How do I get my windows keyboard to work on my Mac? I want to be able to bind the keys so it's like I'm using a windows computer, i.e. ctrl maps to command, but I've tried everything to no avail. Also, how would I map the symbols to the correct places, for instance \ is where ` should be, etc.
MacOS – How to get the windows (UK Layout) keyboard to work on Mac
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Related Solutions
Remapping a Windows keyboard so that the key positions match a standard Mac keyboard is pretty easy.
Just open Keyboard Preferences, and click the Modifier Keys… button in the Keyboard tab.
This lets you change the behaviour of the keys on each attached keyboard (make sure you select your external one from the top drop-down menu).
To turn the Windows standard Ctrl⊞WinAlt configuration to the Mac standard controloptioncommand ⌘, just change the Option and Command drop downs so they have the opposite entries (i.e. Option performs Command and Command performs Option).
If you want to change the physical keys, most of the premium mechanical keyboards use Cherry switches that have interchangeable key caps. You can get Mac specific modifier key sets from places like DAS Keyboard and WASD Keyboards. If you want to go nuts, you can even get a fully customized key cap set in a style similar to Apple's keyboards, as this guy did (looks pretty nice IMO, but I'm sure it's costly).
You don't give a lot of information about where you are based so I am making some references based on experience outside the US.
When setting up a machine here in South Africa, the system (even preconfigured ones) come with an additional keyboard layout (in our case US-International). We use US keyboard layout here. That layout causes the ' to require a double tap on the keyboard before it processes it. If we remove it so that it only has one layout and restart the machine the behaves correctly.
Check that you have the correct keyboard installed in Windows as VMWare tends to make some assumptions during VM creation.
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Best Answer
To change the modifier keys, go to System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard and choose Modifier Keys….
To map the keys to the correct places, go to System Preferences → Keyboard → Input Sources, click the + and choose British PC.
To ensure that your keyboard is identified correctly, go to System Preferences → Keyboard → Change Keyboard Type and follow the instructions to allow OS X to identify the keyboard.