Capslock

Make CapsLock Great Again!

Transform ⇪CapsLock into a powerful modifier ✱ Hyper that miraculously increases your work productivity!

中文文档 ZH

CapsLock (v3)

• Powerful: Transform Capslock into a great modifier: Hyper(✱). (such as ⇧⌃⌥⌘)
• Useful: Navigation, mousekey, clipboard, win/term ctrl, shortcuts, etc... Redefine the keyboard!
• Speed-Up: Optimized for developers, high-frequency move stay in hot zone.
• Extensible: Work with existing modifiers, which introduce 16 extra control planes.
• MouseKey: Manipulate mouse cursor and wheels with keyboard
• Cross-Platform: MacOS and Windows. Lightwegith and portabl

Version

Latest Version: Capslock Mac v3

Capslock Version	MacOS Supported	Win Supported
Capslock Mac V3 (2021 - now )	MacOS Big Sur (11.0 )	Windows 10
Capslock Mac V2 (2018 - 2021)	MacOS Catalina (10.15)	Windows 8
Capslock Mac V1 (2015 - 2018)	MacOS High Sierra (10.13)	Windows 7
Capslock Win (2013 - 2015)	MacOS Sierra (10.12)	Windows Vista
	MacOS EI Capitan (10.11)	Windows XP
	MacOS Yosemite (10.10) or lower (use mac v1)

Install

Capslock serves via Karabiner-Elements on MacOS

1. Download and install Karabiner Elements, following the wizard and grant required permissions.

2. Download capslock.json to： ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/ . Or open this link with Safari to launch karabiner and load config from URL:

   karabiner://karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/import?url=https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock/blob/master/mac_v3/capslock.json

3. Launch Karabiner-Element → Tab: ComplexModification → Button: Add Rules, then enabled rulesets.

Usage

Capslock works on ANSI keyboards and similar layouts. It literally remaps every keys on the keyboard. Including 10 categories.

Category	Color	Description
Basic	Blue	Press ⇪ Capslock emit an ⎋ Escape. Hold it enabling the ✱ Hyper Modifier.
Navigation	Pink	Vim style navigation. Cursor move, text selection, switch desktop/window/tab, mouse move/wheel,etc...
Deletion	Brown	Maps BNM, to deletion operation to perform fast char/word/line deletion without hand move.
MouseKey	Keypad	Maps keypad to fully functional mouse
Window	Azure	Close app/win/tab, Switch app/win/tab/desktop, intergration with win-manager app such as Moom,Slate,Magnet
Application	Yellow	Shortcuts for launching or switching frequently used applications
Terminal	Green	Sending high-freq signals (Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-D, Ctrl-C) and vim/tmux prefix meta key via ✱
Clipboard	Purple	Turn numkeys into 10 different text clipboard. ✱⌘n copy and ✱n paste.
Shifter	Orange	Turn some keys into common code symbols.
Functional	Gray	Screenshtots. Fine-grained light/volume control. Take function keys' function back!

Control plane is defined by combination of four extra left modifiers: ⌘⌥⌃⇧.This image is layout of plane 0.

Plane	Modifiers	Plane	Modifiers	Plane	Modifiers
0	✱	3	✱⌘⌥	7	✱⌘⌥⌃
1	✱⌘	5	✱⌘⌃	11	✱⌘⌥⇧
2	✱⌥	6	✱⌥⌃	13	✱⌘⌃⇧
4	✱⌃	9	✱⌘⇧	14	✱⌥⌃⇧
8	✱⇧	10	✱⌥⇧	15	✱⌘⌥⌃⇧
		12	✱⌃⇧

Basic

Key	MapsTo	Comment
⇪ Press	⎋ Escape	Click Capslock to emit Escape
⇪ Hold	✱ Hyper	Hold Capslock to enable Hyper modifier.
✱⎋	⇪ Capslock	Press to enable Capslock, Hold to disable Capslock
✱␣	⌃␣	Switch input source

Note that ✱ is implemented as combinition of ALL RIGHT MODIFIERS: ⌘⌥⌃⇧. Mainly for compatible & intergration reasons.

Hold ✱ Hyper to enable hyper functionalites. We will assume and omit that in subsequent document.

Navigation

• H, J, K, L, U, I, O, P are used as Navigators. Maps to ←↓↑→⇞↖↘⇟ by default. (pink area).
• 9 control planes has already been allocated for navigators.
• Hold additional ⌘ Command for selection. (like holding ⇧shift in normal)
• Hold additional ⌥ Option for jump move. (like holding ⌥ Option with arrows, move a word ahead/after, etc...)
• Hold additional ⌘⌥ Option for jump selection. (such as select a word ahead/after)
• Hold additional ⇧ Shift for switching tab/app.
• Hold additional ⌃ Control for desktop management .
• Hold additional ⇧ Shift with ⌘/⌥/⌃ turns to mouse action. ⌥ for cursor move, ⌃ for wheel move, ⌘ for reverse wheel move.

