After responding to a recent comment about how to map keys/keystrokes on an Apple/Mac keyboard, I thought I'd share a list of Mac keyboard utilities I found. But first, before looking at paying for Mac utilities for your keyboard/keystroke mapping, it's important to know that you can perform some keyboard mapping functions using System Preferences. Just follow these steps:
- Open System Preferences
- Click Keyboard
- Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab (if it isn't already showing)
- On this panel you can change your Keyboard Shortcuts for many Mac applications
I can provide a longer tutorial if anyone is interested, but in short, the magic here lies in the "+" and "-" key buttons on this form. The "-" button lets you remove current Mac keyboard mappings, and the "+" button lets you add them. When you press the "+" button to add a Mac keyboard mapping, you'll see that you can assign the new Mac keystroke to many different applications.
Mac keyboard utilities ($)
Now, if for some reason the Mac System Preferences Keyboard Shortcuts approach doesn't work for you, you can also spend some money to buy some Mac keyboard utilities that may take this approach even farther. I haven't bought any of these utilities myself -- I haven't had the need for them -- but if you do need more power, give these Mac keyboard utilities a spin and let me know what you think:
Mac keyboard application launcher
While I'm in the neighborhood of Mac keyboard utilities, I should also mention Quicksilver. On my older Mac I used to use it as a Mac application launcher all the time, but I had forgotten about it until now:
Quicksilver is a very unusual (but good) Mac application, and I'm not doing it any justice by simply mentioning it here. If you ever have a little free time, follow that link above and read the docs to get a little idea of what Quicksilver can do.
Mac keyboard utilities - Summary
I hope this Mac keyboard/keystrokes tip has been helpful. If you know of any other great Mac keyboard utilities just leave a note in the Comments section below.
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