and your customized keys will be accessible to you.

For more, check out:

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– Last updated on January 3, 2009 by VG

Recently I got my new laptop “Dell XPS M1530”. Its great but I faced one problem. My previous laptop was a Toshiba one and it had the “Delete” key placed between right Ctrl key and left arrow key. This new Dell laptop has the Delete key at top-right corner. I found it very uncomfortable and pressed a wrong key quite frequently.

Have you faced such kind of problem? Do you also want to change one or more keys in your keyboard? Or do you want to completely disable any key in your keyboard like Caps Lock? If yes, then “SharpKeys” will definitely help you.

“SharpKeys” is a very small application which does an excellent job in remapping the keys. You can disable any unwanted key or you can convert/remap any key into any other key. The bottom line is that you can customize almost all keys in your keyboard according to your requirement.

First of all download SharpKeys using following link:

After downloading and installing the program, launch it. Once you launch the program, click on “Add” button to change any key’s function or disable it. You’ll get following window:

You can either select the key from the given list or can manually type the key using “Type Key” button. Using “Type Key” button is the best and easiest way. First click on “Type Key” button in “From Key” section and press the key which you want to change. Then click on “Type Key” button in “To Key” section and now press the key which you want to assign to the previous key.

If you want to disable a key, simply select “Turn Key Off” option present at top in the “To Key” section.

Once you complete, click on “OK” button and it’ll show the conversion in the list:

At last click on “Write to Registry” button. It’ll show a message that you’ll need to restart or log off your system to take affect. Once you restart the system, your desired key will be changed or disabled as per your requirements.

Its a very easy to use application and works in almost all Windows versions.

You are here: Home » Software » [Windows Tip] Disable or Remap Keys in Your Computer Keyboard Using Sharp Keys

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

Thanks Vishal,
I was just confused as to what I would do with my Keyboard.
I installed windows 7 Ultimate build 7600 and had a c.zy problem with my keyboard.
Keys were not proper.
Now I found a Solution
Thanks from my heart.
May God Bless You.

Can u write more clearly ? Like the Left “Type key” or right “Type key”

Quite cool, nice job here really though it couldn’t help. I needed that to stop someone from play games on my PC. After disabling an essential key for PES, i was very supprise to see the guy singing and having fun with his game. What an experience!

I have done this but it didnt actually disable the key. I have a faulty enter key that
periodically gets stuck on and want to disable it.

Both programs don’t allow to remap e. g. the greater then-char to AltGr + “.”.

I have a US-style keyboard so the key between Left Shift and US-“Z” is missing, but I’m using German keyboard layout where greater then/less then/pipe char is mapped on German keyboard layout.

SharpKeys: key “(E0_1F34)” is an unknown key, so cannot remap
PowerToys Keyboard Manager: remap key cannot handle key combinations, remap shortcut cannot handle single chars.

I have solved this with Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator and created a custom layout, but I needed to assign a custom shortcut for the layout in the settings of the language bar – you cannot choose the custom layout with the default shortcut Alt+Shift.

Lifesaver!
My tab key had gone absolutely crazy . Im running win 11 pro on a forbidden Alienware m14x (2011).I thought it was the updates on win 11, and wound up doing rollbacks and a restore point, failing that a complete reinstalling a saved image copy and that failed. I remembered I used a canned air on the keyboard..
all keys were fine except tab, still working but seemed to signal tab at high rate..0n its own..pausing only when i hit another key for a few moments.
I knew then this was a hardware problem.
I downloaded Powertoys and Sharp keys..Powertoys wouln’t work for me on Win 11 and seemed bloated..
By light years Sharp keys was simpler and intuitive..for me.
I Reassigned Tab to a key I never used that sits between alt and control on the right hand side.
It worked flawlessly after rebooting..
Putting the Tab there made more sense as it made my typing easier

I can’t thank you enough for this help and it spares me the hassle and cost of replacing and time installing a new keyboard.

Comments

clairernovotny commented May 19, 2020 •

Try to add a key mapping for the Office key (on the new Ergonomic 4000 keyboard). The key isn’t detected correctly

I expect the Office key to be detected correctly so I can remap it.

It’s either detected as Space or Win (Left)

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

arjunbalgovind commented May 19, 2020

@clairernovotny I don’t have an office key on my keyboard, but I believe that it internally does a shortcut like Win+Ctrl+Alt+Shift or something like that. Out of curiosity can you open Remap a shortcut and click Type Shortcut and try pressing the Office key while that window is up. In theory. that should display what the key actually does, and would allow us to support it in the future 🙂

clairernovotny commented May 19, 2020 •

Here’s what I see when I push the office key.

Four modifiers and no key.

clairernovotny commented May 19, 2020

FWIW, the Emoji key maps to this:

So that has four modifiers and space.

clairernovotny commented May 19, 2020

I’ll add that people have complained loudly about not being able to remap the Office key using the Microsoft keyboard software, so this would be a big win.

arjunbalgovind commented May 19, 2020 •

Thanks for the screenshots, that helps a ton! I think we might have to support remapping a shortcut to a key before we can get that in, but we do plan to have that for the v1 release, so we should be supporting this too! I honestly didn’t even know there was an Emoji key 😂

clairernovotny commented May 19, 2020 •

Here they are on the keyboard

The dust that shows up 😂

saahmedm commented May 19, 2020

This is great feedback, thanks claire! never thought I’d need an emoji key LOL. Curious why the Emoji key doesn’t map to Windows Key + . though

Like @arjunbalgovind mentioned, we’re hoping to support these use cases for our v1. Will make issues to track shortcut to key mapping and shortcuts with >2 modifiers.

crutkas commented May 19, 2020

seeing if i can’t get @arjunbalgovind that keyboard for testing 🙂

scrthq commented May 20, 2020

@crutkas – You wouldn’t need that exact keyboard, per se. Any keyboard capable of sending that modifier combo replicates the behavior, including mechanical keyboards that come with a Hyper modifier key built-in (Hyper is just sending the same modifier combo). When Windows 10 was updated to treat that modifier combo as the Office launcher, it was a world of fun for the existing macros I have where that combo is used heavily

corbob commented May 20, 2020

This is great feedback, thanks claire! never thought I’d need an emoji key LOL. Curious why the Emoji key doesn’t map to Windows Key + . though

Like @arjunbalgovind mentioned, we’re hoping to support these use cases for our v1. Will make issues to track shortcut to key mapping and shortcuts with >2 modifiers.

TheSimArchitect commented Aug 6, 2020

Any chance this will be happening on a future update (ability to map more keyboard combinations including the new Office key)?

Jay-o-Way commented Dec 5, 2020

RonnySvedman commented Feb 10, 2021

I notice several issues that would be resolved by allowing more modifiers than 2.

5inf commented Mar 4, 2021

I found this issue while trying to deactivate the office key on one of my Microsoft keyboards (with the help of PowerToys).

