1 How to Remap your Keyboard in Windows 11 with PowerToys2 The Best Freeware Tools to Move and Remap Keys3 How to Make Emoji on Your Keyboard or Start Programs with a Shortcut
PowerToys: A great key remapper from Microsoft For this purpose, we’ll be using a Microsoft-published tool called PowerToys. PowerToys is an application designed to help you get more out of your PC, and that includes the ability to remap your keyboard. If you don’t have PowerToys already, you can download it from Microsoft’s official GitHub page. Follow the installer’s instructions and you’ll be good to go. So, without further ado, here’s how to change keyboard keys in Windows 11 and Windows 10 with PowerToys:
How to Remap your Keyboard in Windows 11 with PowerToys
The Best Freeware Tools to Move and Remap Keys
If you’d prefer not to install a general-purpose tool like PowerToys, there are several third-party tools to choose from. Popular choices include: Here’s how to remap keys with PowerToys:
For example, if you want to press A and get “Ctrl+C”, key “Æ would be your “Key” column and the shortcut “Ctrl+C” would be your “Mapped To” column.
“We show VK for any virtual key code which doesn’t point to a unicode character using the ToUnicodeEx API, or if it doesn’t have a special key name (as per the Virtual key codes docs). The reason for keeping all the key codes is for flexibility for users (some users have mentioned use cases where they map a key to a unused key code and in turn can use it for a specific function in an application which accepts only 1 key), and because the list of “valid” key codes can vary between input languages. For the mouse buttons the name was not added because they wouldn’t work (the keyboard hook won’t catch events for those codes, but GetAsyncKeyState would still show the state as per the mouse click). It might be better to use hex/both, it wasn’t something we thought about when we added it in since it was there primarily for compatibility between languages.”
SharpKeys SharpKeys is a simple and easy-to-use tool that has been around for a while. Its interface is nothing fancy but is perhaps more efficient because of it. Once you’re done making the changes, SharpKeys lets you easily write them to the registry and then reboot to get started. Key Remapper Key Remapper is one of the more popular and well-reviewed key remappers for Windows 10. Though you do have to pay for its full version, you can grab a restricted version for free here. The best thing about Key Remapper is its ability to additionally remap mouse buttons. You can therefore add keyboard keys to your mouse for very easy access. KeyTweak KeyTweak is a good alternative if you’re looking for a key remapper with a more visual interface. Rather than lists, it displays a virtual keyboard and allows you to click each button on it to remap them. You can also save different sets of mappings to separate profiles so that you can easily switch between them. Key Mapper Key Mapper stands out for its flexible interface. Everything works through a drag and drop interface that allows you easily reassign, disable, and activate keys. However, you can also use methods such as double-clicking keys on the keyboard or manually creating a new mapping. Importantly for international or dvorak users, Key Mapper also supports several alternate keyboard layouts. RemapKeyboard If you’re looking for something small and lightweight, RemapKeyboard does the job. It comes in at just 79KB and consists of simple, three-column list interface that is very easy to navigate. It requires a registry entry to change the keys, so you’ll need to log in and out for the changes to take effect.
How to Make Emoji on Your Keyboard or Start Programs with a Shortcut
If you’re looking to get even more out of your keyboard, you can follow some of our existing tutorials. We have a guide on how to start programs with a shortcut which could be helpful, as well as one on how to make emoji on your keyboard.
