Apple:
- Mac keyboard shortcuts – support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
- Mac startup key combinations – support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255 – good to have handy when need to work with problematic computer and need starting in special modes.
macOS Monterey, version 12.0
Introduces conflicts with our previously defined shortcuts. So fix:
System Preferences … > Keyboard : Shortcuts tab.
- App Shortcuts – section, ADD ‘Mail.app’ application-specific shortcuts
- “Hide Sidebar” : Ctrl+Command+Shift+S (as we use Ctrl+Command+S for saving email to disk)
- “Show Sidebar” : Ctrl+Command+Shift+S (to also provide the toggling functionality of this shortcut)
MS Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
(General description of MS 4000 Ergo)
Overview of Currently Used Solution
(Added Sun 2022-10-09 including tweaks in apps/scripts.)
- Login item: [Dropbox]/Office/Apps/Start Special Key Handler.app is called at login
- System Preferences > Users & Groups; user, Login Items: make sure app is on list
- This in turn executes: [Dropbox]/Office/Apps/startSpecialKeyHandler.sh shell script
- This for enabling putting things in background and making sure app in 1 really ends, not also creating a never-ending process
- The .sh script starts [Dropbox]/Office/Apps/Special Key Handler.app in background
Additional notes:
- Make sure ALL items in [Dropbox]/Office/Apps/ are downloaded and available offline.
- Make sure to add/have scripts in 1 and 2 above in the System Preferences > Security & Privacy, Input Monitoring list of apps
History of Used Solutions
- up to 2017: Original driver from Microsoft, worked for quite a while also after stopped being supported by MS
- ControllerMate. For macOS 10.13 (IM2713; 2018-2020)
- (only never bothered briefly with macOS 10.14 but got so annoyed with endless popping up of warning dialogs that 32-bit apps will stop working… like MS Office 2011)
- MS Natural Keyboard HID Handler. For macOS 10.15, Catalina
For Catalina, macOS 10.15: MS Natural Keyboard HID Handler
Sources and info: github.com/Orangenhain/MS-Natural-Keyboard-HID-Handler
Special Key Handler, Input Event Dumper
The two apps build from the sources.
Installed Use: /Software-IN-USE/
In one specific folder, created by us, …/Software-IN-USE/:
- Input Event Dumper.app
- Special Key Handler.app
- Start Special Key Handler.app
- startSpecialKeyHandler.sh
VERY IMPORTANT – IF / WHEN editing ‘Start Special Key Handler.app’, apparently MUST do the following (again):
(If not, when run the app – ‘Start Special Key Handler.app’ – and it announces it has started, it will NOT work.)
- Preferences > Security & Privacy > Input Monitoring
- Unlock
- TOGGLE existing item ‘Start Special Key Handler.app’
- Kill and restart any running ‘Special Key Handler’
- Allow access to Desktop and Download folders when pressing Special Key 1 and 2
Configuration
Key | General Functionality |
***** CURRENT ***** Special Key Handler (IM2720) |
More, History |
Home | Web | … MS-Ergo4000-Web-Key.app | * Old-CM: ‘Browser Toggle’, own AppleScript inside CM |
Search | Search | ‘x’ – see also below for more | * Old-CM: ‘Search’, own AppleScript inside CM |
… MS-Ergo4000-Mail-Key.app | * Old-CM: ‘Mail Toggle’, own AppleScript inside CM | ||
Favorites 1 | Desktop | ~/Desktop | * (2022..2022:) ~/Dropbox/Office/Apps/E4 Fav 1 Handler.app * Old-CM: ‘Desktop’, Finder item, absolute path, inside CM |
Favorites 2 | Downloads | ~/Downloads | * Old-CM: ‘Downloads’, Finder item, absolute path, inside CM |
Favorites 3 | Photos (latest uploads) |
~/Dropbox/…/Go Finder 3 Photos.app | * openCurrentDropboxCameraUploads.sh * openCurrentDropboxCameraUploads.sh.app * Old-CM: ”current month of camera uploads’, AppleScript inside CM calling external bash-script |
Favorites 4 | Dropbox | ~/Dropbox | * Old-CM: ‘Documents’, Finder item, absolute path, inside CM (IM2713) |
Favorites 5 | Emails (on file system) |
~/Dropbox/…2sort | * Old-CM: ‘2sort’, Finder item, absolute path, inside CM |
Favorites ‘star’ | kbd handler config. |
Brings up Special Key Handler | * Old-CM: ‘ControllerMate’, own AppleScript inside CM |
Mute | sound | * Old-CM: (no special handling by CM) | |
Volume – | sound | * Old-CM: (no special handling by CM) | |
Volume + | sound | * Old-CM: (no special handling by CM) | |
Play / Pause | media player controls | * Old-CM: (no special handling by CM) | |
Calculator | (undefined) | (brings up Special Key Handler) | * Old-CM: (no special handling by CM) |
.. | |||
‘Back’ (below Spacebar) | (undefined) | (brings up Special Key Handler) | |
‘Forward’ (below Spacebar) | (undefined) | (brings up Special Key Handler) |
Legend:
* Old-CM: what was used on old ControllerMate (‘CM’) (on e.g. IM2713), before Apple macOS updates made CM breaking, stopped being maintained by developer (orderedbytes.com/controllermate/, last ver is v4.11.1, October 10, 2018 – still per 2023-01-06 when do a small rewrite around this table and section, CM compatible up to macOS 10.13 High Sierra and 10.14 Mojave).
