Map Keys in macOS

Update: As of MacOS Sierra 10.12.1, the remapping of Caps Lock to Escape can be done natively in the Keyboard System Preferences pane. Follow the steps below to remap Caps Lock to Escape (without relying on 3rd party software).

1. Open System Preferences and click on Keyboard

2. Click on Modifier Keys...

3. For Caps Lock Key, choose Escape

4. Click OK

The Old Way of Using Seil¶

Seil (previouly known as PCKeyboardHack) is great tool for mapping keys on Mac. Let me illustrate how to use Seil. As a heavy Vim user, I find it is necessary to swap the Caps Lock key with the Escape key.

1. Change the behavior of Map Caps Lock Key to No Action on Mac.

   1. Open System Preferences

   2. Open Keyboard

   3. Open Modifier Keys...

   4. Change Caps Lock Key to No Action

2. Map the behavior of Caps Lock key to the Escape key using Seil.

   1. Click on Change the caps lock key in Seil

   2. Check Change the caps lock key

   3. Fill 53 (keycode of Escape) in the keycode text box

3. Map the behavior of the Escape key to the Caps key using Seil.

   1. Click on Other keys in Seil

   2. Check Change Escape

   3. fill 57 (keycode of the Caps Lock key) in the keycode text box.

References¶

• Map Keys in Linux

• Map Keys in Windows