Implementing this would be really great, because

1. on any recent Microsoft keyboard with “Office key” this key is sending the “hyper-key” modifier combination (Win+Ctrl+Alt+Shift) without another modifier key (why Microsoft?), and
2. the hyper-key combination alone (another why Microsoft?) being used in Windows 10 (since May 2019 update, registered via explorer.exe) to start MS Office, or – if there is no MS Office to start – leads you to an MS Office advertising page.

So if you have an older keyboard with a dedicated hyper-key, pressing this key will try to start of MS Office, too.

By the way there are more hyper-key combinations included in Windows 10. Hyper-key (or Office-key)+L leads you to Linkedin, Office+T to Teams, Office+Y opens Yammer.com, and so on, without any way to configure it.

The Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center () allows to configure several keys on the keyboard, but not the office key (again why Microsoft?).

This is great feedback, thanks claire! never thought I’d need an emoji key LOL. Curious why the Emoji key doesn’t map to Windows Key + . though

I guess that’s another one of these “why Microsoft?”-moments.

The keys on my friend’s laptop are laid out pretty close to each other. The laptop’s a 15.6-incher, although it has a full keyboard with the numeric keypad. Because of this layout, he often used to hit the F1 key by accident, when he was going for the Esc key. I thought of re-mapping the key with a registry hack, but he wanted something simpler, like a program that would do this. In our search, we found an awesome program called SharpKeys in the Codeplex repository.

SharpKeys is a portable program that was originally created with the intent to provide Windows users an easy way to re-map keyboard keys. Along with remapping, the program can also disable any unwanted keys on the keyboard. Disable – that’s what we eventually did with the F1 key, so that it does not bother anymore.

More about the program – when you start it, you will see a neat and simple interface as in the image.

To select a key to disable or remap, click on the Add button on the bottom left to bring up the “Add New Key Mapping” dialog.

Now choose the key you wish to modify from the left panel list under “Map this key (From key)”. If you want a more intuitive selection option, click on the “Type Key” button and manually press the key on your keyboard when the new dialog opens.

With the key selected, switch attention to the left panel list. Here, to disable the key, choose the first option in the list “Turn Key Off (00_00)”, or to remap, follow the steps you did earlier to choose another key.

When you’ve made your selections, hit “OK” to close the window. You can change functionality of as many keeps as you like.

Once you are done, just press the magic “Write to Registry” button to save your changes. Then log off or restart your computer for the changes to take effect. If you ever want to undo or edit your mapping, just start the program and edit or delete the key’s functionality, and then again restart your computer or log off and log back in.

That’s all to it. Everything is done by point-and-click, and you don’t even have to open the Registry Editor.

SharpKeys is an open source program. So if you find that the program doesn’t support any key on your computer and you have the programming skills to do so, you can add in support for those non-supported keys.

The program is compatible with all Windows versions from 2000, and requires .NET Framework 4.0.

Alternatives:

Key Mapper allows you to choose keyboard keys from a virtual on-screen keyboard. Double click on a key to change its function or to disable. Changes are directly saved to Registry. A system restart is required to see the effect.

KillKeys

KillKeys, as the name suggests, kills specified keyboard keys. The program doesn’t have an user interface, so you have to specify the desired keys in the KillKeys.ini file – found in the same location as the executable file. Keys remain inactive only as long as the program is running.

KillKeys is portable, and doesn’t mess with your Registry for functioning.

– Last updated on May 26, 2020 by VG

Many times you may find yourself in an annoying situation where you press one more keys accidentally while working on your computer. For example, you press Caps Lock key frequently by mistake while typing in documents.

In such situations, you may want to completely disable and turn off those keys so that even if you accidentally press them, nothing happens and you can continue working on your important work.

In this article, we are going to share 2 free keyboard remapper software programs which will help you in disabling any desired key in your keyboard. Once you turn off these keys, nothing will happen when you press those keys.

Let’s start the tutorial:

1. Keyboard Manager

Keyboard Manager (KBM) is a part of Windows 10 PowerToys and comes bundled with PowerToys program. Keyboard Manager can be used in Windows 10 operating system only.

To use Keyboard Manager, first of all download and install PowerToys utility from following topic:

After downloading and installing, launch PowerToys program. If the main program window doesn’t appear on screen, double-click on its icon present in Taskbar notification area (system tray). Now PowerToys program window will display on screen.

Go to Keyboard Manager tab and make sure “Enable Keyboard Manager” toggle button is set to ON.

To disable or turn off desired key, click on “Remap a key” button.

It’ll open a new window. Click on “+” button given under “Key:” section to tell Windows which key do you want to disable.

Now you can select the desired key from the given drop-down box. Alternatively, you can click on “Type Key” button and press the key which you want to disable. Windows will automatically detect it.

Now under “Mapped To:” section, select “Undefined” from the drop-down box. Undefined option is present in the middle of the options list in drop-down box. You can press U key twice to directly select Undefined option in the drop-down list.

At last click on “OK” button. The program can show a message “The following keys are unassigned and you won’t be able to use them“. Ignore the message and click on “Continue Anyway” button.

That’s it. You have successfully disabled your desired key. Now you can try to press the key and nothing will happen.

You can disable more than one key using the same procedure.

Similarly, you can disable a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) by clicking on “Remap a Shortcut” button.

In future, if you decide to re-enable the key, you just need to delete the mapping by clicking on the “Remap a key” or “Remap a shortcut” button and then clicking on Recycle Bin icon given next to the mapped key entry.

2. SharpKeys

SharpKeys is an old software program which can be used in all Windows versions. SharpKeys functionality is quite similar to above mentioned Keyboard Manager program.

You can download and install the program from following topic:

The above mentioned article will teach you how to use SharpKeys to disable any desired key.

You are here: Home » Software » [Tip] Disable or Turn Off Any Desired Key in Your Computer Keyboard

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Review

Free Download

specifications

Remap keys on your keyboard quickly and easily, using this lightweight, minimalistic application with a comprehensive user interface

What’s new in KeyTweak 2.3.0:

• Updated to support Windows Vista and Windows 7 UAC.
• Bug fix: WWW Home key mapping fixed.
• Bug fix: Disabled keys read from .ktw files now interpreted correctly.

Read the full changelog

KeyTweak is a lightweight but powerful tool that enables you to easily reconfigure your keyboard.

The interface of the software is plain and simple. You can view a virtual representation of your keyboard with all the keys numbered 1 through 126. So, all you have to do is pick a specific key, choose the new remapping and apply changes.

Furthermore, you can remap the special buttons which are included in multimedia keyboards (e.g. “Play”, “Eject”, “Volume Up”, “Mute”), as well as the ones found in web browsers (e.g. “Back”, “Forward”, “Stop”, “Refresh”, “Home”) and power management keys (e.g. “Sleep”, “Power Off”).

In order for the changes to take effect, you must restart your computer. On the top side of the screen, you can view the remapped keys which are currently in effect, and on the bottom right corner you can check out pending changes.

In addition, you can enable full teach mode or half teach mode, view a raw map, save a remap file (in the KeyTweak format), disable a particular key and restore settings to default.

KeyTweak consumes a low amount of system CPU and memory, and contains a comprehensive user manual (we cannot access it from the “Help” menu, but you can find it in the installation directory).

