DEV Community

Cover image for My keyboard is TKL but my fingers heart is 75%
José Aponte
José Aponte

Posted on

5 5 1 1 1

My keyboard is TKL but my fingers heart is 75%

So, here's the thing: I have a Redragon Kumara K552 mechanical keyboard. It's a TKL (tenkeyless) layout and it's my first modded mechanical keyboard. I really don't like full sized (100%) keyboards because I'm very lazy (I don't want to move my right hand to the arrow/navigation keys when I'm coding). It's annoying because I just started to type using the 10 fingers typing method.

I was thinking on a temporal solution for this and I remembered my good ol' pal AutoHotKey! It's an automation scripting language for Windows. Basically, you write a script specifing a keyboard shortcut as a trigger. Then, you code what the script will do after that trigger.

In my case, I wanted to keep it simple: Move the navigation and arrow keys to the alphanumeric area.

Shortcut Configuration

  • R.Alt + u => Ins
  • R.Alt + j => Del
  • R.Alt + i => Home
  • R.Alt + k => End
  • R.Alt + o => PgUp
  • R.Alt + l => PgDn
  • R.Alt + w => ↑
  • R.Alt + s => ↓
  • R.Alt + a => ←
  • R.Alt + d => →

That way I can use my right thumb to press the R.Alt key while using another finger to get the second key I want, keeping my hands on the alphanumeric area.

AutoHotKeyScript

<^>!i::
Send {Home}
return

<^>!k::
Send {End}
return

<^>!o::
Send {PgUp}
return

<^>!l::
Send {PgDn}
return

<^>!u::
Send {Ins}
return

<^>!j::
Send {Del}
return

<^>!w::
Send {Up}
return

<^>!s::
Send {Down}
return

<^>!a::
Send {Left}
return

<^>!d::
Send {Right}
return
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

If you're like me and do not have a 75% (or less) keyboard layout, then you might find this useful! Give it a try and let me know what worked for you 😉

Postmark Image

Speedy emails, satisfied customers

Are delayed transactional emails costing you user satisfaction? Postmark delivers your emails almost instantly, keeping your customers happy and connected.

Sign up

Top comments (0)

Sentry image

See why 4M developers consider Sentry, “not bad.”

Fixing code doesn’t have to be the worst part of your day. Learn how Sentry can help.

Learn more