Remapping keyboard in windows

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How to remap or swap keyboard keys in Windows 7, 8.1 & 10?

• 02 Apr 2017

Maybe a key is broken on your keyboard or you want the keys to function differently than it is intended then you have to remap the keyboard. This post will show you how to solve the problem of broken key or swapping the keys with the help of a tiny utility known as ‘KeyTweak’. This method works on every version of Windows. If you want to remap the keyboard keys in Linux then you can follow this post.

In my keyboard ‘Delete’ key is broken so I am going to remap it to ‘Insert’ key. You can follow the same procedure for remapping other keys as well.

Download and install KeyTweak.zip

If you are on 64-bit Windows then goto following location and open KeyTweak.exe

If you are using 32-bit Windows then goto following location and open KeyTweak.exe

Press the key you want to remap or click the number in KeyTweak window (helpful if key is broken). You don’t need to be confused with the numbers because you can see which key is selected after you click on the its respective number.

Click on ‘Choose New Remapping’ dropdown button and choose the new action you want to assign for the selected key then click on ‘Remap Key’

Finally click on ‘Apply’and restart the computer.

After the reboot you will be able to use your customized mapping. If you face any difficulty while performing the steps mentioned above comment below and also donot forget to share your experience on remapping the keyboard.

Keyboard Manager utility

The PowerToys Keyboard Manager enables you to redefine keys on your keyboard.

For example, you can exchange the letter A for the letter D on your keyboard. When you select the A key, a D will display.

You can also exchange shortcut key combinations. For example, the shortcut key, Ctrl + C , will copy text in Microsoft Word. With PowerToys Keyboard Manager utility, you can exchange that shortcut for вЉћ Win + C ). Now, вЉћ Win + C ) will copy text. If you do not specify a targeted application in PowerToys Keyboard Manager, the shortcut exchange will be applied globally across Windows.

PowerToys Keyboard Manager must be enabled (with PowerToys running in the background) for remapped keys and shortcuts to be applied. If PowerToys is not running, key remapping will no longer be applied.

There are some shortcut keys that are reserved for the operating system and cannot be replaced. Keys that cannot be remapped include:

• вЉћ Win + L and Ctrl + Alt + Del cannot be remapped as they are reserved by the Windows OS.
• The Fn (function) key cannot be remapped (in most cases). The F1 — F12 (and F13 — F24 ) keys can be mapped.
• Pause will only send a sngle keydown event. So mapping it against the backspace key, for instance, and pressing + holding will only delete a single character.

Settings

To create mappings with Keyboard Manager, you will need to open the PowerToys Settings (search for the PowerToys app in your Windows Start menu, selecting it will open the PowerToys Settings window). Inside PowerToys Settings, on the Keyboard Manager tab, you will see the options to:

• Launch the Remap Keyboard settings window by selecting Remap a Key
• Launch the Remap Shortcuts settings window by selecting the Remap a shortcut

Remap Keys

To remap a key, changing it to new value, launch the Remap Keyboard settings window with the Remap a Key button. When first launched, no predefined mappings will be displayed. You must select the + button to add a new remap.

Once a new remap row appears, select the key whose output you want to change in the “Key” column. Select the new key value to assign in the “Mapped To” column.

For example, if you want to press A and have B appear:

To swap key positions between the «A» and «B» keys, add another remapping with:

Key to Shortcut

To remap a key to a shortcut (combination of keys), enter the shortcut key combination in the «Mapped To» column.

For example, if you want to select the «C» key and have it result in «Ctrl + V»:

Key remapping will be maintained even if the remapped key is used in another shortcut. For example, entering the shortcut «Alt + C» would result as «Alt + Ctrl + V», since the C key has been remapped to «Ctrl + V».

Remap Shortcuts

To remap a shortcut key combination, like «Ctrl + v», select Remap a shortcut to launch the Remap Shortcuts settings window.

When first launched, no predefined mappings will be displayed. You must select the + button to add a new remap.

Once a new remap row appears, select the key whose output you want to change in the “Shortcut” column. Select the new shortcut value to assign in the “Mapped To” column.

For example, the shortcut Ctrl + C copies your selected text. To remap that shortcuts to use the Alt key, rather than the Ctrl key:

There are a few rules to follow when remapping shortcuts (these rules only apply on the «Shortcut» column):

• Shortcuts must begin with a modifier key: Ctrl , Shift , Alt , or вЉћ Win
• Shortcuts must end with an action key (all non-modifier keys): A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, etc.
• Shortcuts cannot be longer than 3 keys

Remap a shortcut to a single key

It is possible to remap a shortcut (key combination) to a single key press.

