How do you remap not with keys, but symbols. ie, []{}();!"' to replace the numpad, there are no programs I could find which do that. What programs can do this? I was not able to find any free programs which do.
3 Answers
As Dennis says, use Autohotkey. Download it and install. Create a new .txt file anywhere. Open the file in Notepad, and copy-paste this code:
Numpad7::{
NumpadDiv::"
Numpad 7
now does {
, and numpad /
now does "
. You need to rename the file so that its extension becomes .ahk (make sure extensions are visible in your Windows), and double-click the file to activate the hotkeys.
Here is a list of all the keys that can go before the ::
, so that you may add your own hotkeys. This is from the AHK help file, which is very well written, easy for beginners.
Space - the spacebar
Tab
Enter (or Return)
Escape (or Esc)
Backspace (or BS)
Delete (or Del)
Insert (or Ins)
Home
End
PgUp
PgDn
Up
Down
Left
Right
ScrollLock
CapsLock
NumLock
Numlock ON Numlock OFF
Numpad0 NumpadIns
Numpad1 NumpadEnd
Numpad2 NumpadDown
Numpad3 NumpadPgDn
Numpad4 NumpadLeft
Numpad5 NumpadClear
Numpad6 NumpadRight
Numpad7 NumpadHome
Numpad8 NumpadUp
Numpad9 NumpadPgUp
NumpadDot (.) NumpadDel
NumpadDiv (/) NumpadDiv (/)
NumpadMult (*) NumpadMult (*)
NumpadAdd (+) NumpadAdd (+)
NumpadSub (-) NumpadSub (-)
NumpadEnter NumpadEnter
F1 through F24 - The 12 or more function keys at the top of most keyboards.
AppsKey - this is the key that invokes the right-click context menu.
LWin - the left Windows logo key
RWin - the right Windows logo key. Note: unlike Control/Alt/Shift, there is no generic/neutral "Win" key because the OS does not support it.
Control (or Ctrl)
Alt
Shift
Note: The hotkeys Shift::, Alt::, and Control:: fire upon release of the key unless they have the tilde prefix such as ~Alt::. By contrast, a specific left or right hotkey such as LAlt:: fires when it is pressed down.
LControl (or LCtrl) - the left control key
RControl (or RCtrl) - the right control key
LShift - the left shift key
RShift - the right shift key
LAlt - the left Alt key
RAlt - Note: If your keyboard layout has AltGr instead of RAlt, you can probably use it as a hotkey prefix via <^>! as described here. In addition, "LControl & RAlt::" would make AltGr itself into a hotkey.
PrintScreen
CtrlBreak
Pause
Break -- Since this is synonymous with Pause, use ^CtrlBreak in hotkeys instead of ^Pause or ^Break.
Help - this probably doesn't exist on most keyboards. It's usually not the same as F1.
Sleep - note that the sleep key on some keyboards might not work with this.
The following exist only on Multimedia or Internet keyboards that have extra buttons or keys:
Browser_Back
Browser_Forward
Browser_Refresh
Browser_Stop
Browser_Search
Browser_Favorites
Browser_Home
Volume_Mute
Volume_Down
Volume_Up
Media_Next
Media_Prev
Media_Stop
Media_Play_Pause
Launch_Mail
Launch_Media
Launch_App1
Launch_App2
Another solution is HoeKey, which works more like AutoHotKey, but it's only 18K and is very easy to set up.
A much simpler and lightweight tool would be KeyTweak. It just reconfigures Windows' keyboard map, which is less flexible but works beautifully for simple key-to-key remaps, and doesn't require a program running all the time.
It's one of the first things I do on a fresh Windows install, to convert CapsLock to work as a Shift key.