The only time KeyTweak pops up errors is when we are playing in “Full Teach Mode” (the program automatically closes). Otherwise, this tool comes in handy for users of any level of experience.\

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2 more ways to disable the Windows key on your keyboard

2 more ways to disable the Windows key on your keyboard

Mistakenly pressing the Windows key while operating a time-sensitive application can lead to disaster. Here are more ways to disable the feature in Microsoft Windows 10.

Image: Anton Smirnov, Getty Images/iStockphoto

In a previous article, “How to disable the Windows key on your keyboard,” we discussed two ways to disable the Windows key on a standard Windows 10 keyboard. Those two methods involved making changes to the Windows Registry file through the regedit app or through the Group Policy Editor. However, those aren’t the only two methods available.

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The next method for disabling the Windows key also involves the editing of the Windows Registry file, but this time we will be using a special key known as ScancodeMap. In a nutshell, we are going to change the behavior of the Windows key by assigning it a new function. The trick is knowing the proper binary number entry to make the change.

How to disable the Windows key with ScancodeMap

Disclaimer: Editing the Windows Registry file is a serious undertaking. A corrupted Windows Registry file could render your computer inoperable, requiring a reinstallation of the Windows 10 operating system and potential loss of data. Back up the Windows 10 Registry file and create a valid restore point before you proceed.

To start, type “regedit” into the desktop search box and select Registry Editor in the results. Once the Windows Registry file is open, navigate to this key:

As you can see in Figure A, there is currently no ScancodeMap key, so we will have to create one.

Figure A

Figure A

Right-click on the Keyboard Layout folder and select New | Binary Value and give the new key the name ScancodeMap, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

Figure B

Double-click the ScancodeMap key you just created to open the entry screen shown in Figure C.

Figure C

Figure C

You will have to enter the binary code into the Value Data field by hand. Warning, the code is long, so type it in carefully. The code is:

When you are finished, you see a Value Data field that looks exactly like Figure D.

Figure D

Figure D

Click OK to lock in your entry, close regedit, and then restart your computer. The Windows key will now be completely disabled.

An alternative method for editing the ScancodeMap

Many years ago, I wrote a tip for TechRepublic explaining how to remap the Caps Lock key on a standard Windows keyboard. “How to remap the Caps Lock key and avoid future frustration,” explained how to acquire and use an old utility found in the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit.

This utility essentially performs the same ScancodeMap edit we just performed, only using a graphical user interface. The utility also provides users with the ability to change more than just a single key. Technically, you could completely remap the keyboard layout to your liking.

In this case, you could remap the Windows key to do something useful, like be your new Caps Lock key, for example. Regardless of what function, or non-function, you choose, with the Windows Server 2003 utility you can make the change without having to type in a long binary string of numbers. Perhaps this is the best option of all the Windows key disabling methods we have mentioned.

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What to Know

• In Word, select the File tab. Select Options at the bottom of the left pane. Choose Customize Ribbon in the left pane.
• In the Choose commands from list, select Customize next to Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Select Reset All >Yes >Close >OK.

This article explains how to reset the keyboard shortcuts and keys to the defaults in Microsoft Word. This information applies to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.

Reset the Keyboard Shortcuts in Word

If you’re a regular Word user, you may have altered some of the keyboard shortcuts to suit the way you use the program. If so, and you want to return to the original shortcuts, here’s how to do it.

Open Word and select the File tab.

Select Options at the bottom of the left pane of the File window. Word Options will open.

Select Customize Ribbon in the left pane.

Select Customize next to Keyboard Shortcuts beneath the Choose Commands From list. The Customize Keyboard window will open.

Select the Reset All button at the bottom of the Customize Keyboard window.

Select Yes to confirm that you want to reset the key assignments.

Select Close and then select OK to exit the Word Options window. All custom keyboard shortcuts will be removed and any default shortcuts that had been changed will be restored to their initial settings.

Resetting customized keyboard shortcuts will remove all shortcut keys currently assigned to any macros or styles in the default Word template. This action cannot be undone, so be sure you want to remove these before continuing. It is wise to review the customizations you have made. If in doubt, reassign keystrokes and command keys individually.

About Word’s Shortcut Keys

Now that your Word shortcuts are reset take the time to memorize a few of the most useful ones. If you get used to using them, you’ll increase your productivity. Here are a few of the most helpful and commonly used keyboard shortcuts for Word:

• Ctrl+W closes the active document or window.
• Ctr+S saves the document.
• Ctrl+P prints the document.
• Ctrl+Z undoes an action.
• Ctrl+Y redoes an action.
• Ctrl+K inserts a hyperlink.
• Ctrl+B applies or removes bold format.
• Ctrl+I applies or removes italic format.
• Alt, F, A is Save As.
• Alt, W, R shows or hides the ruler.
• Alt+Left Arrow goes back one page.
• Alt+Right Arrow goes forward one page.
• Ctrl+Shift+A changes the text to all capitals.

There are plenty more shortcuts where these came from, but this selection will get you started.

Formerly Key Mapper

An easy to use tool to change the mapping of your input device buttons.
Supports mice, keyboards, gamepads, X11, Wayland, combined buttons and programmable macros.
Allows mapping non-keyboard events (click, joystick, wheel) to keys of keyboard devices.

Get a .deb file from the release page or install the latest changes via:

input-remapper is now part of Debian Unstable and of Ubuntu

Dependencies: python3-evdev ≥1.3.0, gtksourceview4 , python3-devel , python3-pydantic , python3-pydbus

Python packages need to be installed globally for the service to be able to import them. Don’t use –user

If it doesn’t seem to install, you can also try sudo python3 setup.py install

The beta branch contains features that still require work, but that are ready for testing. It uses a different config path, so your presets won’t break. input-remapper-beta-git can be installed from the AUR. If you are facing problems, please open up an issue.

About

🎮 An easy to use tool to change the mapping of your input device buttons.

So in Microsoft Teams,Ctrl+Shit+M mutes.

I want this to be handier so I tried a remap to CapsLock:

On a test call in Teams, neither capsLock nor the original shortcut works, however

p.s. in case anyone mentions it, on The Scripts and functions forum there is a script for toggling the mute, that myself and other users could not get to work.

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Thanks, this worked in Teams!!
The second option did not.

Can’t believe the wired guy put it in the wrong order for remapping.

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wired wrote: let’s say you keep accidentally hitting Caps Lock when you mean to hit Shift, and you’d like to remap it so both buttons are Shift keys. To do this, you would only need the following line:

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Yes, that’s because you want a press of Capslock to be remapped to send ^+M

in the wired article, where he says:

He has Capslock on ‘the other side’ because he wants ^+!n to be remapped to toggle Capslock and, as pointed out above, that does actually work (it’s horrible, imo – but works)

I can see how it might have confused you seeing CapsLock on ‘the other side’ in an example – but that’s because, there, he is mapping in the opposite direction to what you want.

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Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center software provides default commands for all of the mouse buttons. You can reassign some buttons to different commands or keyboard shortcuts to better fit your work style. You can also disable buttons you might press accidentally, such as the wheel button. If you don’t have the software or want to learn more, go to Mouse & Keyboard Center Download.

