Remap Copy and Paste shortcuts on a Mac

Question

I use Windows at work and a Mac at home. One of the biggest issues is the difference between the copy paste shortcuts on Windows vs the Mac i.e. Ctrl + C & Ctrl + V on Windows and on the Mac its Command + C and Command + V. Invariably its hard because of learnt motor skills where my hand always shapes itself to the Windows Ctrl + C configuration(I have been using Windows longer)

I would like to remap the Copy and Paste to the Fn + C and Fn + V on the Mac. Why? Because the Fn key is actually the key that corresponds to where the Ctrl key is on Windows keyboards and since its the last edge key its easy to find. I have tried Double Command but it doesn't seem to have an option of turning Fn to the Command key.

Answer 1

I was able to get this to work by using a combination of DoubleCommand and jtbandes hint from here. First check the function key acts as control key box in Double command. Then save the file ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict with the contents

{"^c" = "copy:";}
{"^v" = "paste:";}
{"^x" = "cut:";}

After you logout and log back in you should be able to use fn-c to copy etc. There are obvious drawbacks to this approach. You have to explicitly define every command you want to use fn for and mapping to control and then fn is really hacky. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get it to work another way. At first I thought you might be able to select both the "command key acts as control key" check box and the "fn key acts as control key" but that didn't seem to work. Ditto for changing to control with Alex's method above. I was also unable to find the modifier for assigning commands to fn, and Apple's documentation seems to indicate that it's done at a lower level than keybinding has access to. If someone knows a better way of doing this I would love to see it.

Answer 2

Go System Preference > Keyboard > keyboard shortcuts and set Application Keyboard Shortcuts > All Applications

Add shortcut

Copy ^C

Undo ^Z

Cut ^X

Paste ^V

Select All ^A

Done :)

Answer 3

You could try to map Command to the Control key, and vice-versa. It's much easier to do and, in my opinion, is almost identical to Windows keyboards.

Just go to System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard. On the lower left side is a button, Modifier Keys... Just switch Control and Command around.

Answer 4

1 - Go to "apple"
2 - Go to "system preferences"
3 - Go to "keyboard"
4 - On "keyboard", go to the "keyboard" tab
5 - Go to "modifier keys.."
6 - Change the "Control ( ) Key" drop down box to "Command"
7 - Click "ok"
Done!

Now:

Control+C = copy
Control+V = paste, and
Control+Z = undo

Answer 5

Maybe not as easy as using 3rd party tooling, but in 10.6 Snow Leopard one can use the following AppleScript to send the existing Command-C or Command-V keys, and then add that script to a key of your choice.

Something like:

tell application "System Events"
    keystroke "c" using {command down}
end tell

(This won't let you use the fn key though.)

Answer 6

Try IronAHK. It's a complete rewrite of AutoHotkey which you can use to remap keys and make shortcuts.

Answer 7

I use the arttioz way, do it with Application Shortcuts, but it have some problem.

If I switch language to Chinese, the Menu Title need to use the Chinese word. :-(

Example:

• 拷貝 ^C
• 還原/還原輸入 ^Z
• 剪下 ^X
• 貼上 ^V
• 全選 ^A

Answer 8

Best solution is to install Karabiner.

After installation enable the Complex Modifications > PC Shortcuts List

https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/complex_modifications/#pc_shortcuts-list-group

Answer 9

This is a more complete list based on the awesome answer of arttioz

Go System Preference > Keyboard > keyboard shortcuts and set Application Keyboard Shortcuts > All Applications

Add shortcut

• Copy ^C

• Undo ^Z

• Redo Shift-^Z

• Cut ^X

• Paste ^V

• Select All ^A

• Find... ^F

You might also want to add some application specific ones, like for Google Chrome:

• Paste and Match Style Shift-^V

• Use Selection for Find ^E

• Find Next ^G

• Find Previous Shift-^-G

You can find existing menu key shortcuts in an application's menu bar and rebind all of them using the exact names displayed there. You can also verify the change there.

Answer 10

If you're using a desktop at work, you might want to try using command for a while. I've found my muscle memory now seems sensitive to the style of keyboard I'm typing on. It gets confused with laptops, though. And when I had to use the 1998 version of the Apple keyboard.

On the other hand, if you use a laptop, this is utterly irrelevant.

Answer 11

You can basically do any remapping you like with the application https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/

Answer 12

I added the shortcut in mac preference, but only partly works, why?

Answer 13

There's an easier way as well

1. Go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard tab -> Modifier keys

2. Swap the Control and Cmd keys

3. Select Ok