For example, to replace the shortcut key вЉћ Win + D (display / hide Windows desktop apps) with a single key press, Alt :

• Shortcut: «вЉћ Win» (Windows key) + «D»
• Mapped To: «Alt»

Shortcut remapping will be maintained even if the remapped key is used in another shortcut. For example, entering the shortcut «Alt» + «Tab», after remapping the «Alt» key as above, would result in «вЉћ Win» + «D» + «Tab».

App-specific shortcuts

Keyboard Manager enables you to remap shortcuts for only specific apps (rather than globally across Windows).

For example, in the Outlook email app the shortcut «Ctrl + E» is set by default to search for an email. If you prefer instead to set «Ctrl + F» to search your email (rather than forward an email as set by default), you can remap the shortcut with «Outlook» set as your «Target app.»

Keyboard Manager uses the process-names (not application names) to target apps. For example, Microsoft Edge is set as «msedge» (process name), not «Microsoft Edge» (application name). To find an application’s process name, open PowerShell and enter the command get-process or open Command Prompt and enter the command tasklist . This will result in a list of process names for all applications you currently have open. Below is a list of a few popular application process names.

Application	Process name
Microsoft Edge	msedge.exe
OneNote	onenote.exe
Outlook	outlook.exe
Teams	Teams.exe
Adobe Photoshop	Photoshop.exe
File Explorer	explorer.exe
Spotify Music	spotify.exe
Google Chrome	chrome.exe
Excel	excel.exe
Word	winword.exe
Powerpoint	powerpnt.exe

Keys that cannot be remapped

There are certain shortcut keys that are not allowed for remapping. These include:

• Ctrl + Alt + Del (interupt command)
• вЉћ Win + L (locking your computer)
• The function key, Fn , cannot be remapped (in most cases) but the F1 — F12 can be mapped.

How to select a key

To select a key or shortcut to remap, you can:

• Use the Type Key button.
• Use the drop-down menu.

Once you select the Type Key / Shortcut button, a dialogue will pop up in which you can enter the key or shortcut using your keyboard. Once you’re satisfied with the output, hold Enter to continue. If you’d like to leave the dialogue, hold the Esc button.

Using the drop-down menu, you can search with the key name and additional drop-down values will appear as you progress. However, you can not use the type-key feature while the drop-down menu is open.

Orphaning Keys

Orphaning a key means that you mapped it to another key and no longer have anything mapped to it.

For example, if the key is remapped from A -> B, then a key no longer exists on your keyboard that results in A.

To fix this, use + to create another remapped key that is mapped to result in A. To ensure this does not happen by accident, a warning will display for any orphaned keys.

Frequently asked questions

I remapped the wrong keys, how can I stop it quickly?

For key remapping to work, PowerToys must be running in the background and Keyboard Manager must be enabled. To stop remapped keys, close PowerToys or disable Keyboard Manger in the PowerToys settings.

Can I use Keyboard Manager at my log-in screen?

No, Keyboard Manager is only available when PowerToys is running and doesn’t work on any password screen, including Run As Admin.

Do I have to turn off my computer for the remapping to take effect?

No, remapping should occur immediately upon pressing Apply.

Where are the Mac/Linux profiles?

Currently Mac and Linux profiles are not included.

Will this work on video games?

It depends on how the game accesses your keys. Certain keyboard APIs do not work with Keyboard Manager.

Will remapping work if I change my input language?

Yes it will. Right now if you remap A to B on English (US) keyboard and then change the language setting to French, typing A on the French keyboard ( Q on the English US physical keyboard) would result in B , this is consistent with how Windows handles multilingual input.

Troubleshooting

If you have tried to remap a key or shortcut and are having trouble, it could be one of the following issues:

Run As Admin: Remapping will not work on an app / window if that window is running in administrator (elevated) mode and PowerToys is not running as administrator. Try running PowerToys as an administrator.

Not Intercepting Keys: Keyboard Manger intercepts keyboard hooks to remap your keys. Some apps that also do this and can interfere with Keyboard Manager. To fix this, go to the settings and disable then re-enable Keyboard Manager.

How to Remap Keyboard in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista

Did one or more keys on your keyboard go missing? Your keyboard would still be usable if that key was either a key that you barely ever used, or a key that can still register a key press without the plastic cap. But what if you don’t like working this way or the worse scenario – it was some key you used a lot, like the space bar? Either ways, you have only two options. You can either buy a new keyboard or you can remap your existing keyboard. To me, buying a new keyboard just because of one broken key doesn’t make sense. If you also want to save some bucks and want to go ahead with the second option, then here is how to remap keyboard in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista.

Note : I tried these tools on my computer running Windows 10 Pro and they worked perfectly fine. However, these tools will work on older Windows versions, like Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 etc.

Remap Keyboard in Windows 10 Using Third Party Tools

Remapping keys on your Windows device is pretty easy if you know which tools to use. There are quite a few options out there and in this article we are going to mention the best of them. But before we get to our list, let’s see why you might want to remap keyboard on Windows 10.

