How do I swap the control and command keys on a mac?

November 18, 2005 8:40 AM

How do I swap the control and command keys on a mac? Since I use a PC from the very same keyboard, I'm constantly flubbing up my copy and pastes between OSes. I'd like to just stick with one, and control-c feels more natural. I've tried the Keyboard system preferences pane. I've changed the Modifier Keys settings to swap them, but it doesn't do anything. Do I need to run an app to swap these keystrokes?
posted by mathowie to Technology (8 answers total)

Best answer: I'm not sure about a setting on the Mac, but the open source programs Double Command and uControl will both do this.
posted by genial at 8:49 AM on November 18, 2005

Best answer: if you are running tiger, you might want to retry sys prefs > keyboard & mouse > modifier keys. im on a laptop running 10.4.3, changes in this window are effective immediate.

could it be you are using a third-party keyboard?
posted by phaedon at 8:51 AM on November 18, 2005

Wow, I was just thinking about this. I'd like to up the ante- is there a piece of (Mac) software that will do this on a per-app basis, like USB Overdrive? I use RDC to access my Windows machine, but would like to have Command-C/V map to Ctrl-C/V just for that app.
posted by mkultra at 9:22 AM on November 18, 2005

wow. check out this jewel.
posted by phaedon at 9:31 AM on November 18, 2005

Response by poster: Ah, I think I see the problem. I'm using Synergy as a software KVM, with my PC as the server, and the mac used virtually. It doesn't seem to interpret keyboard commands across the network in the same way.

I'll try the modifier keys again, and make my mac the server instead, so my keyboard sends commands directly to Tiger instead of over the network. Thanks all!
posted by mathowie at 9:38 AM on November 18, 2005

I had the same problem, then I bribed the IT dudes at work (pc) to swap the keys. NOW I have Dell keyboard on my home Mac, and it's been driving me nuts again. ALL GOOD NOW. Thanks!!!
posted by mimi at 9:59 AM on November 18, 2005

This has dogged me for years, work PC, home Mac. I tend to make alot of extra keystrokes because of it. But not anymore. Thanks AskMe!
posted by fenriq at 10:36 AM on November 18, 2005

Best answer: Just as an update, I swapped my shared computer setup so the mac was directly connected to my keyboard and mouse, inverted the keys, then in Synergy inverted the control/commands sent to my PC so they were correct.

And like that, I have control-c copying on both platforms, on both sides of my desk.
posted by mathowie at 11:17 AM on November 18, 2005