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Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll]

A submission to Hacker News on remapping the Caps Lock key (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6969401) got me curious. From the thread, it looked as if most people remap their Caps Lock key to something else. Since these answers may be heavily biased (it was a thread about remapping that key, after all), here's a poll.

If you want to, please provide any alternate mapping you're using in the comments.

( 64 comments | 28 points | on HN )

Poll

Yes 273 votes
No 222 votes
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by mpweiher on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:58AM (#6969846)
Remapped to have the control key positioned where God and Digital Equipment Corporation intended it to be (and the Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, ...). The position below the shift key is the product of a malevolent conspiracy by the suits (IBM!) to keep programmer productivity in check and cause RSI.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by cypherpunks01 on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:45AM (#6969809)
I've found Ctrl to be far and away the best remapping, especially for Mac keyboards where the Ctrl key is extremely small and awkward to type.

Protip: In all recent versions of OSX you can natively remap Caps Lock and other keys via System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by DDR0 on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:06AM (#6969868)
I find caps lock useful for both typing CAPITAL_CONSTANTS and YELLING AT PEOPLE. I have remapped other keys, such as the the menu key to compose, and I usually use the super key to trigger custom key shortcuts.

(Filed under ⌨.)

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by mikegirouard on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:01AM (#6969856)
Like a lot of folks here, I've remapped to CTRL.

I'm a vim and tmux guy, so that's my motivation.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by peedy on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:15AM (#6969890)
If you are a vim guy, you are missing a lot by not remapping Capslock to Esc (system wide). I've even nnoremapped ; to : (from vimrc)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by jwpeddle on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:30AM (#6969920)
I used to think that, but I've found there's way more to gain with Ctrl and using ctrl+[ instead of escape (or imap jj <Esc>)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by peedy on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:50AM (#6969959)
imap jj <Esc> is a brilliant idea, thanks!
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by mikegirouard on Saturday December 28, 2013 @01:06AM (#6974154)
I've been tempted to experiment with this workflow after reading another[0] post here.

I'm actually quite happy with my current setup but handling meta keys on my MPB is frustrating. Having ESC be closer is a nice thing to have.

Thanks for the reminder.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by __--__ on Friday December 27, 2013 @10:34PM (#6973782)
I'm a vim guy and I did both (Capslock is Esc when pressed and let go, ctrl when held down). Best of both worlds.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by sixstringninja on Saturday December 28, 2013 @03:09PM (#6976241)
How did you do that? I use a Macbook Pro with OS X 10.9 (Mavericks).
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by __--__ on Saturday December 28, 2013 @03:29PM (#6976362)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by sixstringninja on Monday December 30, 2013 @11:47AM (#6985325)
I just wanted to say thanks! This works like a charm.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by ryanthejuggler on Friday December 27, 2013 @10:34AM (#6970958)
I use Ctrl+C to get out of insert mode. Also a diehard Programmer Dvorak user.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by ah- on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:00AM (#6969988)
; is pretty useful in vim though, it repeats your last motion.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by peterarmstrong on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:00AM (#6969987)
Just make it the Control key. Yeah, Emacs user. I assume if you use vi you'll remap it to Esc. Either way, you'll be happy.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by JohnTHaller on Friday December 27, 2013 @12:04PM (#6971438)
I've gone back and forth in the past. I put together a series of .REG files for Windows users so you can either disable caps lock, map it to a shift key, map it to CTRL or swap it with CTRL. Since they're .REG keys, you don't need to have a utility running in the background. The .REG to set things back to normal is included, too:

http://johnhaller.com/useful-stuff/disable-caps-lock

If you're more adventurous, you can turn it into a Billy Mays Key so your PC says a fun Billy Mays phrase every time you press CAPS LOCK. It's also open source if you want to play with it:

http://johnhaller.com/useful-stuff/billy-mays-caps-lock

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by jrmg on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:59AM (#6969849)
I think the responses to this poll will be quite self selecting, with 'yes' vastly overrepresented.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by DDR0 on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:08AM (#6969873)
At the moment, I am surprised by how even the votes are. (~10% more remappers.)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by sliverstorm on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:49AM (#6969953)
I loved remapping Capslock to Ctrl, but eventually gave up the ghost because the statefulness of Capslock was getting confused and I was having a hell of a time keeping my virtual sessions and master client session "in sync"
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by Nic0 on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:10AM (#6969879)
I'm using a TypeMatrix[1] keyboard, the Caps Lock key is not at the same place that usual keyboards. therefore I didn't remapped that key.

