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Did you know your keyboard has a menu critical? On total-dimensions keyboards, you will obtain it to the left of your appropriate Ctrl important. This crucial opens context menus, but you can tweak it to make it extra beneficial.
Where’s the Menu Critical on Your Keyboard?
On full-measurement keyboards, the menu key is found between the proper Windows essential and the ideal Ctrl important to the ideal of the Area bar. The menu vital is also in some cases called the “application key.”
Some more compact keyboards—for case in point, laptop computer keyboards—omit the menu crucial to conserve house. Other scaled-down keyboards omit the proper Windows important and leave the menu vital in between the ideal Alt and Ctrl keys.
Both way, if your keyboard has a menu vital, it’ll be to the remaining of your proper Ctrl crucial. It does not have the term “menu” printed on it—it has a tiny photograph that seems like a menu. This image is not standardized and will look distinct on different keyboards. Often it demonstrates a little pointer hovering above a menu and often it appears to be like a stylized menu—a sq. or rectangle with some horizontal traces inside it.
What’s the Menu Vital For?
The menu crucial opens a context menu for your recent application. It’s basically like suitable-clicking on your assortment in the software.
Attempt it—press the menu essential while viewing this website web site and you are going to see your world-wide-web browser’s context menu, just as if you experienced appropriate-clicked on the webpage.
This is vital is handy if you never have a mouse or never have a mouse with a right mouse button. It functions in lots of diverse programs. If you pick out a file or folder in File Explorer and push the menu key, you will see a context menu just as if you had suitable-clicked on the file.
This key will make it probable to use the context menu with just the keyboard and with out a mouse. Press the menu essential, use the arrow keys to select an solution, and press Enter to activate it. Select text or other components with keyboard shortcuts and press the menu crucial to activate context menu options—all without the need of your fingers leaving the keyboard.
Microsoft is now chatting about changing this key into an Office important to match the Home windows critical. Most Pc buyers probably really do not contact this important, which explains why Microsoft is floating the thought of changing it. It is a bit of a relic, like the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause Crack keys.
Connected: What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause Break Keys on My Keyboard?
Change+F10 Can Operate Like a Menu Key, Way too
If your keyboard doesn’t have a menu vital, but you want to open a context menu with a keyboard shortcut, never ever dread. You can push Shift+F10 in most applications to open up a context menu. It’s mainly the identical point as the menu critical.
This does not work in each and every application, however—it is dependent on the applications. If practically nothing occurs in the software you’re applying, attempt Ctrl+Change+F10.
How to Remap the Menu Vital
The menu essential isn’t quite as annoying as the Home windows crucial, which can consider you out of video games and other entire-screen purposes if you unintentionally press it. Nevertheless, you could want to alter the habits of the menu important and have it do one thing extra useful. After all, that is prime keyboard authentic estate likely to squander if you are not utilizing the vital.
We like SharpKeys for rapidly remapping a vital to another important. You can remap keys in the Home windows Registry, but it is much more challenging. SharpKeys provides a practical graphical interface that customizes the underlying registry values for you.
Just after setting up and launching SharpKeys, simply click the “Add” button to insert a new remapping.
Decide on “Special: Software (E0_5D)” in the still left pane. You can also click “Type Key” and push the menu key—as we pointed out previously mentioned, it is in some cases known as the “application critical,” as it is right here.
In the ideal pane, pick out whatsoever vital you want to remap the menu crucial to. For case in point, you can decide on “Web: Back” and the critical will functionality as a back important in your world-wide-web browser and any other application that supports this key.
When you’re completed, simply click “OK.”
Simply click “Write to Registry” to produce your changes to the Windows Registry. You are going to now have to shut the SharpKeys window and then both reboot your Pc or signal out and indication back in. Your variations will get result when you upcoming indicator in.
If you want to alter what the critical does or undo your alterations, open SharpKeys when yet again, select your rule, and use the “Edit” or “Delete” button to modify or delete it. Publish your improvements to the registry and then signal out and back in again.
You can use SharpKeys to reassign other keys, too—for instance, you can make the Caps Lock or Windows key functionality as other keys.
How to Personalize the Menu Important Applying AutoHotkey
For more innovative customization, we suggest AutoHotkey. You can use AutoHotkey to generate a speedy little script that will pay attention for the menu critical and execute other steps when you push it. In AutoHotkey, this key is named the “AppsKey.”
For case in point, the subsequent line in an AutoHotkey script will disable the menu important (“AppsKey”) and trigger it to do almost nothing (“Return”):
AppsKey::Return
This code in an AutoHotkey script will pay attention for the menu key and start Microsoft Term when you push it:
AppsKey:: Operate WINWORD return
There’s a very good likelihood the menu crucial will go absent at some place. With keyboards nonetheless acquiring Scroll Lock keys, nevertheless, there’s a very good prospect the menu essential will however be close to for a long time to appear.
Associated: How to Compose an AutoHotkey Script
