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  1. <!DOCTYPE HTML>
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  2. <html>
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  3. <head>
    4. 

  4. <title>Remapping Keys and Buttons</title>
    5. 

  5. <meta name="description" content="Free keyboard remapper that can also remap mouse and joystick buttons. It can also automate repetitive tasks by sending keystrokes &amp; mouse clicks.">
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  13. 

  14. <h1>Remapping Keys and Buttons</h1>
    15. 

  15. 

  16. <h2>Introduction</h2>
    17. 

  17. <p><strong>Limitation</strong>: AutoHotkey's remapping feature described below is generally not as pure and effective as remapping directly via the Windows registry. For the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, see <a href="#registry">registry remapping</a>.</p>
    18. 

  18. <h2 id="Remap">Remapping the Keyboard and Mouse</h2>
    19. 

  19. <p>The syntax for the built-in remapping feature is <code>OriginKey::DestinationKey</code>. For example, a <a href="../Scripts.htm">script</a> consisting only of the following line would make the &quot;a&quot; key behave like the &quot;b&quot; key:</p>
    20. 

  20. <pre>a::b</pre>
    21. 

  21. <p>The above example does not alter the &quot;b&quot; key itself. The &quot;b&quot; key would continue to send the &quot;b&quot; keystroke unless you remap it to something else as shown in the following example:</p>
    22. 

  22. <pre>a::b
    23. 

  23. b::a</pre>
    24. 

  24. <p>The examples above use lowercase, which is recommended for most purposes because it also remaps the corresponding uppercase letters (that is, it will send uppercase when Capslock is &quot;on&quot; or the Shift key is held down). By contrast, specifying an uppercase letter on the right side forces uppercase. For example, the following line would produce an uppercase B when you type either &quot;a&quot; or &quot;A&quot; (as long as Capslock is off):</p>
    25. 

  25. <pre>a::B</pre>
    26. 

  26. <p>&nbsp;</p>
    27. 

  27. <p id="RemapMouse"><strong>Mouse remapping</strong>: To remap the mouse instead of the keyboard, use the same approach. For example:</p>
    28. 

  28. <table class="info">
    29. 

  29.   <tr>
    30. 

  30.     <td>MButton::Shift</td>
    31. 

  31.     <td>Makes the middle button behave like the Shift key.</td>
    32. 

  32.   </tr>
    33. 

  33.   <tr>
    34. 

  34.     <td>XButton1::LButton</td>
    35. 

  35.     <td>Makes the fourth mouse button behave like the left mouse button.</td>
    36. 

  36.   </tr>
    37. 

  37.   <tr>
    38. 

  38.     <td>RAlt::RButton</td>
    39. 

  39.     <td>Makes the right Alt key behave like the right mouse button.</td>
    40. 

  40.   </tr>
    41. 

  41. </table>
    42. 

  42. <p>&nbsp;</p>
    43. 

  43. <p><strong>Other useful remappings:</strong></p>
    44. 

  44. <table class="info">
    45. 

  45.   <tr>
    46. 

  46.     <td>Capslock::Ctrl</td>
    47. 

  47.     <td>Makes Capslock become a Control key. To retain the ability to turn Capslock on and off, add the remapping <code>+Capslock::Capslock</code> first. This toggles Capslock on and off when you hold down the Shift key and press Capslock. Because both remappings allow additional modifier keys to be held down, the more specific <code>+Capslock::Capslock</code> remapping must be placed first for it to work.</td>
    48. 

  48.   </tr>
    49. 

  49.   <tr>
    50. 

  50.     <td>XButton2::^LButton</td>
    51. 

  51.     <td>Makes the fifth mouse button (XButton2) produce Control-LeftClick.</td>
    52. 

  52.   </tr>
    53. 

  53.   <tr>
    54. 

  54.     <td>RAlt::AppsKey</td>
    55. 

  55.     <td>Makes the right Alt key become the Apps key (which is the key that opens the context menu).</td>
    56. 

  56.   </tr>
    57. 

  57.   <tr>
    58. 

  58.     <td>RCtrl::RWin</td>
    59. 

  59.     <td>Makes the right Control key become the right Windows key.</td>
    60. 

  60.   </tr>
    61. 

  61.   <tr>
    62. 

  62.     <td>Ctrl::Alt</td>
    63. 

  63.     <td>Makes both Control keys behave like an Alt key. However, see <a href="#AltTab">alt-tab issues</a>.</td>
    64. 

  64.   </tr>
    65. 

  65.   <tr>
    66. 

  66.     <td>^x::^c</td>
    67. 

  67.     <td>Makes Control-X produce Control-C. It also makes Control-Alt-X produce Control-Alt-C, etc.</td>
    68. 

  68.   </tr>
    69. 

  69.   <tr>
    70. 

