How to map useful commands to your keyboard on Windows 11 or Windows 10
Want to use a different keyboard button to assign useful commands to your keyboard or mouse? Thanks to PowerToys, you can easily map and remap any button you want, even map buttons to perform shortcut combinations. Here’s what you need to do.
Map useful commands with PowerToys
Before PowerToys, if you wanted to map commands to your keyboard or mouse, you had to use a third-party application. Aside from keyboard shortcuts in Windows, you can now use one of the tools called Keyboard Manager in PowerToys. Keyboard Manager helps you map useful commands by allowing you to redefine the keys on your keyboard.
Download and install PowerToys
If you don’t already have PowerToys installed, there are several ways you can get it. Here are three methods to download and install PowerToys on your PC.
1. Install from the GitHub release page.
2. Install from the Microsoft Store.
3. Install via Windows package manager. Copy and paste the following command into PowerShell: winget install Microsoft.PowerToys --source winget
After downloading and installing PowerToys on your PC, launch PowerToys Settings to enable the Keyboard Manager feature. You can use this guide to learn how to map useful commands on Windows 11, but Windows 10 users can use it too.
Enable keyboard manager
When you first launch PowerToys, you should be taken to the PowerToys Settings, also known as the General section in the sidebar.
1. Click on the three-line menu at the top left and select “Keyboard Manager” from the sidebar.
2. By default, ensure that the Enable keyboard manager Toggle is enabled, turn it on if it’s not.
3a. click Remap a button to reconfigure a key to another key or shortcut key.
3b. click Remap a shortcut Remap shortcuts to other shortcuts or buttons for all or specific applications.
Remap a button
Here’s what you need to do to remap a button.
1 in keyboard managerclick Remap a button.
2. When the Remap Keys window appears, click the large plus button to add a new key mapping.
3. Select the button you want to remap physical key column by clicking either the Type button and type the key on your keyboard or select the key from the drop-down menu.
4. Change the key or shortcut key in the Assigned to: Column to your preferred replacement by clicking Type click and type the key on your keyboard or use the drop down menu.
For example, I want to change the print screen to Ctrl + P. So if I use that Type Option, I type”Ctrl + P‘ and click OK when you’re done
5. When ready to activate the new key mapping you just remapped, click OK.
You can use the dropdown menu to select a specific button, or in this example: Ctrl (right) + P. However, you can change the link to whatever you want.
When you click OK, you may see a warning message similar to this one. click Carry on anyway.
This warning means that you are “orphaning” a key. This means that you have mapped it to a different key and nothing is currently mapped to it.
As long as PowerToys is running, Keyboard Manager allows me to use it Ctrl + P to call them print screen (PrtScn) function.
Remap a shortcut
The process of remapping a shortcut key is almost identical to remapping a key. You can reassign a shortcut to use in place of another shortcut or to replace a current shortcut. In this example, I remapped the physical link Ctrl + P to PrtScn.
Unlike remapping a button, when remapping a shortcut you can do it for specific apps or keep the default All Apps option on your PC.
You must have PowerToys running in the background for this to work. If you close or exit PowerToys, Keyboard Manager will not be able to call up the previously created keybindings or shortcuts.
Add or delete a keymap or shortcut
If at any point you want to delete key bindings or add a different one, the instructions are pretty straightforward.
To delete a key binding or shortcut, click the trash can icon to the right of the key binding. To add a new keybinding or shortcut, click the big plus sign below. Remember to click OK at the top to close the window when done.
Remember: as long as PowerToys is running in the background, the Keyboard Manager will ensure that your new key or key combination remapping is applied.
limitations
There are some key combinations that cannot be replaced with useful commands because they are reserved by the Windows operating system. Here are the buttons and shortcuts that cannot be reassigned:
- Windows key + L and Ctrl + Alt + Delete cannot be reassigned as they are reserved by the Windows operating system.
- That fn (function) Key cannot (in most cases) be reassigned. The keys F1 – F12 (and F13 – F24) can be assigned.
- Use of Break key only sends a single keyed event. For example mapping Break to the backspace Pressing and holding deletes only a single character.
- Windows key + G Often opens Xbox Game Bar even if reassigned. Fortunately, the Xbox Game Bar can be disabled.
As a reminder, the Keyboard Manager must be enabled, with PowerToys running in the background at all times, in order for you to use remapped keys and shortcuts. If PowerToys is not running, button remapping will not work.
Are you using PowerToys to map useful commands or another app? Do you use another app to add keyboard shortcuts to your mouse? Let us know in the comments.