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	⌥	⌘⌥	⌃	⇧	⇧⌃	⇧⌥	⇧⌘
Feature	Move	Select	Jump	Go & Select	Desktop	Window	Wheel	Mouse	Rev Wheel
H	←	word left	word left	word left	prev desk	prev tab	←	←	←
J	↓	line down	para end	para head	Focus	next app	↓	↓	↓
K	↑	line up	para head	para tail	Expose	prev app	↑	↑	↑
L	→	word right	word right	word right	next desk	next tab	→	→	→
U	PageUp	prev page	mv line ↑	prev page	fullscreen	zoom out	←	Back	←
I	Home	line head	line head	line head	Expose	prev win	↓	LClick	↓
O	End	line end	line end	line end	Hide All	next win	↑	RClick	↑
P	PageDn	next page	mv line ↓	next page	Launchpad	zoom in	→	Forward	→

Arrow Navigation

• Arrows ←↓↑→ to mouse actions too. Hold ⌥ Option to slow down, hold ⌘ Command to speed up.

• Hold additional ⇧ Shift turns to wheel move. Extra ⌥ Option to slow down, and extra ⌘ Command to speed up.

• ↩ Return maps to left click. With additional ⌘⌥⌃⇧ hold turns into right click, middle click, backward, forward.

Key\Mod	✱	⌥	⌘	⇧	⇧⌥	⇧⌘
Feature	Mouse Move	Slow move	Fast move	Wheel Move	Slow Wheel	Fast Wheel
←↓↑→	speed = 1600	speed / 2	speed * 2	speed = 32	speed / 2	speed * 2
↩	Left (MB1)	Middle (MB3)	Right (MB2)	Left (MB1)	Backward (MB4)	Forward (MB5)

Deletion

N M , . are used as Deletor keys. Right below the navigators for fast access (brown area).

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	⌥
N	del a word ahead	del till line head	del the whole line
M	del a char ahead	del a word ahead	del the whole line
Comma	del a char after	del a word after	del the whole line
Period	del a word after	del till line end	del the whole line
⌫	del file	purge file

Mousekey

• Numbers maps to 8 direction mouse move. Hold ⌥ Option to slow down, hold ⌘ Command to speed up.
• Hold additional ⇧ Shift turns to wheel move. Extra ⌥ Option to slow down, and extra ⌘ Command to speed up.
• First line maps to wheel move and 0, ., ⌤, +, - maps to five mouse buttons.

numlock wheel ⬅️	= wheel ⬇️	/ wheel ⬆️	* wheel ➡️
7 ↖️	8 ⬆️	9 ↗️	- MB4
4 ⬅️	5	6 ➡️	+ MB5
1↙️	2 ⬇️	3 ↘️
**0 ** MB1		. MB3	⌤ MB2

Window Control

• Tab, Q, W, A, s used as window control keys. Focuing on close/switch applications / windows / tabs / desktops.
• Windows management (resize, layout) leaves to external application such as Moom, Magnet, and Slate. Bind ⌃⌥⇧⌘A manually.

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	⌥	⌃	⇧
Tab	next app	prev app	switch desktop		switch tab
Q	close app	close app		Lock Screen	Logout
W	close tab	close all win		Display Sleep	Sleep
A	win app	expose all	show desktop	LaunchPad
S	next tab	prev tab	next win	prev win

App Shortcuts

• E R T Y F G are used as application shortcuts. (yellow area)
• Popular apps and dev tools are registed to 3 default planes: ✱/⌘/⌥.
• You can assign these shortcuts according to your own needs.

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	⌥	……
E	Safari	Finder	Mail
R	iTerm2	Preview	Terminal
T	Visual Studio Code	Typora	Note
Y	Siri	Karabiner	Amphetamine
F	Alfred (bind ⌃⌥⇧⌘F)	Dash	Dictionary
G	Intellij IDEA	Chrome	Calender

Terminal Control

D, Z, X, C, V, B are used as terminal control keys. Sending singals and IDE commands. (green area)

Key\Mod	✱	⌘
D	⌃D Ctrl+D (Send EOF)	Define (Force touch)
Z	⌃Z Ctrl+Z (SIGTSTP)	F5 (VS Code Debug)
X	⌃R Ctrl+R (IDE Run)	⌃F5 (VS Code Run)
C	⌃CCtrl+C (SIGINT)	⇧F5（VS Code Stop）
V	⌃VCtrl+V (Vim Prefix)
B	⌃BCtrl+B (Tmux Prefix)

Clipboard

Number keys 1, 2, …, 9, 0 are used as (text) clipboard. Hold ⌘ to copy, and press to paste. (purple area)

Key\Mod	✱	⌘
1	Paste from clip 1	Copy to clip 1
2	Paste from clip 2	Copy to clip 2
……	……	……
0	Paste from clip 0	Copy to clip 10

Shifter

• Trivial transformation for misc characters. (orange area)
• Some special tricks for developers. Such as ;' maps to := or != (⌘)

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	⌥
- Minus	_	Zoom Out
= Equal	+	Zoom In
[ Left Bracket	(	{	<
] Right Bracket	)	}	>
; Semicolon	!	:
' Single Quote	=	=
/ Slash	⌘/ (Comment)
\ Backslash	⌘/ (Comment)

Functional

• Use F1,…F12 as standard functional keys, while hold ✱ Hyper to turn them back.

