A submission to Hacker News on remapping the Caps Lock key (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6969401) got me curious. From the thread, it looked as if most people remap their Caps Lock key to something else. Since these answers may be heavily biased (it was a thread about remapping that key, after all), here's a poll.
If you want to, please provide any alternate mapping you're using in the comments.
Remapped to have the control key positioned where God and Digital Equipment Corporation intended it to be (and the Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, ...). The position below the shift key is the product of a malevolent conspiracy by the suits (IBM!) to keep programmer productivity in check and cause RSI.
I find caps lock useful for both typing CAPITAL_CONSTANTS and YELLING AT PEOPLE. I have remapped other keys, such as the the menu key to compose, and I usually use the super key to trigger custom key shortcuts.
I've gone back and forth in the past. I put together a series of .REG files for Windows users so you can either disable caps lock, map it to a shift key, map it to CTRL or swap it with CTRL. Since they're .REG keys, you don't need to have a utility running in the background. The .REG to set things back to normal is included, too:
If you're more adventurous, you can turn it into a Billy Mays Key so your PC says a fun Billy Mays phrase every time you press CAPS LOCK. It's also open source if you want to play with it:
I loved remapping Capslock to Ctrl, but eventually gave up the ghost because the statefulness of Capslock was getting confused and I was having a hell of a time keeping my virtual sessions and master client session "in sync"
I disabled Caps Lock so that by itself, it does nothing. I mapped CapsLock + hjkl to the arrow keys a la vim, and several other similar CapsLock + <something else> combos that make sense to me.
On my laptop, I remapped it to be the left click button, and it changed my life. I used to find dragging windows and files around and selecting text such a pain with a touchpad, but with this remapping, I can do it really, really easily. I just use my left hand to click and my right hand to move the cursor. Try it!
Anyone know how I can remap the Caps Lock key this way on a Mac?
As a Total Commander addict, I cannot believe some is still copying files using drag and drop, manually selecting files etc. There are some alternatives for a Mac as well.
As far as remapping goes, I've remapped my right ctrl to delete. I delete a lot, and reaching to the far right corner of the keyboard was a pain.
I use it as the main part of all the chords I use to control window manager functionality under dwm. e.g. Caps+<J/K/H/L> to move between windows or workspaces, Caps+Enter to open a terminal, etc. Technically, I think I have it remapped to Ctrl, but that's just an implementation detail.
Yes, but not due to the traditional Control key positioning. Rather, I switch Tab for Caps Lock.
Since I use bowl-design Kinesis keyboards both at home and at work, the usual position for Caps Lock (where I put Tab) is just a tad bit more comfortable for repeated pinky use.
I wouldn't reply just to say that I map caps lock to control, like so many others. Perhaps a poll that gave the most common remappings, and let people specify more unusual ones in the comments, would gather more respondents for the common ones.
Yes, to backspace, and I recommend everyone do the same. Think about how many times a day you hit backspace, it makes no sense for it to be way up there on a pinky, move it to your home row and be happy! :)
[+] [-] mpweiher|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cypherpunks01|12 years ago|reply
Protip: In all recent versions of OSX you can natively remap Caps Lock and other keys via System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys.
[+] [-] DDR0|12 years ago|reply
(Filed under ⌨.)
[+] [-] mikegirouard|12 years ago|reply
I'm a vim and tmux guy, so that's my motivation.
[+] [-] peedy|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] peterarmstrong|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JohnTHaller|12 years ago|reply
http://johnhaller.com/useful-stuff/disable-caps-lock
If you're more adventurous, you can turn it into a Billy Mays Key so your PC says a fun Billy Mays phrase every time you press CAPS LOCK. It's also open source if you want to play with it:
http://johnhaller.com/useful-stuff/billy-mays-caps-lock
[+] [-] jrmg|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DDR0|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sliverstorm|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Nic0|12 years ago|reply
[1]: http://www.typematrix.com/
[+] [-] lake99|12 years ago|reply
This fixed my thumb:
So, US-International, LAlt=Ralt, Caps->Win, Win->AltGr[+] [-] phaedrix|12 years ago|reply
Combined with ShiftIt, I can approximate a primitive keyboard-controlled tiling window manager on the Mac: https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt
[+] [-] vijucat|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bitsofpancake|12 years ago|reply
Anyone know how I can remap the Caps Lock key this way on a Mac?
[+] [-] kbendyk|12 years ago|reply
As far as remapping goes, I've remapped my right ctrl to delete. I delete a lot, and reaching to the far right corner of the keyboard was a pain.
[+] [-] msbarnett|12 years ago|reply
Try keyremap4macbook: https://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/
[+] [-] javert|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thanatropism|12 years ago|reply
Since I use bowl-design Kinesis keyboards both at home and at work, the usual position for Caps Lock (where I put Tab) is just a tad bit more comfortable for repeated pinky use.
[+] [-] sls|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ricree|12 years ago|reply
Would probably have been better as esc or ctrl, but I didn't feel like having to relearn the muscle memory for those keys.
[+] [-] Daviey|12 years ago|reply
.. The problem is when I use a normal keyboard layout, and hit Caps lock in Vim and it doesn't DRT. :)
[+] [-] andrewcooke|12 years ago|reply
(also doesn't that little green light with no meaning bug you?)
[+] [-] DArcMattr|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lurkinggrue|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blissofbeing|12 years ago|reply