I have a Macbook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) running OS X El Capitan. Prior to upgrading to 10.11.4 pressing SHIFT + 3 returned the £ (pound) sign and alt + 3 returned the # (hash) key. Since upgrading these have been reversed! Can anyone advise how to switch this back? Why has this happened?
MacOS – £# key binding changed after El Capitan update
keyboardmacos
Related Solutions
Almost all of the keyboard shortcuts you've learned on Windows are the same on the Mac. The difference is which modifier key you use to invoke them.
On Windows, shortcuts are typically invoked with the Ctrl modifier key.
On the Mac, you use the 
key, also known as the "command" key. It's in the same physical position as the Alt key on a Windows keyboard, but is nothing like the Alt key.
The Mac has its own Alt key, labeled Opt/Alt. Its primary use is a secondary modifier for keystrokes. Command-Option-S might be "Save As", for example, while Command-S is regular "Save".
The Ctrl key is there on a Mac keyboard, too, but it's hardly ever used for anything.
The relative layouts look something like this:
PC: Ctrl Windows Alt
Mac: Ctrl Opt/Alt
The problem is that you're most likely using a PC keyboard on your Mac. In that specific case, the Opt/Alt and keys are reversed. You can change this in System Preferences, under Keyboard. Truly a huge pain in the rear for switchers. That layout looks like this, instead:
PC keyboard on Mac: Ctrl Opt/Alt
Apple's website has some pretty good hints and tips for Windows switchers. Start here for answers to your specific question about keyboard shortcuts. Then go here and read everything!
You can probably get what you want by creating a Windows layout with the Apple mapping. The tool for making such things is at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964665.aspx
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Best Answer
It seems that after upgrading my keyboard settings have been changed from US to UK. To fix the key binding issue described above I needed to go to:
System preferences -> Keyboard -> Input sources and click the + button to add UK as my input source, then delete the US input source in the menu of the LHS. Thanks very much for Mark for getting me to check this.