To reassign a button across all applications

Using the mouse that you want to configure, start Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center.

Select basic settings.

Select the button that you want to reassign.

In the list of the button that you want to reassign, select a command.
To disable a button, select Disable this button.

You must assign the Click command to either the left or right button. You can assign this command to additional buttons if you want.

Reassigned button commands may not work as expected for some programs or games. Some programs or games may not support customized button assignments.

Some mouse models include specialized buttons that cannot be reassigned.

How do I reassign my mouse buttons for a specific application?

You can assign mouse buttons to perform different commands in different programs. For example, you can assign the same mouse button to activate Digital Ink when in PowerPoint, a macro when in a game, and the Magnifier when in any other application.

To reassign a button for a specific program

Using the mouse that you want to configure, start Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center.

Select the app-specific settings.

Click Add New button, select the program that you want.
If the program that you want is not on the list, click Manually Add a Program at the bottom, select the program.

In the button command list, select a command.

To use a button that has been reassigned for a specific program

Start the program and click the reassigned button.

Note: If you open a program by using the Run as administrator command, you will not have access to application-specific mouse button settings. Instead, the mouse will use the global mouse button assignments. To enable application-specific mouse button settings, open the application without administrator credentials, or log on to Windows as an administrator.

What to Know

• Go to System Preferences >Keyboard >Shortcuts.
• Choose an item from the left pane, and then select the current key shortcut. Type the new command you want to use.
• You can’t completely remap the keyboard.

You may not be able to make something different happen when you press the “F” key on your Mac, but you can set up custom shortcuts to make it easier to get around macOS. This article explains how to do it.

How Do You Reassign Keys on a Mac Keyboard?

Your Mac’s System Preferences app contains various ways to add shortcuts and other features to your keyboard.

Screenshots in this article apply to a MacBook Pro; you may see some different menu options on a desktop Mac, but the process will be the same.

Select the Apple menu on your Mac, and then click System Preferences.

Select Keyboard.

If you’re using a MacBook with a Touch Bar, you’ll see an important option on the first screen: Press Fn key to:. You can use the Function key to do other things using this menu – Expand Control Strip, Show Quick Actions, and Show Spaces – but you should leave it at Show F1, F2, etc. Keys to make the next step work better.

Click Shortcuts to see more options.

In the left column, you’ll see the different categories of shortcuts you can set. Browse them to create and change shortcuts for screenshots, accessibility, and the Function keys.

When you find a shortcut you want to change, click the existing key combination on the right.

With the key command highlighted, press the new combination you want to use.

Add one or more modifiers like Fn, Shift, Control, Option, and Command to create a unique shortcut.

The new shortcut will replace the old one, and you can start using it immediately.

Repeat these steps for all of the shortcuts you want to create or change. A command with no active shortcut will say none on the right side.

To disable a shortcut without deleting it, click the checkbox next to its name.

What Kinds of Shortcuts Can I Create?

The Shortcuts tab includes several categories of commands you can set. Here’s a quick rundown of each of their contents.

• Launchpad & Dock: Call up the Mac Dock and Launchpad app.
• Mission Control: Perform tasks like opening macOS’ Notification Center, toggle Do Not Disturb, and show the Desktop.
• Screenshots: Set shortcuts to take, save, copy, and paste all or part of your screen.
• Services: Quickly send emails, post on Twitter, do internet searches, and more.
• Spotlight: Open Spotlight Search to search both the web and your computer.
• Accessibility: Turn on the Zoom feature, activate VoiceOver, and adjust display settings to make documents and applications easier to see.
• Function Keys: Add applications to this window to show the F1, F2, etc., keys on a MacBook’s Touch Bar instead of having to press the Fn key to reveal them.

Can I Reassign Keyboard Keys?

While you can use keyboard keys like letters and numbers in your shortcuts, you can’t completely reassign them (for example, type in a different language). Instead, you can go to the Input Sources tab in Keyboard Preferences and use the plus button to add a different layout.

How do I temporarily lock my MacBook keyboard?

Use the keyboard shortcut Control+Shift+Power to lock your MacBook or Command+Option+Power to put your MacBook to sleep. For extra security, disable automatic login so that authentication is required to unlock your computer.

How do I change the keyboard language on Mac?

Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Input sources and check the box next to Show Input menu in the menu bar. Select the Plus (+) in the lower-left corner and choose a language to add. To switch between installed language keyboards on macOS, select the Input menu in the menu bar and choose the language you want to use.

How do I enable the on-screen keyboard for Mac?

Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Keyboard > Accessibility Keyboard > Enable Accessibility Keyboard. You can also turn on the Accessibility Keyboard from the Input menu by selecting Show Keyboard Viewer.

How do I use the emoji keyboard on Mac?

Press Control+Command+Spacebar to bring up emojis, then select the expand icon in the upper-right corner to open the Character Viewer. Alternatively, select Character Viewer from the Input menu. For some emojis, you can click and hold to see other variations.

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Keytweak is a keyword remapper that is compatible with all NT based versions of the Windows operating system including Windows XP, Windows Vista and even newer versions of the Windows operating system even those were never officially supported by the developer.

The main difference between Keytweak and Sharp Keys, the remap keyboard tool that we reviewed a week ago, is mainly the graphical user interface and the better help system that Keytweak is offering.

KeyTweak

KeyTweak displays a full keyword plus specialty buttons in its interface when you launch it on your system. A click on a button on that virtual keyboard will display the current keyboard mapping of the key and the option to remap the key using a pulldown menu. One interesting and very helpful feature of the software program is that it is showing the default keys of the selected keys so that you can undo any of the changes made and restore the original mapping.

This means that it is possible to remap keys and undo the changes easily by either remapping the key to the default one again or by clicking on the restore Default button in the lower half of the interface.

The interface looks a bit crowded as it lists lots of buttons and options. It is not that complicated once you understand that the “specialty buttons” section lists keys that you may find on some keyboards only.

Another option provided by the keyboard remapper is to disable a key completely. Could be used to disable keys that you don’t require at all or hit accidentally at times. The specialty buttons section contains buttons for many multimedia and specialty buttons that are available on several keyboards. It is possible to remap those keys as well.

Keytweak comes with a teaching mode that can be used to remap keys as well. It works by simply pressing two keys on the keyboard with the option to remap key 1 to key 2. The main benefit of Keytweak is the visual representation of the keyboard and that it is easy to restore the keyboard defaults. All remapped keys are underlined in the program interface.

