Using Apple Wireless Keyboard With Windows

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Can you use an apple keyboard on a windows machine? Even if you can SHOULD you? We look to answer both of these questions of the soul in the video. To find this go to the Start Menu and navigate to Settings Ease of Access Keyboard and enable the toggle for Use the On-Screen Keyboard. More accurately, it doesn't have a key with the Windows symbol on it, but the one marked command or cmd acts as one when you press it. Alt and Alt GR are slightly different in that the Apple. AutoHot Key Mappings for using Apple Wireless Keyboard on PC - Works on 64bit windows/AHK. I couldn't get any of the existing mappings working, seems the primary issue was 64 bit vs 32 bit DLL calls in the scripts. This is a very bare bones mapping, does what I need, and nothing else. Tested on 64 bit Win10 with AHK 112207.

Normally you just hit Page Up or the Pause/Break key but the Apple Wireless Keyboard doesn't have these keys. Is there a way I can input keystrokes into the Windows Phone Emulator from my Apple Wi.

Lesson 14: Using a Windows Keyboard With a Mac

Using apple wireless keyboard with windows 10

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Using a Windows keyboard with a Mac

If you want to use a Windows keyboard on your Mac, the good news is it's pretty simple. You can use almost any Windows keyboard as long as it has either a USB or Bluetooth connection.

Why use a Windows keyboard?

One of the main reasons you might choose to use a Windows keyboard on a Mac is that it's more readily available. In most stores, you'll find that there are more Windows keyboards than there are Mac keyboards. You may also have one lying around the house from an older computer.

Some people simply prefer to use Windows keyboards. Perhaps you recently switched from a Windows computer to a Mac and you prefer the feel of your old keyboard. There's also a variety of custom keyboards available, with most of them made for Windows machines.

What are the main differences?

Using Apple Keyboard On Windows

Although Windows and Mac keyboards feature most of the same keys, there are a few that differ. When using a Windows keyboard on a Mac, the Windows key is used instead of the Command key, and the Alt key is used in place of the Option key. For example, the Undo shortcut would use Windows+Z instead of Command+Z. It's also worth noting that their positions are reversed on the two types of keyboards.

Setting up a Windows keyboard

To use a Windows keyboard, simply connect it to your Mac (if it's a Bluetooth keyboard, your Mac should recognize it when you turn on the keyboard). You should be able to use it as soon as it's connected. You may be greeted with a Keyboard Setup Assistant prompt like the one in the image below. This is just the computer's way of identifying the keyboard; simply follow the onscreen directions. This only takes a minute or two, and then you'll be all set!

Remapping the keys

If you've recently switched keyboards, using shortcuts can be frustrating. Some modifier keys are arranged differently, which can be difficult to get used to. For example, if you're used to pressingCommand+Z, this same typing movement would be Alt+Z on a Windows keyboard.

Luckily, Macs allow you to remap your keys. This means you can change the function of the keys so when you press one key, it's actually performing the action of another. For example, you can set it so that the Alt key will act like the Command key when pressed. To learn how to remap your keys, read this article from 9to5Mac.

Apple Wireless Keyboard Software

/en/osxbasics/running-windows-on-a-mac/content/

I spent a couple of hours already figuring out which drivers I would need to install to have my Apple Wireless Keyboard with numeric pad (A1843) to work on Windows 10.

I was able to pair it by just adding the Bluetooth device (as you would do for any other device) but the problem is that I wanted to use the volume up and volume down shortcuts of the keyboard.
Unfortunately Apple does not develop straight forward drivers to have their keyboards to fully work on Windows 10, I guess its too much work?

Anyways, I found a way to make this work and it works pretty well.

1 – Download a free Windows 10 app called AutoHotkey, and install it.

2 – Once installed, right click on the desktop and choose 'New' > 'Auto Hotkey Script' and define a name to the file.

Pair Apple Wireless Keyboard Windows

3 – Then right click on the newly created file and click on 'Edit Script'

Apple wireless keyboard software

/en/osxbasics/creating-smart-playlists-in-itunes/content/

Using a Windows keyboard with a Mac

If you want to use a Windows keyboard on your Mac, the good news is it's pretty simple. You can use almost any Windows keyboard as long as it has either a USB or Bluetooth connection.

Why use a Windows keyboard?

One of the main reasons you might choose to use a Windows keyboard on a Mac is that it's more readily available. In most stores, you'll find that there are more Windows keyboards than there are Mac keyboards. You may also have one lying around the house from an older computer.

