Map Any Key to Any Key on Windows XP / Vista
If you are tired of the way certain keys on your system work, such as the Caps Lock key, you can re-map them to function as a different key by using a registry hack. But there should be an easier way, right?
This is where SharpKeys comes into the picture: It’s a small utility that will let you easily map one key to another key easily, or even turn the key off, without having to enter the registry at all.
For instance, I used the key mapping to just turn off my Caps Lock key, since I never use it.
You can click the Add button to bring up the Add New Key Mapping dialog, where you can either select the keys to map from the lists, or just click the Type Key button and press the key manually (which I find much more intuitive)
Once you are done, click the Write to Registry button and you’ll be told to log off or reboot for the changes to take effect.
If you want all the technical details on how the registry keys work, you can read about how to map keys using registry hacks.
Daily Email Updates
You can get our how-to articles in your inbox each day for free. Just enter your name and email below:
| Similar Articles | Featured Wiki Articles |
| Latest Software Reviews | Quick Linux Tips |
| Geek Arcade | Popular Forum Threads |
I’ve been wondering how you could do this on a macbook. I just hooked up my new mac keyboard and my “home” and “end” keys don’t do what they are suppose to do.
Any help?
Great tip I HATE caps lock
@Ali – Try DoubleCommand – doublecommand.sourceforge.net
or uControl – http://www.gnufoo.org/ucontrol/
It should be noted that you can do this on WinXP using AutoHotKey, but it sounds like this would be handy for those who do not want an app running in the background.
hopefully this’ll work with bootcamp so i dont keep hitting the ‘windows’/apple key for ctrl
I map caps lock to Escape. It is fantastic for using Vi and Vim- the escape key is the key you’ll hit more frequently than any other yet it’s the most out of the way- mapping caps lock to it puts it in a very accessible spot on the mirror image side of Enter.
Well it can work fine for me, I think Ctrl+Backspace is worth Backspace
Sharp Keys is SWEET!
And HowToGeek.com rocks. My two items on today’s to-do list were to:
1 – Once and for all disable the Caps Lock, Insert and Windows keys, and,
2 – Find out where the “Up One Level” icon is hiding in Vista’s Explorer.
Twice now Google has lead me to HowToGeek.com. Twice now I’ve received good advice. Thanks for the website, I’m going to be seeing what else you have around here.
@Mark
Glad we could help!
FYI – I decided to turn my Pause/Break key into a Caps Lock key. SharpKeys doesn’t have a listing for Pause/Break, so I used the “Type Key” option and SharpKeys told me that the Pause/Break key was the Num Lock key. Like a fool, I believed it and proceeded along.
Long story short, my brand new computer wouldn’t boot into Windows and I had to use the power button. Then some kind of warning came up, asking me if I wanted to do a system restore. I told it “no” and eventually my computer came back to life. Pretty scary, I have just spent the last 48 hours loading applications and transferring data from my old computer to my new one and I was afraid I was going to have to use the system restore CD that came with the computer.
Hi Randy,
I downloaded SharpKeys with the main purpose of remapping AltGr to Alt. However, when I click Type Key and then press the AltGr key, I get a dialogue saying ‘You’ve entered a key that SharpKeys doesn’t know about. Please check the SharpKeys website for an updated release’. But I have the latest release (2.1.1) so what am I doing wrong?
Mike
Too bad it can’t recognize the function key (Fn) on my Lenovo x61 tablet pc. I was hoping to switch Fn & Ctrl. I still like Ctrl to be at the corner, not the Fn key…
on my laptop w and W was not working, so I mapped one of the lesser used keys to be w while I wait for my new keyboard to arriave. Now I just have to get use to typing the other key mapped instead for w
thanks
I downloaded SharpKeys hoping to swap the Alt and Windows keys on the left side of my keyboard. I put an Apple keyboard on an XP machine, and while the keyboard works fine with the system, the Alt key is in a different physical location on a standard Apple keyboard. So instead putting my left thumb on the key just to the side of the spacebar and hitting the Tab key to switch apps, it needs to go to one key over — old habits are hard to break.
Unfortunately, SharpKeys can’t remap the Windows key; or at least I was unable to figure out how to get it to do it.
Great app – I’m using this to make it easier to program my Harmony remote since I can’t get it to emulate the Windows key!
Is there a way to do this on an as-needed basis? Can I turn it on/off at will?
I have to enter the answers to multiple choice questions frequently. The choices are always A/B/C/D or E/F/G/H (or sometimes A/B/C/D/E). It difficult to stare at the user’s test answer sheet, and using the QWERTY keyboard to peck out their response.
It would be easier to map A=1; B = 2; C = 3; D = 4, and then Q= E; W= F; E = G and R = H so the answer keys are always my left hand, pinky through pointer finger.
Can this app be used to turn this feature on /off at will?
Thanks!
“Too bad it can’t recognize the function key (Fn) on my Lenovo x61 tablet pc. I was hoping to switch Fn & Ctrl. I still like Ctrl to be at the corner, not the Fn key… ”
I’ve got the exact same problem. Im looking to buy a new laptop, but I cant stand having the Function (Fn) key on the bottom left where the Ctrl key is supposed to be.
Is it at all possible to make this switch?
I’m having the same problem. I want to swap ctrl and fn. any ideas?
On thinkpads, the fn key is managed by the embedded controller chip. The OS loads an ACPI config table at boot time that sets up event handlers for these keys.
So fn does not produce a scancode at all, and thus a simple keyboard remapping is not possible.
However, if you really want this to work, you’d have to build an ACPI event handler that emits the scancode for Ctl whenever fn is pushed (I’ve done similar things under Linux, not sure how to do this for Windows). Getting the Ctl key to act as the fn key seems much harder; I _think_ you’d have to intercept the scancode and (somehow) detect which fn modifier key (e.g., sleep key) is also pressed, then run the corresponding ACPI handler directly.
Not really easy at all. I wouldn’t say impossible, but darn near.
Okay my F-keys are always set to doing only functions like Volume, Lighting etc.. Ex. i have to press Fn + F1 to open the help menu, cause it i only press F1 it turns my Wireless off. I want to be able to press just F1 and get the Help menu but be able to press Fn + F1 to turn wireless off?
Is that possible with this?
doesnt disable ALT TAB
0 to 10, I vote 1
My computer is a laptop so I don’t have a keypad for numbers. When I turn the keylock on it makes the Fn numbers on the keyboard work instead of the letters. That’s useless and frankly annoying. I want to bind a .wav file to the key so whenever I press “Num Lk” it plays the sound effect. I’m confident that this program will successfully remap it. However, I use iTunes as my default music player, including for .wav files, and I want to keep it that way. Is there a way I can bind this sound effect to the key and have it play like a normal windows sound effect (like the beep when you click on a window that can’t be accessed because you have its options window open), which is to say: not through iTunes? It would be tremendously amusing if I got this set up.