  70.     <td>RWin::Return</td>
    71. 

  71.     <td>Disables the right Windows key by having it simply <a href="../commands/Return.htm">return</a>.</td>
    72. 

  72.   </tr>
    73. 

  73. </table>
    74. 

  74. <p>You can try out any of these examples by copying them into a new text file such as &quot;Remap.ahk&quot;, then launching the file.</p>
    75. 

  75. <p>See the <a href="../KeyList.htm">Key List</a> for a complete list of key and mouse button names.</p>
    76. 

  76. <h2>Remarks</h2>
    77. 

  77. <p>The directives <a href="../commands/_IfWinActive.htm">#IfWinActive/Exist</a> can be used to make selected remappings active only in the windows you specify. For example:</p>
    78. 

  78. <pre>#IfWinActive ahk_class Notepad
    79. 

  79. a::b  <em>; Makes the 'a' key send a 'b' key, but only in Notepad.</em>
    80. 

  80. #IfWinActive  <em>; This puts subsequent remappings and hotkeys in effect for all windows.</em></pre>
    81. 

  81. <p>Remapping a key or button is &quot;complete&quot; in the following respects:</p>
    82. 

  82. <ul>
    83. 

  83.   <li>Holding down a modifier such as Control or Shift while typing the origin key will put that modifier into effect for the destination key. For example, <code>b::a</code> would produce Control-A if you press Control-B.</li>
    84. 

  84.   <li>Capslock generally affects remapped keys in the same way as normal keys.</li>
    85. 

  85.   <li>The destination key or button is held down for as long as you continue to hold down the origin key. However, some games do not support remapping; in such cases, the keyboard and mouse will behave as though not remapped.</li>
    86. 

  86.   <li>Remapped keys will auto-repeat while being held down (except keys remapped to become mouse buttons).</li>
    87. 

  87. </ul>
    88. 

  88. <p id="HookHotkeys">Although a remapped key can trigger normal hotkeys, by default it cannot trigger mouse hotkeys or <a href="../commands/_UseHook.htm">hook hotkeys</a> (use <a href="../commands/ListHotkeys.htm">ListHotkeys</a> to discover which hotkeys are &quot;hook&quot;). For example, if the remapping <code>a::b</code> is in effect, pressing Ctrl-Alt-A would trigger the <code>^!b</code> hotkey only if <code>^!b</code> is not a hook hotkey. If <code>^!b</code> is a hook hotkey, you can define <code>^!a</code> as a hotkey if you want Ctrl-Alt-A to perform the same action as Ctrl-Alt-B. For example:</p>
    89. 

  89. <pre>a::b
    90. 

  90. ^!a::
    91. 

  91. ^!b::
    92. 

  92. ToolTip You pressed %A_ThisHotkey%.
    93. 

  93. return</pre>
    94. 

  94. <p>Alternatively, in v1.1.06 and later, <a href="../commands/_InputLevel.htm">#InputLevel</a> can be used to override the default behaviour. For example:</p>
    95. 

  95. <pre>#InputLevel 1
    96. 

  96. a::b
    97. 

  97. 

  98. #InputLevel 0
    99. 

  99. ^!b::
    100. 

  100. ToolTip You pressed %A_ThisHotkey%.
    101. 

  101. return</pre>
    102. 

  102. <p id="SendPlay">If <a href="../commands/SendMode.htm">SendMode</a> is used in the auto-execute section (top part of the script), it affects all remappings. However, since remapping uses <a href="../commands/Send.htm#blind">Send {Blind}</a> and since the <a href="../commands/SendMode.htm">SendPlay mode</a> does not fully support  {Blind}, some remappings might not function properly in SendPlay mode (especially Control, Shift, Alt, and Win). To work around this, avoid SendPlay in auto-execute section when you have remappings; then use the command <a href="../commands/Send.htm#SendPlay">SendPlay</a> vs. Send in other places throughout the script. Alternatively, you could translate your remappings into hotkeys (as described below) that explicitly call SendEvent vs. Send.</p>
    103. 

  103. <p>When a script is launched, each remapping is translated into a pair of <a href="../Hotkeys.htm">hotkeys</a>. For example, a script containing <code>a::b</code> actually contains the following two hotkeys instead:</p>
    104. 

  104. <pre>*<strong>a</strong>::
    105. 

  105. SetKeyDelay -1   <em>; If the destination key is a mouse button, SetMouseDelay is used instead.</em>
    106. 

  106. Send <a href="../commands/Send.htm#blind">{Blind}</a>{<strong>b</strong> DownTemp}  <em>; DownTemp is like Down except that other Send commands in the script won't assume &quot;b&quot; should stay down during their Send.</em>
    107. 

  107. return
    108. 

  108. 

  109. *<strong>a up</strong>::
    110. 