Update: KeyTweak’s homepage is no longer available. We have uploaded the latest version of the program to our own download server. You can download the program with a click on the following link. Please note that we don’t support it in any way and have done so only for archiving purposes: KeyTweak

In Windows 95 or 98 , you can remap the keys on your keyboard without changing the entire keyboard layout by using the ZDKeyMap utility. This is a free utility published by Ziff Davis. To get this tool, follow these steps:

1. In your web browser , go to the following web page:
2. Scroll down to the “Keyboard Modifications” section and click the link labeled zdkeym.zip to download ZDKeyMap 1.0.
3. When asked whether you wish to open or save the file to disk, click Save it to disk , and then click OK .
4. Save the file to a temporary directory (e.g., the temp folder on the hard drive).
5. Since the file is a zip archive, you will need a zip program (e.g., WinZip ) to unzip it. If you do not have a zip program installed, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: What is WinZip, and how do I install it?
6. Open Windows Explorer , find the folder in which you saved the zip file, and double-click it.
7. Extract the files to the same temporary directory. If you use WinZip, click Extract . Once the files have been extracted, close the zip program.
8. In Windows Explorer, right-click the file Zdkeymap.inf , click Install , and then restart your computer.
9. To remap keys, open the Keyboard control panel and choose the Key Mapping tab.

This is document agsj in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:25:45 .

Some of my keyboard keys has gone, so I’m trying to program the other keys that are still working to press the damaged keys when I press them twice. Is that possible? Is there any program that can help me in doing that?

I want to remap the key J to give ‘m’ when I press it twice.

NB: My laptop is a MacBook Pro 13″ Unibody Mid 2012

3 Answers 3

Set aliases for characters, strings or complete lines

UNLESS you are using wayland (Ubuntu 17.10, tested on Ubuntu Budgie 18.04, but Ubuntu Gnome 18.04 should be fine too), the snippet below will help you out.

How it works in practice

Press Ctrl + J (or any other shortcut you set)

Type your “alias” (e.g. jj for m), the result shows (m), and the text will immediately be inserted at cursor position (or, if you prefer, after tapping Ctrl ).

This script provides a single solution to set aliasses for a character, a string or even complete lines, just set the “alias” in the lines:

In the latter case, typing “mb” will paste “monkey eats banana”:

Setting up

You need to satisfy a few dependencies:

Log out and back in.

Copy the script below into an empty file, save it as replace_keys.py

Set up your aliasses (KEEP THE INDENTATION!) in the section:

If you want, change

if you like to insert immediately without tapping Ctrl

Set up a shortcut key with Ctrl as modifier. I used Ctrl + J in my test to run the script by the command:

I have two machines that have this problem of worn out/broken keys. I have found two solutions:

Spend ten bucks for a WiFi USB keyboard (Logitech has a good one). Generally the BIOS will see it and grab it before the OS.

Load a remote control piece of software (RealVNC is free for small setups and will cross different OSs)

Both work depending on the access needed.

Although @jacobvlijm ‘s answer is more specific, another alternative is to use a program like AutoKey . It does many things to automate your desktop by generating keyboard and mouse input from trigger phrases and hotkey presses.

In particular, you can define a phrase for each of the broken keys and have it triggered by a trigger phrase that is any combination of working keypresses not likely to occur in your actual typing. These phrases can be set to trigger immediately from within a word.

There’s also an option that puts the trigger text you just typed back in if you immediately press the backspace key if you ever need the trigger characters as is.

All of this can be configured using the AutoKey GUI interface with no actual coding required.

For more complex requirements, AutoKey can run full Python scripts triggered by phrases or hotkeys which are only limited by the user’s imagination and knowledge of Python.

Office 2016 All-in-One For Dummies

In Microsoft Word, you can change the keyboard shortcuts. A keyboard shortcut is a combination of keys that you press to give a command. For example, pressing Ctrl+P opens the Print window; pressing Ctrl+S gives the Save command. If you don’t like a keyboard shortcut in Word, you can change it and invent a keyboard shortcut of your own. You can also assign keyboard shortcuts to symbols, macros, fonts, building blocks, and styles.

Follow these steps to choose keyboard shortcuts of your own in Microsoft Word:

On the File tab, choose Options.

You see the Word Options dialog box.

Go to the Customize Ribbon category.

Click the Customize button (you can find it at the bottom of the dialog box next to the words “Keyboard Shortcuts”).

You see the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

In the Categories list, choose the category with the command to which you want to assign the keyboard shortcut.

At the bottom of the list are the Macros, Fonts, Building Blocks, Styles, and Common Symbols categories.

Choose the command name, macro, font, building block, style, or symbol name in the Commands list.

In the Press New Shortcut Key box, type the keyboard shortcut.

Press the actual keys. For example, if the shortcut is Ctrl+8, press the Ctrl key and the 8 key — don’t type out C-t-r-l-+8.

If you try to assign a shortcut that has already been assigned, the words “Currently assigned to” and a command name appear below the Current Keys box. You can override the preassigned keyboard assignment by entering a keyboard assignment of your own.

If you want the keyboard shortcut changes you make to apply to the document you’re working on, not to all documents created with the template you’re working with, open the Save Changes In drop-down list and choose your document’s name.

Click the Assign button.

When you finish assigning keyboard shortcuts, close the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

To delete a keyboard shortcut, display it in the Current Keys box, select it, and click the Remove button. You can always get the old keyboard shortcuts back by clicking the Reset All button in the Customize Keyboard dialog box.

Don’t feel like customizing your keyboard shortcuts? In the graphic below, we provide a standard list of commonly used shortcuts as well as shortcuts that are specific to programs in the Office 2016 suite.

From using existing keyboard shortcuts to creating your own keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find ways to get the most out of Office 2016.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Peter Weverka is a veteran For Dummies author. In addition to previous books on Microsoft Office, Peter has written guides to Windows, the Internet, and Quicken.

It’s not too complicated to create your own keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10. Just right-click the executable for whatever it is you want to create a shortcut to, click Properties, then enter your command into a box. (More on creating custom shortcuts here.)

But what if you want to change the default keyboard shortcuts that Windows 10 has foisted on you, such as a much more convenient shortcut instead of Ctrl + Shift + Esc to access the task manager or for Ctrl + S to use an alternative search tool? For this, we need a tool called AutoHotKey.

Here we show you how to change the keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10 using this great tool.

Also read: 15 Useful Windows Registry Hacks to Optimize Your Experience

Meet AutoHotKey

So let’s start with the bad news, which is that there is no native way to change the default keyboard shortcuts in Windows. After all these years, Microsoft still isn’t willing to offer that simple bit of flexibility, presumably for fear that you’ll want to use its shortcuts to access non-Microsoft apps … which is probably the case.

Instead, you’re going to have to create scripts for every shortcut key that you want to replace. Don’t worry, this process is actually made pretty easy thanks to a great tool called AutoHotkey. This is a script creator tool that can be used for all kinds of creative purposes, but today we are looking specifically at how you can use it to change the default Windows shortcuts.

Next, we familiarize you with the basics of the Auto Hotkey syntax you need to know to change Windows shortcuts. Most Windows shortcuts use some combination of the below buttons, so this should be enough to get you started.

If you want to type a letter, you just literally type that letter, while buttons like Esc , Del and others can also be directly typed into your script. You can find a convenient list of the main Auto Hotkey syntax at this site.

Also read: 13 of the Best Typing Games and Apps for Everyone

Change Default Windows Shortcut

Once you’ve done that, on the Windows desktop, right-click an empty space, then select “New -> Auto Hotkey script,” and call it something recognizable. We’re going to create a better shortcut for getting to the task manager ( Ctrl + Shift + Esc by default), so we are calling our shortcut “Task Manager.”

