by 
Every Monday we show you how to do something quick and cool using built-in OS X utilities such as Terminal, Apple’s command line application. These easy hacks can make life better and simpler, and don’t require any knowledge of coding — all you need is a keyboard to type ’em out!
How many times have you accidentally hit Caps Lock or another modifier key while typing and wish that the key in question simply didn’t exist? Well, you can have you dream come true with a little-known feature of OS X that lets you remap the modifier keys on your keyboard to make then function differently, or perhaps not function at all, if you wish. Continue reading and we’ll show you how you can change this setting to your heart’s desire.
To begin customizing the modifier keys in OS X, you’ll want to open System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard.
Once in the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard System Preference pane, select the “Modifier Keys…” button in the lower right-hand corner of the window.
After doing this, a dialog box appears that allows you to select the action that happens when a modifier key is pressed on your keyboard. Besides being an obviously good April Fool’s joke, this section can be used to remap the modifier keys on your keyboards.
The modifier keys are “Caps Lock,” “Control,” “Option,” and “Command.” You can remap any of these keys to any other modifier key, which could prove beneficial when typing. The best part is that you can also remap a key to “No Action,” causing nothing to occur when the modifier key is pressed.
Note that in this preference pane, the selection of the modifier keys only affects the keyboard that is selected (if multiple keyboards are currently connected). You can also always restore the keyboard keys to defaults by going back into this Modifier Keys panel and selecting the “Restore Defaults” button. Select “OK” to save the changes.
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article’s author on Twitter.