  110. SetKeyDelay -1  <em>; See note below for why press-duration is not specified with either of these SetKeyDelays.</em>
    111. 

  111. Send {Blind}{<strong>b</strong> Up}
    112. 

  112. return</pre>
    113. 

  113. <p>However, the above hotkeys vary under the following circumstances:</p>
    114. 

  114. <ol>
    115. 

  115.   <li>When the source key is LCtrl and the destination key is an Alt key, the line <code>Send {Blind}{LAlt DownTemp}</code> is replaced by <code>Send {Blind}<strong>{LCtrl Up}</strong>{LAlt DownTemp}</code>. The same is true if the source is RCtrl, except that <code>{RCtrl up}</code> is used.</li>
    116. 

  116.   <li>When a keyboard key is being remapped to become a mouse button (e.g. <code>RCtrl::RButton</code>), the hotkeys above use SetMouseDelay in place of SetKeyDelay. In addition, the first hotkey above is replaced by the following, which prevents the keyboard's auto-repeat feature from generating repeated mouse clicks:
    117. 

  117.     <pre>*RCtrl::
    118. 

  118. SetMouseDelay -1
    119. 

  119. if not GetKeyState(&quot;RButton&quot;)  <em>; i.e. the right mouse button isn't down yet.</em>
    120. 

  120.     Send {Blind}{RButton DownTemp}
    121. 

  121. return</pre>
    122. 

  122.   </li>
    123. 

  123. </ol>
    124. 

  124. <p>Note that SetKeyDelay's second parameter (<a href="../commands/SetKeyDelay.htm#dur">press duration</a>) is omitted in the hotkeys above. This is because press-duration does not apply to down-only or up-only events such as <code>{b down}</code> and <code>{b up}</code>. However, it does apply to changes in the state of the Shift/Ctrl/Alt/Win keys, which affects remappings such as <code>a::B</code> or <code>a::^b</code>. Consequently, any press-duration a script puts into effect via its <a href="../Scripts.htm#auto">auto-execute section</a> will apply to all such remappings.</p>
    125. 

  125. <p>Although a pair of keys cannot be directly remapped to single key (e.g. it's invalid to write <code>a &amp; c::b</code>), this effect can be achieved by explicitly adding the up and down hotkeys from the example higher above: simply replace <code>*a::</code> with <code>a &amp; c::</code>, and replace <code>*a up::</code> with <code>a &amp; c up::</code>.</p>
    126. 

  126. <p>Since remappings are translated into hotkeys as described above, the <a href="../commands/Suspend.htm">Suspend</a> command affects them. Similarly, the <a href="../commands/Hotkey.htm">Hotkey</a> command can disable or modify a remapping. For example, the following two commands would disable the remapping <code>a::b</code>.</p>
    127. 

  127. <pre>Hotkey, *a, off
    128. 

  128. Hotkey, *a up, off</pre>
    129. 

  129. <p id="AltTab">Alt-tab issues: If you remap a key or mouse button to become an Alt key, that key will probably not be able to alt-tab properly. A possible work-around is to add the hotkey <code>*Tab::Send {Blind}{Tab}</code> -- but be aware that it will likely interfere with using the real Alt key to alt-tab. Therefore, it should be used only when you alt-tab solely by means of remapped keys and/or <a href="../Hotkeys.htm#alttab">alt-tab hotkeys</a>.</p>
    130. 

  130. <p>In addition to the keys and mouse buttons on the <a href="../KeyList.htm">Key List</a> page, the source key may also be a virtual key (VKnn) or scan code (SCnnn) as described on the <a href="../KeyList.htm#SpecialKeys">special keys</a> page. The same is true for the destination key except that it may optionally specify a scan code after the virtual key. For example, <code>sc01e::vk42sc030</code> is equivalent to <code>a::b</code> on most keyboard layouts.</p>
    131. 

  131. <p>To disable a key rather than remapping it, make it a hotkey that simply <a href="../commands/Return.htm">returns</a>. For example, <code>F1::return</code> would disable the F1 key.</p>
    132. 

  132. <p>The following keys are not supported by the built-in remapping method:</p>
    133. 

  133. <ul>
    134. 

  134.   <li>The mouse wheel (WheelUp/Down/Left/Right).</li>
    135. 

  135.   <li>Pause and Break as destination keys (since they match the names of commands).</li>
    136. 

  136.   <li>Curly braces {} as destination keys. Instead use the <a href="../commands/Send.htm#vk">VK/SC method</a>; e.g. <code>x::+sc01A</code> and <code>y::+sc01B</code>.</li>
    137. 

  137.   <li>A percent sign (%) as a destination key. Instead use the <a href="../commands/Send.htm#vk">VK/SC method</a>.</li>
    138. 

  138.   <li>&quot;Return&quot; as a destination key. Instead use &quot;Enter&quot;.</li>
    139. 

