How To: Use Caps Lock For Your Keybinds

How often do you use your CAPS LOCK key? I realised I NEVER used mine. If I type a CAPITAL letter I simply hold down the SHIFT key instead.

So when I realised this I thought "WTF? I can use this as a modifier key for my keybinds" then I realised that it would make my typing lookstupid. So I engaged my Google Fu and discovered there is a way of remapping individual keys on the keyboard.

My keybinds are weird so I won't go in depth here BUT I use SHIFT and CTRL as modifiers often and ALT very rarely. I also find CTRL is a bit awkward to use often. CAPS LOCK is a lot easier to hit with my pinky finger (which I use to activate my modifier keys). So I decided to remap CAPS LOCK to be a 2nd CTRL key.

On Windows this is really simple but you do need to be a bit brave as it involves modifying your registry. If you use a MAC I'm sorry but you're out of luck!

This can be achieved 2 ways. The first is to open up the registry and add/modify the registry key manually. If you're not sure ho to do this there is a second, much easier way which is to create a .reg file. Below is the text that you need to put in the .reg file (if you know how to add/modify the reg keys this will give you the info you need to make the change manually)

CHANGE CAPS LOCK TO CONTROL

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,1d,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

CHANGE CAPS LOCK TO SHIFT

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,2b,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

CHANGE CAPS LOCK TO ALT

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,38,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

RESET CAPS LOCK TO CAPS LOCK

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=-

To create the .reg file all you need to do is press the Windows key and 'r' at the same time, then type 'notepad' and click on 'OK'. With notepad now open copy the text from one of the boxes above and paste it into the notepad window, select 'File', 'Save As...', change the 'Save as type' dropdown to 'All Files (*.*)' and type in a file name (I suggest ChangeCapsToXXX.reg).

Once saved, close Notepad and go to the location you saved the file and open the file. This will give you a warning message:

All you need to do is press Yes and once you have rebooted your PC your caps lock key will now be the key you chose!

If you're brave and trust me, I have the files for download here. Please run the zip and the unzipped files through your anti-virus program first, if it warns you there is a virus, let me know  and do NOT open it further.

If you found this tip useful, please feel free to share it with your friends and guildies!