Mac V2

Capslock Enhancement Mac V2, the 2017–2021 Karabiner-Elements rules that made Caps Lock Escape on a tap and Hyper on a hold.

Archived, not maintained

Mac V2 was written for Karabiner-Elements on macOS 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra and 10.13 High Sierra, the systems its README listed. It was replaced by Mac V3 in 2021 and has not been checked against current macOS or Karabiner-Elements.

Mac V2 was the first Capslock edition for Karabiner-Elements, the rewrite of Karabiner that macOS Sierra required. It is a set of ten complex-modification rules. A tap on Caps Lock sends Escape. Holding it turns it into Hyper (✱): Karabiner-Elements holds the four right-hand modifiers, ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘, together, so Hyper still combines with the left-hand ones and most apps accept it.

The Mac V2 layout drawn on a full keyboard, with the action of each key under Hyper — The layout diagram from the V2 README. A few app keys in it differ from the tables on this page, which follow the rule file.

Caps Lock

Key	Result
Tap Caps Lock	Escape
Hold Caps Lock	Hyper (`✱`), the right-hand ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘ held together
`✱` Escape	Caps Lock. The README notes a bug: Caps Lock was hard to turn off again

Hyper alone moves the cursor. Adding one left-hand modifier selects instead, moves the pointer, switches tabs and apps, or works with Spaces.

Key	`✱` move	`✱ ⌘` select	`✱ ⌥` pointer	`✱ ⇧` switch	`✱ ⌃` Spaces
H	←	⇧←	Pointer left	Previous tab (⌃⇧Tab)	Space to the left (⌃←)
J	↓	⇧↓	Pointer down	Next app (⌘Tab)	Windows of the current app (⌃↓)
K	↑	⇧↑	Pointer up	Previous app (⇧⌘Tab)	Mission Control (⌃↑)
L	→	⇧→	Pointer right	Next tab (⌃Tab)	Space to the right (⌃→)
U	Page Up	⇧Page Up	—	—	—
I	Home	⇧Home	—	—	—
O	End	⇧End	—	—	—
P	Page Down	⇧Page Down	—	—	—

Mouse

Key	Result
`✱` ← ↓ ↑ →	Move the pointer, like `✱ ⌥` H J K L
`✱` Return	Left click
`✱ ⌘` Return	Right click

Deleting

Key	Sends	Deletes
`✱` N	⌥⌫	The word before the cursor
`✱` M	⌫	The character before the cursor
`✱` ,	⌦	The character after the cursor
`✱` .	⌥⌦	The word after the cursor
`✱ ⌘` N, `✱ ⌘` M	⌘⌫	Back to the start of the line

Windows and tabs

Key	Sends	Result
`✱` Tab	⌘Tab	Next app
`✱ ⌘` Tab	⇧⌘Tab	Previous app
`✱` Q	⌘Q	Quit the app
`✱` W	⌘W	Close the tab
`✱` S	⌃Tab	Next tab
`✱ ⌘` S	⌃⇧Tab	Previous tab
`✱` A	⌃⌥⇧⌘A	Left free for the window manager Moom
`✱ ⌘` A	⌃↑	Mission Control

Terminal keys

Key	Sends	Used for
`✱` Z	⌃Z	Suspend the job (SIGTSTP)
`✱` X	⌃R	Run, in IDEs
`✱` C	⌃C	Interrupt (SIGINT)
`✱` V	⌃V	Vim prefix
`✱` B	⌃B	The default tmux prefix
`✱` D	⌃D	End of input (EOF)

Apps

The README suggested replacing these with your own favourite apps.

Key	`✱`	`✱ ⌘`
E	Safari	Finder
R	iTerm2	Preview
T	Visual Studio Code	Typora
D	⌃D (see above)	Dictionary
F	⌃⌥⇧⌘F, left free for Alfred	Dash
G	IntelliJ IDEA	Google Chrome

Function keys

V2 expected F1 to F12 to act as standard function keys and used Hyper to get the printed functions back. On a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, the README suggested turning on Karabiner-Elements › Function Keys › "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys".

Key	`✱`	Key	`✱`
F1	Brightness down	F7	Previous track
F2	Brightness up	F8	Play or pause
F3	Mission Control	F9	Next track
F4	Launchpad	F10	Mute
F5	Keyboard backlight down	F11	Volume down
F6	Keyboard backlight up	F12	Volume up

Keys found on full-size keyboards:

Key	`✱`
F13 (Print Screen)	Previous track
F14 (Scroll Lock)	Next track
F15 (Pause)	Mute
Insert, Delete	Brightness up, down, in fine steps
Home, End	Keyboard backlight up, down, in fine steps
Page Up, Page Down	Volume up, down, in fine steps

Shifted symbols

Key	`✱` types
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0	! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
- =	_ +
[ ]	( )
;	!
'	=
`✱ ⌘` ;	:
`✱ ⌘` '	=

The last four rows make != and := quick to type.

Other keys

Key	Sends	Result
`✱` `	⌃⇧⌘4	Screenshot of an area, to the clipboard
`✱ ⌘` `	⇧⌘4	Screenshot of an area, to a file
`✱` Delete	⌘⌫	Move to Trash in Finder
`✱` / and `✱` \	⌘/	Comment or uncomment, in many editors
`✱` Space	⌃Space	Switch input source

How it was installed

These are the steps from the V2 README, kept for the record.

Download and install Karabiner-Elements.
Import the rules by opening this address in Safari:
```
karabiner://karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/import?url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vonng/Capslock/main/mac_v2/capslock.json
```
Or copy capslock.json into ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/, which is what make install in the mac_v2 folder does.
In Karabiner-Elements, open the Complex Modifications tab, click Add Item, and enable the rules you want.
To change the apps or any other key, edit the imported file in ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/.

Note

The README's own import link pointed at the repository's mac/ folder, which now holds V3, and its second link pointed at the Karabiner-Elements gallery, which also lists V3 today. The address above points at the V2 file.

Files

All of V2 is in mac_v2/ in the repository.

File	What it is
`capslock.json`	The ten V2 rules, ready to import
`karabiner.json`	A complete Karabiner-Elements configuration with the same rules. `make all` copies it over `~/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json` and replaces your existing settings
`makefile`	The `install` and `all` targets described above
`README.md`	The original V2 documentation

Differences from V3

Planes. V2 combined Hyper with one left-hand modifier at a time, which gave it only a few planes. V3 combines Hyper with any of the four left-hand modifiers, for up to 16 planes.
Changed keys. In V3.1, F13 and F14 control screenshots instead of the previous and next track, ✱ ⌘ D runs Define instead of opening Dictionary, and Spotlight replaces Launchpad.