Swap Caps Lock and Ctrl in PowerToys | Generated by AI

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Question: In PowerToys, how do I switch Caps Lock and Ctrl keys on Windows?

Answer:

Use PowerToys Keyboard Manager → Remap a key. PowerToys supports swapping keys by creating two remaps. (Microsoft Learn)

Steps:

  1. Open PowerToys
  2. Go to:
Keyboard Manager
    → Remap a key
  1. Click:
+ Add key remapping
  1. Add these two mappings:
Key Mapped To
Caps Lock Left Ctrl
Left Ctrl Caps Lock

Example:

Caps Lock  →  Ctrl (Left)
Ctrl (Left) → Caps Lock
  1. Click OK / Apply

PowerToys will warn that a key is being reassigned. Confirm it. (Microsoft Learn)

  1. Make sure:
PowerToys Settings
    → General
    → Run at startup = ON

because Keyboard Manager works while PowerToys is running. (GitHub)

For programmers, a more common setup is:

Caps Lock → Ctrl
Left Ctrl → Ctrl (keep normal)

because Caps Lock is in a much better ergonomic position for Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+A, terminal shortcuts, Vim, Emacs, etc.

If you want a true hardware-level swap (works before Windows boots, BIOS, Linux, etc.), use keyboard firmware tools like QMK/VIA or registry scancode mapping instead of PowerToys.

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