How to remap keys and change keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11

Today we are going to see how we can remap the keys on our keyboard in Windows and even change the shortcuts, in case we want everything to work a little more to our liking.

Most of us are used to the querty or azerty layout of keyboards, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we’d change to better suit our needs.

These types of standard keyboards are applied to be the most satisfactory possible for many users, however, when we want something more specific, we must be the ones who configure it.

This change in the keyboard and its shortcuts is possible, both in Windows 10 and 11, in order to get it to adapt just to what we want.

We are going to use PowerToys

To achieve our purpose we are going to use a tool called PowerToys, which is from Microsoft, so the compatibility with the Windows operating system is full.

This application is one of the best that we can find right now to make the most of our keyboard and modify everything we need to suit what we need.

Once you have installed it, it will be time to start and experience how we can change the keys in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Remap keyboard

Let’s see how we can remap the keys to make them the way we want them.

For that we must carry out the following steps.

• We open the program, putting PowerToys in the taskbar section for it (the magnifying glass in Windows 11).
• When it appears on the screen, we click on the name of the app to run it.
• We select Keyboard manager in the sidebar, then click on Open configuration at the bottom of the window and, in the tab that appears, we press Reassign a key.

• We press the icon + to create a new key remap.
• Subsequently, we click on the drop-down menu to select the key that we want to reassign.
• We select the key that we want to change in the left side (Key), while in the right (Assigned to 🙂 we put what it becomes.
• We can write the key we want, since only numbers appear in the drop-down, by clicking on Write.

• In addition to the standard key names, VK codes from VK 1 to VK 252 can also be selected.
• User comment
• For example, if we want the 0 key to run Windows + I, all we have to do is click on Write on the right side and select 0, to immediately go to the left side and do the same, press Windows and then I, like this simple.
• Once we have assigned all the keys, we must click on Accept (top in red) to apply the changes.
• Next, we press on Continue anyway.

• From now on we can use the new reassignments that we have marked to the keys, that is, and continuing with the previous example, each time we press 0, it will be executed the same as if we pressed Windows + I (the Configuration of Windows).

Alternativas a PowerToys

If PowerToys has not convinced you, you can always try other types of programs that are presented as alternatives to Microsoft’s.

All of them are similar, but it is also true that not being from the same company that makes the operating system, it may be that, on occasions, especially in Windows 11, it has some other failure, sporadic those yes, something that we have not experienced with PowerToys.

SharpKeys

SharpKeys is a tool that already has been around for a long time and where simplicity and ease of use are its two main weapons.

Not that I have a overly attractive interface and we could even say that it seems somewhat old-fashioned, but it is very efficient, making it very fast to learn how to work with this tool.

It is a program that allows us to write those letters that we want to modify so that when we restart the computer they already work as we have assigned them.

KeyTweak

The best it has KeyTweak is that visually it is very finished, with a eye-catching interface and that will be to the taste of many users, both for the design and for the functionality that it can offer.

We see how a virtual keyboard which allows us to reassign the keys by clicking on it, in the same way as we do on the real keyboard.

All these reassignments we are contemplating on the screen, so that at the end of all we want we can definitely run the program and get it.

Something that has seemed very correct is that the program allows us configure different profiles, being able to choose the one that best suits us at all times, so we could have a keyboard depending on the use we are giving the computer.

Key Remapper

The interface of Key Mapper is exclusively a keyboard, something that may seem too simple at first glance. Something different about this program with respect to others is that we can drag and drop, which will activate or deactivate keys.

We will can assign keys (and even disable them) with a single click on them, to open the menu for creating assignments.

Another thing that we liked the most is that it has a large number of different keyboard designs, so we can choose between those that are already predetermined.

It is a very good alternative to PowerToys, at least more original in operation.

RemapKeyboard

RemapKeyboard is a very light software and that occupies practically nothing with 79 KB.

His interface is very simple, with three columns where the different phases assigned to the keys will be managed, that is, they will help us to give different uses to the user keys.

Despite having an unspectacular and ultra-simple design, the truth is that it is perfectly understood and from the first moment you know what you have to do in each column, that is, we are facing a highly intuitive software.

Surely everything we have told you, either with PowerToys or with another of the applications that we have shown you, you have been able to give a new use to keys that you needed to do what you wanted and that make you have an important shortcut thanks to the keyboard .