[1]: http://www.typematrix.com/

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by lake99 on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:02AM (#6969859)
Using the Win key often on my Linux laptop gave me an achy left thumb.

This fixed my thumb:

    localectl set-x11-keymap us pc104 altgr-intl lv3:ralt_alt,caps:super,lv3:lwin_switch
So, US-International, LAlt=Ralt, Caps->Win, Win->AltGr
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by phaedrix on Friday December 27, 2013 @11:36AM (#6971301)
Have caps lock mapped to quick escape and control (i.e. tap for escape and hold down for control). Somewhat related, left-control is mapped to Hyper. This post was an inspiration: http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/a-modern-space-cadet/#happ...

Combined with ShiftIt, I can approximate a primitive keyboard-controlled tiling window manager on the Mac: https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by vijucat on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:40AM (#6969936)
I disabled Caps Lock so that by itself, it does nothing. I mapped CapsLock + hjkl to the arrow keys a la vim, and several other similar CapsLock + <something else> combos that make sense to me.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by bitsofpancake on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:59AM (#6969982)
On my laptop, I remapped it to be the left click button, and it changed my life. I used to find dragging windows and files around and selecting text such a pain with a touchpad, but with this remapping, I can do it really, really easily. I just use my left hand to click and my right hand to move the cursor. Try it!

Anyone know how I can remap the Caps Lock key this way on a Mac?

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by kbendyk on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:08AM (#6970003)
As a Total Commander addict, I cannot believe some is still copying files using drag and drop, manually selecting files etc. There are some alternatives for a Mac as well.

As far as remapping goes, I've remapped my right ctrl to delete. I delete a lot, and reaching to the far right corner of the keyboard was a pain.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by beernutz on Friday December 27, 2013 @09:34AM (#6970708)
Preach it brother! 8)

I have been using Total Commander for YEARS and it is the first thing I load on a computer that does not already have it.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by msbarnett on Friday December 27, 2013 @09:25PM (#6973573)
> Anyone know how I can remap the Caps Lock key this way on a Mac?

Try keyremap4macbook: https://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by javert on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:54AM (#6969829)
I use it as the main part of all the chords I use to control window manager functionality under dwm. e.g. Caps+<J/K/H/L> to move between windows or workspaces, Caps+Enter to open a terminal, etc. Technically, I think I have it remapped to Ctrl, but that's just an implementation detail.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by thanatropism on Friday December 27, 2013 @11:13AM (#6971158)
Yes, but not due to the traditional Control key positioning. Rather, I switch Tab for Caps Lock.

Since I use bowl-design Kinesis keyboards both at home and at work, the usual position for Caps Lock (where I put Tab) is just a tad bit more comfortable for repeated pinky use.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by sls on Friday December 27, 2013 @01:52PM (#6972010)
I wouldn't reply just to say that I map caps lock to control, like so many others. Perhaps a poll that gave the most common remappings, and let people specify more unusual ones in the comments, would gather more respondents for the common ones.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by ricree on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:38AM (#6969934)
I have mine mapped to the compose key. Don't need it a ton, but it's nice to have it close by and convenient when I do.

Would probably have been better as esc or ctrl, but I didn't feel like having to relearn the muscle memory for those keys.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by Daviey on Friday December 27, 2013 @08:17AM (#6970491)
My Esc key broke, so it seemed logical to make use of the otherwise unused Caps lock key. It works perfectly, and I've got quite used to it...

.. The problem is when I use a normal keyboard layout, and hit Caps lock in Vim and it doesn't DRT. :)

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by andrewcooke on Friday December 27, 2013 @08:24AM (#6970509)
NO BECAUSE IT'S USEFUL.

(also doesn't that little green light with no meaning bug you?)

