Here's a tip that has been a huge time-saver for me on MacOS. I only discovered it recently, but it's generally well-known among self-respecting Vim developers: remapping the Caps Lock ⇪ key.
What ?
Caps Lock ⇪ key is rarely used, so why not repurpose it?
The idea is to remap Caps Lock ⇪ to hyper key, meaning a key combination like cmd+option+ctrl+shift on Mac.
Why ?
This combination is generally never used by apps because it's too complex for users. But by mapping it to hyper key, we gain access to an entirely new layer of shortcuts.
By combining the ease of assigning shortcuts to a variety of commands with Raycast, I can now access my most-used apps super quickly.
Use cases
When I started, I've created over 20 shortcuts in less than an hour. Thanks to some mnemonic devices, there's no need to memorize them. Adopted in a flash !
I feel like I have superpowers now, accessing everything I need with just a few keystrokes.
-
CAPSLOCK + A
Web browser (Arc) -
CAPSLOCK + K
Akiflow -
CAPSLOCK + B
Beeper -
CAPSLOCK + C
Visual Studio Code -
CAPSLOCK + P
Recent Projects (from VSCode) -
CAPSLOCK + F
Figma -
CAPSLOCK + M
Mail (Mimestream) -
CAPSLOCK + N
Notion -
CAPSLOCK + ,
See my Schedule -
CAPSLOCK + T
Terminal -
CAPSLOCK + L
Linear -
CAPSLOCK + V
Clipboard History -
CAPSLOCK + G
GitHub -
CAPSLOCK + W
Kill a process -
CAPSLOCK + S
File Search by Raycast -
CAPSLOCK + I
Set Input audio device -
CAPSLOCK + O
Set Output audio device -
CAPSLOCK + R
Record my voice and paste transcription with superwhisper -
CAPSLOCK + =
Make current Window larger -
CAPSLOCK + -
Make current Window smaller -
CAPSLOCK + ←/→/↓/↑
Move the active tab to a given direction
Inside VSCode:
-
CAPS + D
Find previous occurrence (inverse ofcmd+D
) -
CAPS + Enter
Smart Select from the cursor -
Shift + Enter
Move current cursor to Smart Select
How ?
To remap Caps Lock, I use Hyperkey, which is free and made by Ryan Hanson. There might be other similar tools for Mac or Windows.
To install, download it directly from their site or use
brew install --cask hyperkey
It's a small change with a big impact for me. Give it a try !
Hope it helps,
Jules
Top comments (8)
Is there any way to do on windows?
Yes, windows “PowerToys” allows for key remapping. I’ve used it to remap CAPS lock to Escape. I use escape a LOT and have no use for caps.
Uhmm. Good to know, but I'm sticking to my routines. :-)
Great idea though!
Thanks for this
I'm using another key mapping program, which works well too - but no way I'm remapping the CAPS LOCK key, lol - I'M USING THAT WAY TOO OFTEN, I REALLY NEED THAT KEY ! ;-)
As a NeoVim user I remapped that key to esc so I can exit insert mode more easily, as it’s easier to reach
I thought this article will have something that i'm finding for so long...
What are you looking for?