Next, right-click the script you just created and click “Edit Script.” Based on the syntax we showed above, the shortcut you should enter here is as follows:

First enter the shortcut you want to use and follow this with ::Send , then a space and the shortcut you want your custom shortcut to replace. Because the Esc key is a command rather than a standard key, we put it in the special brackets.

With all your keyboard shortcut replacements, we recommend adding a second line to the script with the text #NoTrayIcon . This will block the Auto Hotkey tray icon from popping up, ensuring that the whole process stays in the background.

Once your script is ready, close it and save it, then double-click the script to run it and test your keyboard shortcut to see if it does what it should.

Also read: Hidden Windows 11 Features for Power Users

Change Program Shortcut

Next, let’s try redirecting the default Windows Search shortcut Win + S to an alternative search tool we like called Search Everything. Type in the following command:

The :: is what separates the hotkey from the action you want it to perform. The bit before this is the hotkey we are entering ( Win + S in this case), and the bit after run is the command to open the Search Everything app.

Also read: How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts in Gmail

Run Shortcuts at Windows Startup

Your shortcuts work as soon as you boot Windows and move the .ahk script to your system startup folder in File Explorer – C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartUp . Do the same for all your keyboard shortcut replacements. That way they’ll all be working as soon as you boot your PC.

It’s a little bit of effort, but it certainly works to change the default keyboard shortcuts in Windows. As a bonus, you’ve also learned the absolute basics of AutoHotKey – an extremely handy tool capable of running scripts much more complex than the ones we mention here.

If you want to stay knee-deep in Windows, see our list of the best sandbox applications for Windows 10, and how to convert legacy BIOS to UEFI in the OS.

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Important Notes

• Although a joystick button or axis can be remapped to become a key or mouse button, it cannot be remapped to some other joystick button or axis. That would be possible only with the help of a joystick emulator such as vJoy.
• AutoHotkey identifies each button on a joystick with a unique number between 1 and 32. To determine these numbers, use the joystick test script.

Making a Joystick Button Send Keystrokes or Mouse Clicks

Different Approaches

Below are three approaches, starting at the simplest and ending with the most complex. The most complex method works in the broadest variety of circumstances (such as games that require a key or mouse button to be held down).

Method #1

This method sends simple keystrokes and mouse clicks. For example:

To have a button perform more than one command, put the first command beneath the button name and make the last command a return. For example:

See the Key List for the complete list of keys and mouse/joystick buttons.

Method #2

This method is necessary in cases where a key or mouse button must be held down for the entire time that you’re holding down a joystick button. The following example makes the joystick’s second button become the left-arrow key:

Method #3

This method is necessary in cases where you have more than one joystick hotkey of the type described in Method #2, and you sometimes press and release such hotkeys simultaneously. The following example makes the joystick’s third button become the left mouse button:

Auto-repeating a Keystroke

Some programs or games might require a key to be sent repeatedly (as though you are holding it down on the keyboard). The following example achieves this by sending spacebar keystrokes repeatedly while you hold down the joystick’s second button:

Context-sensitive Joystick Buttons

The directives #IfWinActive/Exist can be used to make selected joystick buttons perform a different action (or none at all) depending on the type of window that is active or exists.

Using a Joystick as a Mouse

The Joystick-To-Mouse script converts a joystick into a mouse by remapping its buttons and axis control.

Making Other Joystick Controls Send Keystrokes or Mouse Clicks

To have a script respond to movement of a joystick’s axis or POV hat, use SetTimer and GetKeyState().

Joystick Axes

The following example makes the joystick’s X and Y axes behave like the arrow key cluster on a keyboard (left, right, up, and down):

Joystick POV Hat

The following example makes the joystick’s POV hat behave like the arrow key cluster on a keyboard; that is, the POV hat will send arrow keystrokes (left, right, up, and down):

Auto-repeating a Keystroke

Both examples above can be modified to send the key repeatedly rather than merely holding it down (that is, they can mimic physically holding down a key on the keyboard). To do this, replace the following line:

With the following:

Remarks

A joystick other than first may be used by preceding the button or axis name with the number of the joystick. For example, 2Joy1 would be the second joystick’s first button.

To find other useful joystick scripts, visit the AutoHotkey forum. A keyword search such as Joystick and GetKeyState and Send is likely to produce topics of interest.

AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.

macOS Sierra has ushered in a number of new changes for Mac users, including the ability to remap the modifier keys, like the escape, control, command, or option keys to another hardware button. Here’s how to do it.

The remapping ability isn’t necessarily new to macOS 10.12.1. You could previously remap the functions for the caps lock, control, option, or command keys. It is, however, the first time that you can remap the Escape key without using a third-party utility.

This could come in handy for users who would like to keep the hardware ability to map the escape key to a different, less used mechanical key, rather than a touch action, if the rumors about the OLED Magic Toolbar replacing the hardware F-keys on the new MacBook Pros are true.

How to remap the Escape to a hardware key in 4 Steps

To remap the Escape key to another hardware key:

1. Open System Preferences and find Keyboard.

2. Select the Modifier Keys option located in the bottom right corner.

3. Select the drop down box that is next to the hardware key that you’d like to remap. Then select Escape.

4. Finally, click OK then close System Preferences.

Remapping function keys can come in handy for a variety of reasons. Third-party keyboards often aren’t oriented well for Mac users, and the ability to swap the Windows key and the alt key on the keyboard can be helpful. Also, if you never actually use the large caps lock key, you can now make it useful by making it an escape key.

Windows 10 gives you the freedom to change keyboard shortcuts according to your own choice. Changing keyboard combination to a particular one will allow you to launch a program quickly and enable you to get easy access. Customized keyboard shortcuts will help you to locate your favorite program effortlessly, this is common when it comes to budget gaming keyboards. The customization of keyboard shortcuts allows you to do your stuff quickly in no time.

The key combinations help you to open a program and perform repeated tasks rapidly. It also enhances your work productivity without wasting much time searching for a particular program or icon. In this review, I will tell you about the customization of keyboard shortcuts. You can choose between three options to change the existing keyboard shortcuts with the new combination very quickly.

How To Change Keyboard Shortcuts On Windows 10

You can change keyboard shortcuts by using windows, third-party programs, and from the inside applications. Before changing keyboard shortcuts, it is essential to know about the already existing shortcuts. Learning about the keyboard shortcuts ensures that the combinations you create do not exist already or are not identical to those already set up.

Adding New Shortcut Keys To A Program Or Website

Adding a new shortcut combination to a program or a website on a desktop is easy and the simplest method. First of all, open a file explorer. Right-click on the desired program for which you want to change a keyboard combination. Click on the properties and then on the shortcut option. Now enter the shortcut combination of your choice for the desire program or website.

Add a letter for the new shortcut combination like, for example, the letter “S.” The shortcut along with your assigned letter will be read as “Alt + ctrl +S. On the shortcut key text bar, you can also choose function keys (F1 to F12). Now click Apply and then OK to proceed with the operation. Press the new shortcut key combination you have set to test it out. You will see the desired program will open when you press the new combo of keyboard shortcuts.

