How to remap "Context Menu" key in Mac OS X?

Question

I have a Logitech keyboard (Ultra-Flat Keyboard Dark Shine to be exact), which has the context menu key in the middle of the windows and alt key, which is quite annoying.

Here's a screenshot of where the key is:

http://freshlog.com/grabs/ff532-How_do_I_remap_the_context_menu_key_in_Mac_OS_X

I can remap the windows and alt keys under the default Keyboard System Preferences Panel, but there doesn't seem to be a way to remap the context menu key.

Any ideas?

score 48 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 25 '14 at 23:17

48

Use KeyRemap4MacBook (Karabiner for osx 10.9, 10.10). As Mecki pointed out, XML .keylayouts / Ukelele can't solve your problem.

In spite of the name, KeyRemap4MacBook works on any Mac (OS X 10.4 or later).

The settings you want are under "For PC Users" » "Change PC Application Key".

enter image description here

edited Jul 25 '14 at 23:17

dnozay

23,846
6
82
104

answered Feb 07 '11 at 15:52

David Röthlisberger

1,786
15
20

1

Using @David's suggestion, map it to `Option_L` – Cory Klein Jul 21 '14 at 23:20
Why would you want to map it to command-L? To quickly go to the location bar in your browser? – avernet Mar 11 '15 at 23:44
2

@avernet when Karabiner says "Command_L" it means the Left Command key. – David Röthlisberger Mar 13 '15 at 22:28
Does Karabiner need to be left running for this to work? – Samantha Catania Apr 21 '15 at 11:51
@SamanthaCatania - Sort of. You can close the Karabiner GUI completely when you're not actively configuring Karabiner. Karabiner itself is a kernel extension, so it's always running in the background. – Carl Smith Feb 27 '16 at 13:16

score 8 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 11 '12 at 10:53

8

Use KeyRemap4Macbook. Edit private.xml file like this:

<item>
    <name>Change Windows context menu key to Right option key</name>
    <identifier>private.win_context_menu_option_key</identifier>
    <autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::PC_APPLICATION, KeyCode::OPTION_R</autogen>
</item>

This code will remap right option key to the context menu key.

edited Dec 11 '12 at 10:53

j0k

22,600
28
79
90

answered Dec 11 '12 at 10:34

Miroslav Kuťák

1,875
1
18
24

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 03 '19 at 16:12

You can use Karabiner to map App to Command+Option:

You can then use Keyboard Maestro to map Command+Option+Letter, where Letter is a key that denotes an application, to focus the application:

For example, you can then do App+C to focus Chrome, App+T to focus Terminal, App+S to focus Slack etc. (if an app isn't already open, Keyboard Maestro opens it first).

If you're using a generic keyboard, then you have a dedicated App key:

If you're using an Apple keyboard, you have to hold Command and Option, but they are next to each other, and appear on both sides of the spacebar:

Keep in mind that OS X already uses Command+Option+Esc to open the Force Quit Applications dialogue, so you could now use App+Esc for that. Likewise, OS X uses Command+Option+W to close all of the windows in the focus application (tabs in Chrome).

Notes:

Karabiner is an open source kernel extension for modifying the way keyboard input is handled by OS X.
Keyboard Maestro is a proprietary application for creating keyboard shortcuts in OS X. It has a free 30 day trial, and costs $36.

Keyboard Maestro changed my life! Automate EVERYTHING! – kraftydevil Jun 08 '16 at 16:30 — kraftydevil, Jun 08 '16 at 16:30

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 07 '18 at 08:42

The latest MacOS versions are served by Karabiner Elements 12.1.
Key-to-key remapping are done in the Simple Modifications tab and conveniently selected in 2 rows of drop-down-menus (see: screenshot).

Complex Modifications in this Preferences Panel's tab have either to be added by importing them from the internet (Karabiner-E.'s site) or from the user's ~/.config/karabiner/assets/ complex_modifications folder.
"Complex" ones from the net actually are also copied there and switched "on" (= [+ Enable]) in the tab.

ALL modifications are finally stored (& thus "activated") in ~/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json.

A pragmatic procedure (that also helps avoid mistakes while writing complex-mods yourself) is to copy & rename & alter one "imported" mod.
Once you are experienced (e.g.: different bracket types) it may be easier to edit the json file directly…

There is no longer the option to constrict remaps to specific windows (can be simulated by an osascript AppleScript) as some other features.
A non-Element version of Karabiner is being developed.

Two sites to get information & questions (answered) – but please search for previous "doubles" !:

github.com >> Karabiner-Elements
groups.google.com/forums/ osx-karabiner

Since this answer helped me but is closed here, here's the link to my shorter, updated version of it answering [Switch the keys caps lock and shift](https://superuser.com/a/1804009/) on SuperUser. — joeljpa, Aug 17 '23 at 06:59

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered May 17 '13 at 09:37

2

KeyRemap4MacBook

Entry: For PC Users -> Change PC Application Key -> Application Key to Option_L

answered May 17 '13 at 09:37

calql8edkos

429
4
13

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 05 '17 at 16:01

1

Unfortunately the latest macOS Sierra doesn't support Karabiner yet. An easy solution is to convert capslock key with command key.

answered Apr 05 '17 at 16:01

Tadashi Kikuno

111
1

I currently use Keyboard Maestro to work around the limitations of Karabiner Elements. I use KM to map my App key to F18, and then use [this macro](https://forum.keyboardmaestro.com/t/how-to-make-any-key-a-new-modifier-key/6809) in KM to make F18 a new modifier key. – Carl Smith Apr 13 '17 at 22:00
3

Karabiner Elements works in Sierra. The application (or context menu) key can be found as "application" and can be mapped to e.g. "right_option" which in my case made my Microsoft Ergo keyboard match the layout of my MacBook laptop. – MJV Jul 13 '17 at 07:08

How to remap "Context Menu" key in Mac OS X?

6 Answers6