• ⌘Command + F1 / F2 / F3 are used as desktop switcher. Enable shortcuts in system preference first:

  Preference → Keyboard → Shortcuts → MissionControl → Switch to Desktop 1/2/3

• If you are using RMBP with Bar, consider changing your bar back to function keys with:

  Karabiner-Elements → Function Keys → Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys

Key\Mod	✱	⌘	Comment
~ Accent	⌃⇧⌘4	⇧⌘4	Area selection screenshot(⌘ to file)
F1	BrightnessDown	⌃1	Brightness Down / Desktop 1
F2	BrightnessUp	⌃2	Brightness Up / Desktop 2
F3	ExposeAll	⌃3	Expose All / Desktop 3
F4	LaunchPad		Launchpad
F5	KeyboardLightDown		Keyboard Light Down
F6	KeyboardLightUp		Keyboard Light Up
F7	MusicPrev		Music Prev
F8	MusicPlay		Play / Pause
F9	MusicNext		Music Next
F10	Mute		Mute
F11	VolumeDown		Volume Down
F12	VolumeUp		Volume Up
F13	⌃⇧⌘3	⇧⌘3	Full Screentshot (⌘ to file)
F14	⇧⌘5	⇧⌘6	Screenshot menu (⌘ touchbar snap)
F15	MusicPlay		Play / Pause
Insert	⇧⌥BrightnessUp		Fine-Grained Brightness Down
Delete	⇧⌥BrightnessDown		Fine-Grained Brightness Up
Home	⇧⌥KeyboardLightUp		Fine-GrainedKeyboard Light Up
End	⇧⌥KeyboardLightDown		Fine-Grained Keyboard Light Down
PgUp	⇧⌥VolumeUp		Fine-Grained Volume Up
PgDn	⇧⌥VolumeDown		Fine-Grained Volume Down

Installation

Capslock serves via Karabiner-Elements on MacOS

1. Download and install Karabiner Elements, following the wizard and grant required permissions.

2. Load the Capslock config via links (open URL in Safari will launch karabiner and load it):

   # Capslock Mac V3 (this repo)
   karabiner://karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/import?url=https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock/blob/master/mac_v3/capslock.json
   
   # Karabiner-Elements Offical Script Gallery (v2)
   karabiner://karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/import?url=https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/complex_modifications/json/caps_lock_enhancement.json

   Download capslock.json to： ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/ works too.

3. Launch Karabiner-Elements. Tab: ComplexModification → Button: Add Rules, then enabled rulesets.

   

Install on Windows (obsolete)

Capslock serves via AutoHotKey on Windows.

1. Download and install AutoHotKey. Load capslock.ahk in AutoHotKey.
2. You can also use pre-compiled capslock ahk binary CapsLock.exe.

Symbols

Glyph	Mac 	Glyph	Win ⊞
✱	Hyper	✱	Hyper
⌃	Control	⌃	Control
⌥	Option	⊞	Windows
⇧	Shift	⇧	Shift
⌘	Command	⎇	Alter

FAQ

Q: Why using ✱ as the symbol for Hyper?

A: Because the ASCII code for * is exactly 42, which is the ultimate answer to life, universe, and everything. ✱ (Heavy-Asterisk) is a pretty version of *.

Q: Why is there no Linux OS support?

A: I'm using Linux through MacOS terminal. It actually feels much better than raw Linux 😆.

Q: Why windows version no longer maintained?

A: I haven't used Windows for a long time except for gaming.

Q: Why is there an older version in MacOS?

A: There was an older version of Karabiner that used XML config. Apple modified it's kernel architecture in MacOS Sierra (10.12) and many programs had to be overhauled. So then there was a new version of Karabiner, the Karabiner-Elements, which is still in use today.

Q: How can I customize it to my needs?

A: Just change the configuration file. Don't forget click the 'star' 🤩.

Q: Is this original?

A: I'm the first one to make a capslock overhaul schema as far as I know. The original win AHK version was wrote in 2013. And the first mac version was wrote in 2015. It is the first capslock emulation schema in karabiner's gallary.

Q: What's new in V3?

A: The original v2 only use 1 ~ 3 control planes. While v3 uses up to 9 control planes. A large number of functions have been added to make the additional modifier ⌘⌥⌃⇧ functioning in a reasonable way.

Q: Is there any incompatible changes in V3?

A: ⌥+Navigator from mouse move to word jump; F13/F4 from music prev/next to screenshot; number keys from shifter to clipboard; and ⌘D from opening dictionary app to define.

About

Author： Vonng (rh@vonng.com) (2013 - 2021)

License：Apache 2.0 License