How to Swap Around Option/Command and Backslash/Backtick Key on Mac OS

The purpose of this article is to help you adjust your key mappings to support some MacOS specific mappings.

If you're using a Wooting keyboard on Mac OS, you will notice that the option ( ⌥ ) and command ( ⌘ ) key are not on their usual spot. Weirdly enough Backslash ( \ ) and Backtick ( ` ) are also swapped around. This has to do with the default layout for Mac OS versus Windows. There are several easy solutions to get around this.

The Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) key

With the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) key you basically have 2 options:

1. Change it in the Mac OS settings
2. Change the keyboards keymap

There is some advantages and disadvantages to both.

Changing the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) around in the Mac OS settings means you can still use your keyboard on Windows and Linux without remapping keys again. The other downside is that changing them around in the System Settings may cause issues with global shortcuts not working properly.

On the other hand there is also a downside to remapping them on the keyboard itself. Should you choose this route this will also switch the Win and Alt key for Windows and the Super and Alt key for Linux.

1. Change modifier keys on Mac OS

You can swap around the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) key per device in Mac OS itself. It will recognise each device individually and apply your settings accordingly.

Go to: System Settings > Keyboard (1) > Keyboard Shortcuts (2)

Then go to: Modifier keys (1) at the bottom of the list

You can select the device from the dropdown (2) menu at the top and then swap around the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) key (3) as shown in the picture below.

Click done and you are all set.

2. Change the keyboards keymap

You can just switch the mapping of the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) keys in Wootility which will work on Mac OS without changing the modifier keys.

For this just open up Wootility, select the profile to modify (1), and click on Remap (2) at the bottom.

Then you can just drag and drop the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) keys around (1) and hit save to keyboard (2) at the end.

That's it for the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) keys.

Change the Backslash ( \ ) and Backtick ( ` )

Just like the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) keys, the Backslash ( \ ) and Backtick ( ` ) keys are swapped around (for some reason). This can easily be fixed by just drag and dropping them around like for the Option ( ⌥ ) and Command ( ⌘ ) keys.

For this just open up Wootility, select the profile to modify (1) , and click on Remap (2) at the bottom.

Then you can just drag and drop the Backslash ( \ ) and Backtick ( ` ) keys (1) around and hit save to keyboard (2) at the end.

That's it for the Backslash ( \ ) and Backtick ( ` ) keys.

Still have questions or need assistance?