Remap Your Keyboard Keys with These 3 Free Apps [Windows]

  Remap Your Keyboard Keys with These 3 Free Apps [Windows]

If you and your keyboard are not hitting it off, then maybe it’s time
to consider remapping your keyboard. You can get along without a mouse,
but the same is not true about the keyboard. Remapping your keyboard is
a productivity tweak. Remapping the keyboard involves customizing
certain keys for specific functions.


As an example let’s take this – my Acer laptop keyboard has the Delete
key located on the right corner of the first row i.e. the Function row.
That requires me to reach for it. To bring the Delete key
closer, I could replace the function of one of the two Shift keys,
located on either side of the Home keys (the center row).


This is where a remapping utility comes in handy. I substitute the
function of the Delete key to the relatively unused Shift key. Other
untapped keys can be made more functional by giving them regularly used
functions. Remapping utilities also can block the functioning of certain
keys, if you feel that they are doing more harm than good.




So, remapping gives a nice little boost to productivity. It is also a
consideration for dedicated gamers who might want to match the gaming
commands with the layout.


Though remapping is often advocated for advanced computers, some
remapping software makes it as simple as ABC. Here’s a look at three
applications you can use to remap your keyboard.

MapKeyboard

MapKeyboard is a little 28KB free software that lets you alter any
key to a different function or also disable it. The freeware does not
need an install. The only requirement is that you should have Microsoft
.Net Framework 2.0 installed on your machine.


MapKeyboard is very easy to use. Select the key you want to remap and
using the Remap selected key to drop down, select the new key.
Using the application, you can also map your mouse buttons. You can
also disable any key you want.


Click on Save Layout and with a restart, you have your
remapped keyboard. This layout is preserved until you decide to revert
to the default. Also, you don’t need to launch the program to use the
new layout as the changes are saved in the registry. Always remember to
revert the layout to the default before removing the program.


MapKeyboard is
supported on Windows XP/2003/2000/Vista.

Sharpkeys

Sharpkeys gives you an interface for choosing the keys to be
remapped. After the selection, it adds a value to the registry which
modifies the keyboard layout. Also, once the change is made, you don’t
need to run the program again. You can also turn off any selected key to
suppress an accidental press. To bring back the original layout, launch
the program again and delete the key.


Sharpkeys supports a larger number of mappings equal to the number of
options for a standard keyboard layout (104). The Type Key
feature helps the program recognize the keys with a key press.


Unlike MapKeyboard, this application does not map mouse buttons. But
depending on the program support for your brand of your keyboard, it can
open a few applications and also map buttons for Internet keys.


Sharpkeys is
supported on Windows XP/2003/2000/Vista/7.

KeyTweak

KeyTweak is another easy to use tool for redefining the keyboard
layout. Like MapKeyboard, this 280KB freeware displays a full keyboard
as a visual aid. The virtual keyboard is numbered and mapped to the
current keys on the physical keyboard.


Highlight the key on the KeyTweak interface and select the remapped
key from the dropdown. You can also map it to multimedia or Internet
keys if your keyboard has those features. The latest version also lets
you map it to Macintosh keys. You can suppress specific keys with a
click on Disable Key.


KeyTweak has two Teach Modes. The Full Mode allows a
user to press two keys simultaneously and map one to the other. The Half
Mode gives the options available using a dropdown. The Teach Modes
offer a more intuitive way to map the keys.

KeyTweak also can be run as a portable app with just the KeyTweak.exe
file. The one nice thing about the program is the detailed PDF help
file that’s packaged with the program. Do read the brief file to
understand why some keys cannot be remapped.


KeyTweak (ver.
2.3.0) is supported on Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7. These three
tools are the ones to go for if you want simplicity and portability.


Microsoft also has an application of its own which downloads as a
10MB package and is slightly more complicated to run. The main purpose
of the Microsoft
Keyboard Layout Creator is to widen the international scope of
Microsoft by letting users change the layout to languages that MS does
not support. The free program lets you define an entirely new layout of
keys.


Do you think that remapping keys gives you a more ergonomic
experience? Do you think it will add to your productivity?