Adding New Shortcut Keys To Shutdown, Restart / Logoff

Create a new shortcut for shutting down your computer, restarting, and logging it off by right-clicking on the Desktop. Click on the new and then shortcut. A window will appear with the option “type the location of the item.” For setting a shortcut of shutting down a computer, type “shutdown.exe – s – t 00.” use “shutdown.exe – r – t 00” for restarting a computer and type shutdown.exe – L – t 00” for logging off a computer. Click on Next and write the title for the shortcut you have typed.

For example, you can write log off if you have given the shortcut “shutdown.exe – L – t 00”. Click on the Finish. A new shortcut will appear on a desktop. Repeat the process as discussed above for adding a shortcut combination to these operations. Right-click on the shortcut on the desktop, now click on the properties. Click on the shortcut bar and type a shortcut key combination for the operation. Once you are finished with the process, test the shortcut key.

Creating A New Shortcut Key With Third-Party Programs

You are available with many third-party software programs to help you set up the new shortcut /hotkeys on Windows 10. I will start with an old one that is WinHotKey. It is easier to use and will cost you nothing. It will help you customize your keyboard shortcuts, and it works perfectly on Windows 10. Download the WinHotKey setup.

Now open it to Windows. Click on the new hotkey bar. Now specify a hotkey for any application you want in the option “I want WinHotKey to.” you can choose ctrl, alt, shift, or the window keys. Associate any action you want with these keys and finish the operation by clicking ok. Another new and advanced shortcut creator is AutoHotkey which you can use to change the keyboard shortcuts.

This app is simple to use. Download it first and when the icon appears on the desktop. Now right-click on the AutoHotkey icon. The option, “New AutoHotkey script,” type the desired shortcut key with its suffix. Click on the Ok when you are finished typing your desired shortcut combination. This app requires more time than the old one. It gives you a complete guide to help you out with the program.

Change The Keyboard Shortcuts With In the Applications

The applications you use regularly can also be given keyboard shortcuts for easy access. Let’s take the example of Microsoft Word. open the Word document. Select file, go to options, then click on the customized Ribbon. Replace the already existing keyboard shortcuts with the ones you desire. If you want to make these shortcuts specific for the document you are using, click the Save changes option.

Another program that gives the freedom of changing Keyboard shortcuts is Adobe Photoshop. For that, click on the Edit option, select keyboard shortcuts. Write the keyboard combinations of your choice. It is important to note that you start with “Alt+Shift+Ctrl+k.”

Tips For Choosing Keyboard Shortcuts

When setting a new keyboard shortcut, note that the first letter of the program conforms with the shortcut you have used. It will help you remember the shortcut in the longer run. Labels to the keyboard also help in remembering the shortcut. Shortcuts work on all the applications.

Your new keyboard shortcuts can change another app’s function, so make sure to press the right combination. When setting a keyboard shortcut, you should start with the “Ctrl” key. Use the second key as “Alt” or “Shift.” Your third letter for the shortcut should be any number, alphabet, or punctuation mark of your choice.

Conclusion

Locating an application or accessing different programs with the help of your keyboard is an efficient way to save time and enhance your workflow. One of the best features of Windows 10 is that it allows you to customize your keyboard shortcuts within the windows and with the help of third-party applications. This review will guide you to change the keyboard shortcuts on Windows 10, so you can open and close any application with a single keystroke.

Given “part II” of this Keyboard Remapping bit, it became obvious to me that I would be spending more and more time hacking the Registry, just to remap keys, especially with my ThinkPad. Even though IBM gave me an application to change keys, and Microsoft gave me IntelliType utilities, both meant that drivers would have to be loaded, and that sorta irked me for some reasons… call it a throw back to the days of TSR programs, but I get “itchy feet” when I have to leave unnecessary drivers loaded.

The nice thing about this is that I’m not doing much of anything; I’m just exposing work that Microsoft has done for us. As should be no surprise to anyone by now, there’s a Registry hack that allows you to map one key to another within Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Nice thing about that is that there’s no extra drivers that need to be loaded – it’s built into Windows. Bad thing about that is that it’s a bit of a bugger, finding the scan codes for the keys you want to remap, and then getting all of the values right. Not impossible, given that it’s been done before, but it is a pain in the ass.

Enter SharpKeys. It’s an interactive Registry hack and it’s simple. Open SharpKeys and it reads in the current value of the “magic” Registry value. Make whatever changes you want and you can write this back out to your Registry. Reboot (or log out and back in – that sometimes works) and you’re done: the remapped keys should be working now.

Should be working? Yeah, should be working. Some of the newer keyboards have funky extra keys and while I tried to get a bunch of them, I’m pretty sure that they all won’t work – I’m hoping for most of them to work. If you know of a special key’s code that is on many keyboards, please e-mail me with it – I can add it in future releases… of course, if you know the scan code, you probably have no need for this hack in the first place!

Beyond that, here’s the obvious: Use this at your own risk! As much as I’d love to write perfect code, I know that I never do and this is something that’s in a very “dangerous” part of your computer. OK, so my code is 99.44% accurate most times, but still. [insert gacking sound here] If you aren’t comfortable with it, don’t use it, especially when it’s in beta! In spite of having said this, I don’t expect many problems with it – I’m just trying to be honest with everyone out there. Also you must have version 1.1 of the .NET Framework installed for this to be used. Lastly, I’m told that this Registry hack only works with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 – if anyone tries it and finds that it works on 95/98/Me, please let me know.

And finally, here’s the bits you’ve been reading all this for:

How to Download Call of Duty: WWII Beta

Keyboard issues seem to have gotten worse on the other side of the aisle after Apple’s Butterfly keyboard debacle. Keyboards on Windows laptops are increasingly failing, even on expensive laptops. And as the epidemic continues, it’s hard for people to go out and get it fixed. So, if you want to fix a broken keyboard in Windows 10, you have come to the right place. With a quick Registry hack, you can fix the keyboard on your computer. On that note, let’s go ahead and figure out how to fix a broken keyboard without hardware replacement.

Working Around a Broken Keyboard in Windows 10

1. To fix a broken keyboard in Windows 10, you need to: Download SharpKeys (Free). It is a free utility that helps you remap broken keys to other working keys. I can say that SharpKeys is one of the most useful Windows 10 apps. Just click the MSI link to download the installer.

2. Now. Install the app and then open it. Here I’m going Fix my Print Screen key broken on my laptop keyboard. Click “Add” to get started.

3. On the left, select key not working. You have to manually go through the list and find the specific key. For example, I chose “PrtSc” here.

4. On the right, you can simply: Click on “Type the Key” and then press the key on the keyboard that you want to remap the broken key. You can also do this manually, but it will take a lot of your time. In my case I pressed the “End” key and SharpKeys detected it correctly. Now, press “OK”.

5. Finally, “Write to Registry” and then restart your computer. Now the corrupted key will be remapped to a new working key and you can perform the custom action of the key without any issues. For example, I can now easily take a screenshot using the Win + End shortcut in Windows 10 (End acts as Print Screen).