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by DArcMattr on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:14PM (#6972109)
I shy away from keyboards that have an indicator light built into the CAPS LOCK key, so no, I don't have the problem of the indicator bugging me.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by lurkinggrue on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:45PM (#6972540)
More than once this week that key has nearly killed me in minecraft.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by blissofbeing on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:12AM (#6970011)
Yes, to backspace, and I recommend everyone do the same. Think about how many times a day you hit backspace, it makes no sense for it to be way up there on a pinky, move it to your home row and be happy! :)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by alefteris on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:07AM (#6969871)
Remapped Caps Lock to backspace. Using "jj" in vim for escape.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by eru on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:57AM (#6969840)
I would, but caps lock is not an issue on the Kinesis Advantage.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by clarry on Friday December 27, 2013 @05:19AM (#6970129)
I use the Advantage Pro. I map it to ESC (vi!), the default thumb keys are ok for Control. The rubbery little ESC on the Kinesis is crap.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by eru on Friday December 27, 2013 @05:32AM (#6970157)
Emacs works out of the box. I'd probably do the same for vim.

I have the dvorak version.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by clarry on Friday December 27, 2013 @05:51AM (#6970206)
I've got both qwerty and dvorak printed on the caps. I use dvorak though.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by eru on Friday December 27, 2013 @08:20AM (#6970500)
Yes, they don't have Dvorak only.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by mintplant on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:57AM (#6969842)
I map Caps Lock to Escape. Makes using Vim much nicer for me.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by calvins on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:28AM (#6969917)
Me too.

I also map Escape to Caps Lock, for the very rare occasion that Caps Lock is actually needed (one a year, maybe). Escape is actually really useful for things other than switching modes in Vim, as it's often the default 'cancel that' binding that closes windows and cancels something you've started.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by hibbelig on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:56AM (#6969835)
I remapped CapsLock to Control, but I kept the Control key unchanged because hitting Control+Alt+Command is so convenient this way on a Mac.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by crtstartup on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:47AM (#6969816)
I use happy hacking pro 2. There is no caps lock :)
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by jrockway on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:01AM (#6969989)
Yes there is. It's Fn-TAB.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by comzeradd on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:49AM (#6969954)
Yes, I use it to switch keyboard language layout
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by jcampbell1 on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:58AM (#6969848)
Remapped to Ctrl. I use ctrl+a/e/n/p/b/f constantly instead of arrow keys.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by gethinzhang on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:32AM (#6969925)
i think almost all 'emacs' guys has remapped CP to ctrl
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by almost on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:30AM (#6969921)
Cntrl when pressed with another key, Esc when pressed and released on its own. Perfect.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by reneherse on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:12AM (#6970015)
Cool! I decided to try this configuration. Easy directions on how to do it on OS X using both native settings and KeyRemap4MacBook: https://coderwall.com/p/63nzva
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by olalonde on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:43AM (#6969805)
Remapped it to Control because Control is hard to reach on a MacBook keyboard.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by fyrabanks on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:56AM (#6970089)
My Leopold 660M has a DIP switch that swaps Caps Lock and Ctrl. So necessary.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by dionyziz on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:07AM (#6969872)
ESC
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by cge on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:18AM (#6969899)
It seems everyone else here has it mapped to Ctrl, and here we are with it mapped to Esc... is there something I don't know? Esc works wonderfully with Vim, even better than Ctrl-[, but perhaps there's some other reason?
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by keikun17 on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:22AM (#6969907)
mapped it to ESC because im using a mech keyboard who's ctrl is reachable by my pinky. I tried remapping it to ctrl, and mapped 'jk' for esc in vim but it didn't work that well for me
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by bulltale on Friday December 27, 2013 @05:02AM (#6970101)
On my Macbook Air I have remapped the eject key to forward delete.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by josteink on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:45AM (#6969810)
control key.

Not so because reaching it is hard on a normal keyboard (as opposed to Mac wtfness), but because I never intentionally use caps lock and accidentally enabling it is annoying.

Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by richardw on Friday December 27, 2013 @02:54AM (#6969831)
No. I use a remapped layout but caps lock is just caps lock.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by oddshocks on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:05AM (#6969996)
Use of caps lock as control.
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by alisnic on Friday December 27, 2013 @04:05AM (#6969998)
Colemak did that for me
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by Goosey on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:58AM (#6969980)
Remapped to backspace
Re:Ask HN: Have you remapped the Caps Lock key? [Poll] by lurkinggrue on Friday December 27, 2013 @03:44PM (#6972535)
What a bloody good idea.

I just did.