Some people simply prefer to use Windows keyboards. Perhaps you recently switched from a Windows computer to a Mac and you prefer the feel of your old keyboard. There's also a variety of custom keyboards available, with most of them made for Windows machines.

What are the main differences?

Using Apple Keyboard On Windows

Although Windows and Mac keyboards feature most of the same keys, there are a few that differ. When using a Windows keyboard on a Mac, the Windows key is used instead of the Command key, and the Alt key is used in place of the Option key. For example, the Undo shortcut would use Windows+Z instead of Command+Z. It's also worth noting that their positions are reversed on the two types of keyboards.

Setting up a Windows keyboard

To use a Windows keyboard, simply connect it to your Mac (if it's a Bluetooth keyboard, your Mac should recognize it when you turn on the keyboard). You should be able to use it as soon as it's connected. You may be greeted with a Keyboard Setup Assistant prompt like the one in the image below. This is just the computer's way of identifying the keyboard; simply follow the onscreen directions. This only takes a minute or two, and then you'll be all set!

Remapping the keys

If you've recently switched keyboards, using shortcuts can be frustrating. Some modifier keys are arranged differently, which can be difficult to get used to. For example, if you're used to pressingCommand+Z, this same typing movement would be Alt+Z on a Windows keyboard.

Luckily, Macs allow you to remap your keys. This means you can change the function of the keys so when you press one key, it's actually performing the action of another. For example, you can set it so that the Alt key will act like the Command key when pressed. To learn how to remap your keys, read this article from 9to5Mac.

Apple Wireless Keyboard Software

/en/osxbasics/running-windows-on-a-mac/content/

I spent a couple of hours already figuring out which drivers I would need to install to have my Apple Wireless Keyboard with numeric pad (A1843) to work on Windows 10.

I was able to pair it by just adding the Bluetooth device (as you would do for any other device) but the problem is that I wanted to use the volume up and volume down shortcuts of the keyboard.
Unfortunately Apple does not develop straight forward drivers to have their keyboards to fully work on Windows 10, I guess its too much work?

Anyways, I found a way to make this work and it works pretty well.

1 – Download a free Windows 10 app called AutoHotkey, and install it.

2 – Once installed, right click on the desktop and choose 'New' > 'Auto Hotkey Script' and define a name to the file.

Pair Apple Wireless Keyboard Windows

3 – Then right click on the newly created file and click on 'Edit Script'

4 – A file that will look like a text file with some text will open, dont delete anything on that text, you will be writing your script just below.

5 – To learn some quick examples, you can open the AutoHotkey app by opening it from the Start menu in Windows 10. And on the 'Usage & Syntax' and under it the 'Hotkeys' menu, you will find some simple examples on how the app works.

You just need to understand how the application translates each key on your keyboard on the script so you can use it and trigger it.

For example # stands for the Win key, ^ stands for Ctrl key.

6 – I think you already got the idea now, so go to your script file (the one you created and opened on point (4) and type some shortcuts.

In my case what I needed the most was to be able to trigger these keys on the Apple Wireless Keyboard which are the: Mute, Volume Down and Volume Up keys which are also the F10, F11 and F12 keys on the keyboard.

So what I added on the script was the following, my choice was to use the Control key as the trigger but you can use whatever you prefer according to the documentation referred to in point 5. I suggest you check that no actual Windows shortcut is being used for that to avoid confusions or overriding core shortcuts:

^F10::Volume_Mute
^F11::Volume_Down
^F12::Volume_Up

You can add more keys if you like, but for now and for the sake as an example of this guide I will just save the file like this (File > Save).

7 – Now to test this, just right click on the script file and choose 'Run Script'. Now you can test the hotkeys by pressing Control+F10, F11 and F12. You should see the on screen display showing that the volume is being muted, turned down or turned up

8 – Now that you have tested your script and maybe played a bit with it by adding other shortcuts, you might want to make sure this script is opened automatically every time your Windows computer starts.

To do so, just press the 'Windows key + R' to open the 'Run dialogue'. Paste the following line: shell:common startup Apple mac no keyboard.

Apple Wireless Keyboard Ipod

The Startup items folder will open, make a shortcut or a copy of your script file on this folder. From now on each time you restart Windows your keyboard shortcuts will be ready for you to use.

Using Apple Wireless Keyboard With Windows 7

I understand the AutoHotkey app can be used for more advanced functionalities, but I haven't tested them.

What about you? Did you discover other useful keyboard shortcuts?

I wrote this guide based on this YouTube video.





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