How to change the functionality of keyboard special keys?

Question

Different keyboards come with different special keys. For example mine has a key for bringing up the calculator, another for putting the to sleep, another for opening email client and so on...

My question is, how can I change what these keys do? For instance I want my email key (since I never use it) perform as the Next key on my music player?

Have you tried keyboard shortcuts under system settings? – Mitch Jun 02 '12 at 17:28 — Mitch, Jun 02 '12 at 17:28

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 02 '12 at 18:33

In your special case go to System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Sound and Media. Click onto "Next track ... Audio next" and press your ✉ email key:

edit shortcuts

This is the right place for connecting keys or key combinations with actions; it is possible to set up custom commands, too.

If you wish to configure several keys on your keyboard, go to System Settings and check out Keyboard Layout → Options. There you can edit the Caps Lock ⇪ behaviour, for example:

keyboard layout

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 02 '12 at 17:43

You can do this manually through configuration files, or you can use KeyTouch, which has profiles for different keyboard models and allows you to change the functions of special keys on those models. It was in the software centre last time I checked.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

0

you can change behavior of any key using AutoKey.

more info and guide can be found here and here in my answer.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

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answered Jun 02 '12 at 17:44

Rahul Virpara

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How to change the functionality of keyboard special keys?

3 Answers3