6. If you just disable a specific key then manually select the corrupted key on the left side and select “Turn Off Key” on the right. The option is located at the top. After that, click “Write to Registry” and restart the computer. If you want to completely disable a laptop keyboard then follow our linked guide.

7. If you want delete key remapping then select the key combination and click “Delete”. Next, click “Write to Registry” and restart the computer. This will restore the original functionality of the key.

By Amy | Follow | Last Updated October 26, 2021

Summary :

This post focuses on Fn lock, including its features, opening, and closing. Based on that, it offers you some extra information about it. To learn more, keep reading this post of MiniTool.

Quick Navigation :

• What Does the Fn Key Do
• Way 1: Utilize Keyboard Settings
• Way 2: Modify the BIOS/UEFI Settings
• User Comments

What Does the Fn Key Do

Fn is short for function. It allows you to access the second assignment of a key. By pressing the Fn key and other function keys like F1-F12, you can reach additional functions related to these keys.

Keys with an Fn key and F Lock key offer two sets of commands for many keys. Standard commands are labelled on the fronts of the keys (like F3), while alternate commands are labelled on top of the keys (like Redo).

In some cases, the function of a standard command and an alternate command may be the same. To be specific, F1 usually shows Help for the active window, and the alternate command for F1 is also Help on some keyboards.

If your keyboard has an F lock key, you can press it to toggle between the standard commands and alternate commands. When the F Lock light is off, alternate functions work (Help, Undo, and so forth). When the F Lock light is on, standard functions work (F1, F2, and so on).

The table below summaries the default key assignments for the alternate command keys. Many of them can be reassigned through the Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center.

How to turn off Fn lock? Here are two ways for you. Pick one based on your demand now!

What can you do to fix the keyboard not working in BIOS error? This post would show you how to enable keyboards in BIOS and offer you some fixes.

Way 1: Utilize Keyboard Settings

The fastest way to lock or unlock the Fn key is to use the keyboard settings. If you indeed have a function lock key, directly press it and the Fn key to lock Fn keys. To unlock Fn lock, repeat the operation again.

Generally speaking, the Fn lock key is represented by a lock symbol and situated under the Esc (Escape) key. If you don’t find it, find if its is located in elsewhere. Besides, you need to note that some keyboards don’t have the Fn key at all.

Way 2: Modify the BIOS/UEFI Settings

You can enable or disable the Fn key from BIOS. Disabling or locking the Fn key changes dual-use keys into single-use. Nevertheless, the method to lock the Fn key via BIOS or UEFI settings requires your system to have advanced BIOS options.

Here are detailed steps to turn off Fn lock by changing the BIOS or UEFI settings.

Step 1: Turn off your PC and then turn on it again. While booting, press a BIOS key to enter the BIOS of your computer.

Step 2: Click on the System Configuration tab, and then find and click the Action Key Mode setting.

Note: On modern Dell laptops, you need to turn off Fn lock key by clicking Advanced > Function Key Behavior.

Step 3: You will get a prompted menu after pressing the Enter key. After that, choose Disable and press F10 and Enter keys to save the changes.

Who blocked me on Twitter? How to see how many people blocked you on Twitter? If you are wondering these questions, this post is worth reading.

Further reading:

If you want to enable function lock on the All-in-One Media Keyboard, press the Fn and Caps Lock key simultaneously. To disable the Fn key on this keyboard, repeat the operation again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Position: Columnist

Having writing articles about computer tech for a long time, I am rather experienced especially on the aspect of computer optimization, PC enhancement, as well as tech terms explanation. The habit of looking through tech forums makes me a great computer issues collector. And then, many articles related to these issues are released, which benefit plenty of users. Professional, effective, and innovative are always the pursuit of an editing worker.

There have been many life-changing Linux moments for me, but most fade into my backstory as they become the status quo. There’s one little keyboard trick Linux taught me that I’m reminded of every time I use it (maybe 1,000 times a day), and that’s converting the Caps Lock key to Ctrl.

I never use Caps Lock, but I use the Ctrl key all day for copying, pasting, navigating within Emacs, and invoking Bash, GNU Screen, or tmux actions. Caps Lock occupies valuable real estate on my keyboard, forcing the actually useful Ctrl key down to the awkward-to-reach bottom corner.

This is as painful as it looks. (Seth Kenlon, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Remapping Ctrl increased my typing and navigation speed and has probably saved me from repetitive stress injuries.

The case of the disappearing control

More Linux resources

• Linux commands cheat sheet
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• SELinux cheat sheet
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• Our latest Linux articles

Buckle in, this is a roller coaster of a history lesson:

Unfortunately for Caps Lock swappers like me, when GNOME 3 came out, it all but removed the ability to change the location of the Ctrl key.

Fortunately, the excellent GNOME Tweaks app brought back these “missing” control panels.

Unfortunately, GNOME 40 has no GNOME Tweaks app (yet?)

Also, unfortunately, the old xmodmap hack that used to work on X11 is useless on the new Wayland display server.

For a short while (an afternoon at best), I felt things were looking dim for people who hate Caps Lock. Then I remembered I am a user of open source, and there’s always a way around something as simple as an overlooked GUI control panel.

dconf

The GNOME desktop uses dconf, a database that stores important configuration options. It’s the backend to GSettings, which is the system GNOME applications interface with when they need to discover system preferences. You can query the dconf database using the gsetting command, and you can set dconf key values directly with the dconf command.

GSettings

The dconf database isn’t necessarily what you might call discoverable. It’s a humble database you’re not meant to have to think about, and it holds a lot of data you usually don’t have to interact with directly. However, it does use a sensible schema that’s fun to browse if you want to better understand all of the preference options GNOME has to manage.

You can list all of dconf’s schemas with the list-schemas subcommand. After browsing hundreds of schemas, you might use grep to narrow your focus to something that seems especially relevant, such as org.gnome.desktop :

Whether through a manual search or through reading GSetting documentation, you may notice the org.gnome.desktop.input-sources schema, which helps define the keyboard layout. A GSetting schema, by design, contains keys and values.

Remapping Caps Lock with dconf

The xkb-options key contains optional keyboard overrides. To set this key, use dconf , converting the dots ( . ) in the schema above to slashes ( / ) because the dconf database requires it:

I set caps to ctrl_modifier because I use the Ctrl modifier more than any other modifier, but Vim users may prefer to set it to escape instead.

View your setting

The change takes effect immediately and persists across reboots. It’s a preference you’ve defined in GNOME, so it remains in effect until you change it.

You can view the new value in dconf with gsettings . First, view the available keys:

And then view the settings with the xkb-options key:

Options aplenty

I use this little trick to set Caps Lock as well as the Compose key ( compose:ralt ) on my GNOME 3.4 system. While I believe there are GUI controls in development to control options like these, I also have to admit that the ability to set them programmatically is a luxury I enjoy. As a former admin of systems that had no reliable way to adjust desktop settings, the ability to script my preferences makes setting up a fresh desktop quick and easy.

There are lots of useful options available with GSettings, and the documentation is thorough. If you have something you want to change, take a look at what’s available.