Why the Need of Remapping Windows Keyboard

Here are some of the reasons that one should consider for remapping their Windows 10 keyboards:

• If you break any of the keys on the keyboard or it stops working on its on, remapping your Windows 10 keys is a good option.
• If you work interchangeably on Windows and Mac and want to use a Windows keyboard on Mac. I have found that remapping left Alt button to Ctrl helps a lot.
• If you use your PC primarily for gaming, than remapping some keys can help you improve your gameplay.
• If you work a job where you have to use one key a lot, remapping it to a key which is easily reachable can improve your workflow.

So, if any of these reasons make sense to you, here is how you can remap keyboard on your Windows 10, 8,7, and Windows machine.

Remap Keys on Windows 10 with SharpKeys

While Windows does allow you to remap the keys on your keyboard with a few registry tweaks, SharpKeys (free) is an open-source tool that does the complex-looking task for you. Once you download the tool, follow the steps given below to find out how to remap a key to any other:

• On the main screen of SharpKeys, click on “Add.”

• This will open a key mapping window. Here, from the left pane, select the key that you want should perform some other action. And from the right pane, select the key whose function you want it to perform. You can also click on “Type Key” available at the bottom of both the panes, and then tap your desired key to make that selection. Once you’ve made your selection, click on “OK” to continue. On my computer, I wanted to turn off the Scroll Lock, so I selected “Special: Scroll Lock” from the left pane and “Turn Key Off” from the right.

• When you come back on the main screen of the tool, you should now see the entry of the remapping that you want to do. To finalize this, click on “Write to Registry.”

Now when you restart your computer, your keyboard should have remapped. In case you want to undo this, delete the entry from the tool, and again click on “Write to Registry.”

Reassign Keyboard Keys in Windows 10 Using Other Tools

While the above method is one of the easiest and the most popular ones, it isn’t the only one that gets the job done. In case you are looking for some other tools to reassign keyboard keys in Windows 10, here are a few more:

1. KeyTweak

KeyTweak is a tool which offers multiple ways – three, to be precise – to remap a key. The first is using the virtual keyboard. This method allows you to choose a key that you want to map, and then select the key, from a drop-down menu, to which you want to map it. The second way, the Half Teach Mode, works very similarly. The third (and the last) way is the Full Teach Mode. This allows you to press both the from and to mapping keys. Using this tool can get a bit of confusing as this uses scan-codes instead of the usual characters.

I found that using the virtual keyboard is the easiest option. As you can see in the picture above I have remapped, the left Ctrl key to the Alt key. I do this as I work both on Mac and Windows machines and this helps me to easily switch between the two without breaking my workflow.

2. Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator

This tool may not exactly be like the other remapping tools on this list, but it does let you define your own keyboard layouts from scratch. And, if you want, you can even define one based on an existing layout. It can come in handy if you are looking to define a keyboard layout for a language that Microsoft doesn’t yet support. The tool has a virtual keyboard that allows you to click to assign any key. The only drawback of using this is you can’t define keys like Return, Ctrl, Alt, and Tab.

3. AutoHotkey

AutoHotkey takes a different approach for remapping the keys. Instead of the standard registry tweaking, it allows you to create scripts that you can run. A major advantage that you get with this tool is the ability to export the scripts as executable files. Though this does not have an interface as such, the steps for creating and executing scripts can easily be found in the tutorial of the tool. This tool brings more features and is really powerful. Not only you can remap keyboard keys but you can also create key binds, create keyboard executable automation, and more. Note that all these pro features also mean that you will have to invest time in learning this app. If you just want to remap your Windows keyboard, the above tools will be more than enough.

4. Key Remapper

If you are looking for a powerful key remapping tool that not only lets you remap keys of your keyboard but also mouse, then you should check it out. The app allows you to remap keys, mouse button presses, and the mouse wheel rotation to different values. It also lets you swap keys which is very useful. For example, if you are a developer, you can easily swap the Escape and the Caps Lock key. The app lets users restrict the remapping to specific programs and apps. So, you can have a different key set up for your writing app and another one for your photo editing app to make tasks easier. This is just the tip of the iceberg as Key Remapper is a powerful tool that lets you completely change the way you interact with your keyboard and mouse.

Install: Free, $24.95

Remap Keyboard in Windows 10 Easily with These Tools

A few missing keys on your keyboard shouldn’t be allowed to stop you in your tracks. With the help of the aforementioned tools, you can easily remap your keyboard in Windows 10 as you desire. In fact, you can do more than just keyboard mapping. You can also create Windows 10 automation commands that you can execute with some simple keystrokes. Do check these keyboard remapping tools and let us know which is your favorite one by writing in the comments section below.