  139. </ul>
    140. 

  140. <h2>Moving the Mouse Cursor via the Keyboard</h2>
    141. 

  141. <p>The keyboard can be used to move the mouse cursor as demonstrated by the fully-featured <a href="../scripts/NumpadMouse.htm">Keyboard-To-Mouse script</a>. Since that script offers smooth cursor movement, acceleration, and other features, it is the recommended approach if you plan to do a lot of mousing with the keyboard. By contrast, the following example is a simpler demonstration:</p>
    142. 

  142. <pre>*#up::MouseMove, 0, -10, 0, R  <em>; Win+UpArrow hotkey =&gt; Move cursor upward</em>
    143. 

  143. *#Down::MouseMove, 0, 10, 0, R  <em>; Win+DownArrow =&gt; Move cursor downward</em>
    144. 

  144. *#Left::MouseMove, -10, 0, 0, R  <em>; Win+LeftArrow =&gt; Move cursor to the left</em>
    145. 

  145. *#Right::MouseMove, 10, 0, 0, R  <em>; Win+RightArrow =&gt; Move cursor to the right</em>
    146. 

  146. 

  147. *&lt;#RCtrl::  <em>; LeftWin + RightControl =&gt; Left-click (hold down Control/Shift to Control-Click or Shift-Click).</em>
    148. 

  148. SendEvent {Blind}{LButton down}
    149. 

  149. KeyWait RCtrl  <em>; Prevents keyboard auto-repeat from repeating the mouse click.</em>
    150. 

  150. SendEvent {Blind}{LButton up}
    151. 

  151. return
    152. 

  152. 

  153. *&lt;#AppsKey::  <em>; LeftWin + AppsKey =&gt; Right-click</em>
    154. 

  154. SendEvent {Blind}{RButton down}
    155. 

  155. KeyWait AppsKey  <em>; Prevents keyboard auto-repeat from repeating the mouse click.</em>
    156. 

  156. SendEvent {Blind}{RButton up}
    157. 

  157. return</pre>
    158. 

  158. <h2 id="registry">Remapping via the Registry's &quot;Scancode Map&quot;</h2>
    159. 

  159. <p><strong>Advantages:</strong></p>
    160. 

  160. <ul>
    161. 

  161.   <li>Registry remapping is generally more pure and effective than <a href="#Remap">AutoHotkey's remapping</a>. For example, it works in a broader variety of games, it has no known <a href="#AltTab">alt-tab issues</a>, and it is capable of firing AutoHotkey's hook hotkeys  (whereas AutoHotkey's remapping requires a <a href="#HookHotkeys">workaround</a>).</li>
    162. 

  162.   <li>If you choose to make the registry entries manually (explained below), absolutely no external software is needed to remap your keyboard. Even if you use <a href="http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/">KeyTweak</a> to make the registry entries for you, KeyTweak does not need to stay running all the time (unlike AutoHotkey).</li>
    163. 

  163. </ul>
    164. 

  164. <p><strong>Disadvantages:</strong></p>
    165. 

  165. <ul>
    166. 

  166.   <li>Registry remapping is relatively permanent: a reboot is required to undo the changes or put new ones into effect.</li>
    167. 

  167.   <li>Its effect is global: it cannot create remappings specific to a particular user, application, or locale.</li>
    168. 

  168.   <li>It cannot send keystrokes that are modified by Shift, Control, Alt, or AltGr. For example, it cannot remap a lowercase character to an uppercase one.</li>
    169. 

  169.   <li>It supports only the keyboard (AutoHotkey has <a href="#RemapMouse">mouse remapping</a> and some <a href="RemapJoystick.htm">limited joystick remapping</a>).</li>
    170. 

  170. </ul>
    171. 

  171. <p><strong>How to Apply Changes to the Registry:</strong> There are at least two methods to remap keys via the registry:</p>
    172. 

  172. <ol>
    173. 

  173.   <li>Use a program like <a href="http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/">KeyTweak</a> (freeware) to visually remap your keys. It will change the registry for you.</li>
    174. 

  174.   <li>Remap keys manually by creating a .reg file (plain text) and loading it into the registry. This is demonstrated at <a href="http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/post-56216.html#56216">www.autohotkey.com/forum/post-56216.html#56216</a></li>
    175. 

  175. </ol>
    176. 

  176. <h2>Related Topics</h2>
    177. 

  177. <p><a href="../KeyList.htm#Joystick">List of keys and mouse buttons</a><br>
    178. 

  178. <a href="../commands/GetKeyState.htm">GetKeyState</a><br>
    179. 

  179. <a href="RemapJoystick.htm">Remapping a joystick</a></p>
    180. 

  180. </body>
    181. 

  181. </html>
    182. 

  182.