~/Dropbox/Office/Apps/Email Archive2FSx-OpenFolder.workflow.app
- MS-Ergo4000-Web-Key.app
- Press keyboard button in question (upper left area keyboard)
- Install / use / (select path to) app in [ $HOME/Dropbox | $DROPBOX ] / Office / Apps / MS-Ergo4000-Web-Key.app
- Close dialog
- First-time, get dialog ‘”MS-Ergo4000-Web-Key.app” wants access to control “System Events.app”.’… Select OK.
- And it works. Toggles bringing web browser as front app or hide. (i.e. Hide app and all its windows – quite nice to quickly hide lots of windows).
- MS-Ergo4000-Search-Key.app
- Press keyboard button in question (upper left area keyboard)
- Actually doesn’t seem to need any longer. (For Ergo 4000.) Brings up Spotlight search dialog when press eye-glass/search key on upper-left part of physical keyboard anyway.
- need to have something in the field to avoid getting also keyboard handling app dialog popping up, but just an ‘x’ is actually sufficient.
- Did use ‘/Users/johan/Dropbox (Personal)/Office/Apps/MS-Ergo4000-Search-Key-DUMMY.app’ for a while
- need to have something in the field to avoid getting also keyboard handling app dialog popping up, but just an ‘x’ is actually sufficient.
- MS-Ergo4000-Mail-Key.app
- Press keyboard button in question (upper left area keyboard)
- Install / use / (select path to) app in [ $HOME/Dropbox | $DROPBOX ] / Office / Apps / MS-Ergo4000-Mail-Key.app
- Close dialog
- First-time, get dialog ‘”MS-Ergo4000-Mail-Key.app” wants access to control “System Events.app”.’… Select OK.
- And it works. Toggles bringing email app (Mail.app) as front app or hide. (i.e. Hide app and all its windows – quite nice to quickly hide lots of windows).
Apple articles:
- Mac keyboard shortcuts – support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
- Change a conflicting keyboard shortcut on Mac – support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-a-conflicting-keyboard-shortcut-on-mac-mchlp2864/mac
Control-Option-Command-Power button
Control-Command
Shift-Command-Q
Control-Shift-Command-T
Option-Shift-Command-Q
- Command–Space bar
- Command–Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. (If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight. Learn how to change a conflicting keyboard shortcut.)
- Control–Command–Space bar: Show the Character Viewer, from which you can choose emoji and other symbols.
Control 8 |
Option 4 |
Shift 2 |
Command 1 |
key | Std | Where | ||
1 | Command | Space | Yes | <global> | Show or hide the Spotlight search field. “Show Spotlight search” (Shortcuts>Spotlight) |
|||
2 | Shift | Space | ||||||
3 | Shift | Command | Space | NO | <global> | Show or hide HoudahSpot search | ||
4 | Option | Space | ### IS THIS A POSSIBLE COMBINATION (Alt/Option+key> | |||||
5 | Command | Space | Yes | <global> | “Show Finder search window” (Shortcuts>Spotlight) | |||
6 | ||||||||
7 | ||||||||
8 | Control | Space | Yes | Toggle keyboard, “Select the previous input source” | ||||
9 | Control | Command | Space | Yes | <texts> | “Show Emoji & Symbols” – CANNOT FIND how to actually (re)configure this shortcut… 2022-11-26 macOS 12.6 Monterey | ||
10 | Control | Shift | Space | No | <global> | Show Tembo search | ||
11 | Control | Command | ||||||
12 | Control | Option | ||||||
13 | Control | Option | Command | |||||
14 | Control | Option | Shift | |||||
15 | Control | Option | Shift | Command | (a bit too many keys to press simultaneously…) | |||
Control | Shift | Command | P | NO | Mail.app | Save email to file system (eml/emlx) | ||
Control | Shift | Command | S | NO | Mai.app | Save email to file system incl. print to PDF | ||
- Shift-Command-Space google.com/search?q=shift%2Bcommand%2Bspace
- google.com/search?q=configure+shortcut+for+Show+Emoji+%26+Symbols
- apple.stackexchange.com/questions/230382/changing-emoji-shortcut
Control | Option | Shift | Command | ||
Control | Command | Space |
Command | Shift | Alt | Alt | Function | ||
A | X | – | – | – | A | |
B | B | |||||
C | C |
Ctrl-Space