How to remap keys on any keyboard

The keyboard behavior of our computers is subject to change up to a point regardless of the OS. Here’s how.

You may not know this, but you don’t have to live with the default behavior of keyboard keys. If you want them to behave differently, there is an option to customize the thing. Here’s how to do it depending on whether you have a Windows, macOS, or Chrome OS computer.

Windows

The Microsoft PowerToys tool is the best option for this on Windows and you can download it here. PowerToys includes several utilities. Today we are interested in the keyboard manager.

If you choose “Open Settings”you can start changing the behavior of your keys. After activating the “Enable Keyboard Manager”button, click “Remap Key”. Specify the physical key on the keyboard and the keys you want to press, either by selecting them from the list or by pressing directly on the keyboard.

The tool supports everything from simple keystrokes to complex combinations and function keys (Fn). For shortcuts, you will need to select “Remap Shortcut”on the home screen instead of “Remap Key”, but the operation is the same.

There are other alternatives, such as AutoHotKey, which is slightly more complex but more powerful, allowing you to launch applications or fill out forms. There is also WinHotKey, which is older but works great on recent versions of Windows.

macOS

There is a built-in utility for this, but it only works with keyboard shortcuts, not individual keys. Open the Apple menu, then choose System Preferences and then Keyboard and Keyboard Shortcuts. You will then see the active shortcuts sorted by category and you can activate or deactivate them one by one.

To change one, press the current key combination and then the desired new one. If you try to assign an already defined shortcut, you will see a warning with a yellow exclamation point. To undo your changes, click Restore Defaults.

With a third-party app, you can go further. Remap Keyboard, €6.54 (free trial exists) is probably your best bet. Click on the + in the lower left corner to create a new mapping, click on the current key and then on the key or shortcut you want to perform.

To go even further, Alfred is free, but you need the £34 Powerpack extension for version 4 or £59 for all lifetime updates – it’s a complete productivity app, including key remapping. Another option, Keyboard Maestro, which goes even further, with the ability to run programs or macros – free trial, $43.20 including VAT, otherwise -.

Chrome OS

Keyboards on Chromebooks already have their own behavior, but you don’t have to put up with it. Unfortunately, Chrome OS is still relatively young, so you have to be content with what Google has to offer in their OS, and you can’t install third-party tools.

Click on the clock in the bottom right corner, then click on the gear icon to open Chrome OS settings. Then select “Device”, then “Keyboard”. There you have several options. You can set the repeat rate or change the keyboard language. Remapping options are listed at the top of the screen, and these are the only customization options available.

Select from the list to reassign the function of the key. For example, you can click the entry for Launcher and go to the lock key. Shift, if you will. If you don’t like the behavior of the Ctrl and Alt keys, you can change them or even disable them. The assistant button can also be changed.

You can also activate the “Treat top row keys as function keys”option, which, as the name suggests, allows you to activate the functions behind the Fn keys by default instead of using a shortcut.