3 things to know before remapping your keyboard

Improve keyboard usage efficiency, start by remapping keys! Whether you are a data analyst, multilingual user, or an office expert who pursues extreme efficiency, custom keyboard mapping can significantly improve your productivity. This article will explain in detail the three key steps of custom keyboard mapping.

First of all, you need to understand that not all keyboards support custom mappings.

Customizable keyboards are usually more expensive than regular keyboards, with price ranges ranging from $30 to $1,000. The entry-level customizable keyboard is recommended to budget between $50 and $200. Low-priced keyboards are usually made of cheap plastic and are difficult to replace keys or keycaps; while keyboards around $100 will use higher quality materials, and the higher the price, the stronger the durability and functionality of the keyboard.

If you are not sure whether your keyboard supports customization, please search the keyboard brand and model online for relevant information. When purchasing a new keyboard, be sure to make sure that the product description clearly states "customizable". If you have any questions, it is recommended to check user reviews and professional forums to learn about other users' experience.

Secondly, it is crucial to choose the right software or application.

Mainstream brands (such as Logitech) usually need to download special software provided by manufacturers for customization. This type of software is usually easy to get started and provides detailed customization guidance.

For niche brands or self-assembled keyboards, open source software such as Via or QMK is usually required. Although the learning curve is relatively steep, it can be easily used after mastering it. There are a lot of tutorials and materials online, and QMK even provides online configuration tools.

Finally, learn to create macro functions to improve efficiency to the extreme.

Key remapping is only the first step, and creating macro functions can truly play the powerful role of a custom keyboard. Macros can combine a series of operations into one key, such as simplifying navigation operations for audio/video files, or replacing complex shortcut key combinations.

This requires understanding of keycodes, which is the code representation of each key on the keyboard, and it is also the language for software such as Via and QMK to read shortcut keys. For example, to set a key to the "Ctrl Z" shortcut for Windows system, you need to enter a code like "[KC_LCTRL, KC_Z]" into the mapping software and assign it to the target key.

While some programming knowledge will help with custom keyboard mapping, you don't need to be a programming expert. The QMK website provides a complete list of keycodes and detailed tutorials; Keychron also provides detailed tutorials on using Via software, which you can use based on and combine web search to learn custom methods for other keyboards.

No matter which keyboard or software you choose, there are a lot of resources available on the Internet for reference. Don't be afraid to try, even if it fails, you can reset the keyboard and start over. Try it boldly and you will experience the endless possibilities that custom keyboards bring!

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