How can I remap Application Key to Command Key using Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

Question

I have been using the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for many years as it saves me from tendonitis and other Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) problems.

The 3 lower-left keys on this keyboard are Ctrl, Windows & Alt (left->right order). MacOS (e.g. Ventura 13.5.2) interprets these as Ctrl, Command (i.e. "splat") & Option. This works fine.

The 3 lower-right keys (right->left) are Ctrl, Application & Alt. MacOS interprets these as Ctrl, <nothing> & Option. That is, hitting the Application key has no effect and is ignored by MacOS.

I want my keyboard to be symmetric like a normal Mac keyboard. That is, I want to have a Command Key on each side of the spacebar. How can I remap the Application key to be Command key on MacOS?

Answer 1

The answer is to download and use the free utility Karabiner-Elements. In particular, you want to remap the "Application" key to be "Left-Command" key.

The Karabiner website has excellent instructions (with screenshots!) for both installation, security configuration, and key remapping.

Enjoy!