You use your keyboard every day, but I bet you’ve rarely thought about why your keys are where they are. In the 1870s, typewriter manufacturers arranged the keys to prevent mechanical jams. Over a century later, we’re still using the same layout designed to slow us down.
The good news is that you don’t have to accept this. There are numerous tools available to help you remap your keyboard and optimize its layout to match your workflow.
QWERTY wasn’t designed for you
This typewriter-era layout still slows us down
One of the QWERTY layout’s biggest issues is ergonomics. Your keyboard layout affects your entire body’s posture. With QWERTY, your hands are forced outwards, which rotates your shoulders inwards and leads to bad posture, shoulder tension, and even back pain over time.
Even frequently used keys like Backspace and Enter are positioned where your weakest fingers strain the most. There are specialized tools like Alice keyboards that offer an ergonomic layout that reduces wrist movement, but they’re often more expensive than regular keyboards and have their own learning curve.
Another argument for remapping is productivity. Every time you switch between your keyboard and mouse, your brain is context-switching between typing and pointing. That’s cognitive overhead you don’t need.
Power users who minimize mouse use and stick to keyboard-only workflows complete tasks faster, experience less strain, and maintain better focus. They’re not superhuman—they’ve just eliminated wasted movement.
Additionally, for people with repetitive strain injuries or those working long hours, remapping can help reduce wrist and hand pain significantly. It’s also quite useful for programmers, writers, and anyone whose workflow involves specific commands that are buried under awkward keyboard shortcuts.
Keys you should remap first
Start with these changes for instant results
The biggest hurdle you’ll face when fixing your keyboard’s layout is remembering all the new keys. For this reason, it’s best you start simple and slowly incorporate new keys and shortcuts into your workflow one at a time.
One of the easiest keys to start with is Caps Lock. It occupies some of the easiest-to-reach space on your keyboard and is basically useless in modern computing. After all, you’ve got the Shift key for capitals and special symbols.
Remapping Caps Lock to a more frequently used key, such as Escape or Backspace, is a good starter as it puts a more useful key near your hands. Another key you replace Caps Lock with is Control. It will help with keyboard shortcuts and reduce strain on your pinkies when using them.
If simple remapping isn’t cutting it, you can also go further and remap the entire layout. Instead of QWERTY, you could switch to Dvorak or Colemak. Dvorak, designed in the 1930s by Dr. August Dvorak, prioritizes the most frequently used letters in the home row, minimizing finger movement. Colemak takes a similar approach but preserves the locations of popular keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + Z, X, C, and V to make the transition from QWERTY easier.
The catch is that learning an entirely new keyboard layout takes time and effort. If you use two different computers for work and personal tasks, you’re going to need two keyboards—a sizable financial investment. Additionally, with most other keyboards being QWERTY, you’ll find yourself constantly juggling between two different layouts. However, if you type for hours every day, the long-term payoff can be significant.
Software that fixes your layout in minutes
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to remap your keyboard keys. There are plenty of great tools for Windows, macOS, and Linux that come with graphical interfaces and can get you started in minutes.
For Windows, the easiest recommendation is Microsoft PowerToys. It features a module called Keyboard Manager, which easily lets you remap individual keys or entire shortcut combinations. As a bonus, PowerToys can even help you type faster as you learn to use the other modules it offers. If you need more advanced control, you can use something like SharpKeys.
If you’ve got a Mac, Karabiner-Elements is a good tool to start with. Linux users have options like Input Remapper or GNOME tweaks based on their desktop environments.
These tools let you change keys on your existing keyboard via software, so you don’t have to physically swap keycaps. Your keyboard will still look the same, it’ll just function differently. You can also extend this approach and copy a full Dvorak or Colemak layout, but I’ll strongly recommend rearranging keycaps to avoid chaos.
Reclaim your productivity one key at a time
Build a layout that works for your workflow
Start with a high-impact key and remap it to something useful. Use the new remapped key for a week or two until it starts feeling natural. Then, if you want, add another remapping. This process will take time and effort, but it’s well worth the effort.
The goal isn’t to be different for the sake of it; it is to eliminate friction from your workflow while making your keyboard easier to use for longer durations. Your keyboard layout was designed by a requirement, without any consideration for comfort or productivity. Remapping is how you can take control back. It’s simple, it’s free, and it directly improves how you work every single day.