Mrs. Todd would know what to do.

November 4, 2010 9:28 AM

On a keyboard, can I map a key combination (Ctrl+C) to a single key?

I've googled the possibility of mapping key combinations (in this case Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V) to a single key (Ctrl+C to PageUp and Ctrl+V to PageDown would be ideal) and have found conflicting answers about the feasibility of this, as well as conflicting methods of making it so. I downloaded AutoHotKey, which didn't seem to work (though I could have screwed up the script).

This is for the computer I have at work which uses Windows XP. I do a lot of copying and pasting between various programs (SAP's Quick Cut and Paste makes me insanely happy) and databases and, though I've tried, I've never been able to train my left hand to take any role in the copy and paste process. Inevitably, I end up reaching over with my right, which really hurts after a while.

Any ideas? Thanks!

posted by eunoia to computers & internet (6 answers total)

What's your AutoHotKey script look like? All you should need are these two lines:

PgUp::^c
PgDn::^v
posted by burnmp3s at 9:33 AM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not a direct answer to your question, but my wife writes specifications and finds a four button mouse a necessity. She maps the extra buttons one side to copy and the other to paste. So, there is that option.

(Her added bonus is that since she is also left handed the combination of extra buttons reversed makes that computer practically unusable to me, so I generally stay off it.)
posted by meinvt at 9:33 AM on November 4, 2010

not what you asked exactly but i do copy/cut/paste using my right hand with the following keys, and they should just work without needing any programs installed:

ctrl-insert = copy
shift-delete = cut
shift-insert = paste
posted by yeoz at 9:45 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

burnmp3s:

Holy crap! Thanks so much! I was using:

^c::PgUp
^v::PgDn

Which wasn't working. I assume my script was mapping PageUp to Ctrl+C?
posted by eunoia at 9:52 AM on November 4, 2010

I assume my script was mapping PageUp to Ctrl+C?

Right you just had the mapping backwards. AutoHotKey is great, if you had not mentioned it I would have suggested using it for this. Glad I could help!
posted by burnmp3s at 9:58 AM on November 4, 2010

I'm glad you got your answer, and I'ma let you finish...

No seriously. I picked up a Logitech MX Revolution (now discontinued and replaced with something similar but different), but basically any mouse with a left-and-right clickable scroll button will work...

I mapped left tilt to cut and right tilt to paste, and now I can cut and paste to my heart's desire without ever touching the keyboard. You can do it w/i the mouse control software, no need for AHK, although AHK is awesome. Just a suggestion if you really do a ton of cutting and pasting.
posted by TomMelee at 11:22 AM on November 4, 2010