How to Remap the Caps Lock Key as Esc in macOS Sierra [Quick Tips]

If you are a polite citizen of the Web, you probably rarely use your Caps Lock key. However, it’s in such a useful place on the keyboard, and it would be a shame to see it go to waste. If you want to remap it to be more useful, you can replace your Escape Key with your Caps Lock key in macOS Sierra. This is especially helpful if you have one of the new Touch Bar MacBook Pros, since they completely lack a physical Escape key, opting instead for an “Escape Zone” on the Touch Bar.

Remap Caps Lock to Escape in macOS Sierra

1. Open System Preferences under the Apple menu.

system-preferences-open

2. Open the Keyboard preferences pane found in the second row of System Preferences.

system-preferences-keyboard

3. Click the “Modifier Keys…” button in the lower-right of the preference pane window.

system-preferences-keyboard-modifier-keys

4. Click the drop-down box next to the “Caps Lock” key.

system-preferences-keyboard-caps-lock

5. Choose “Escape” from the drop-down list.

system-preferences-keyboard-caps-lock-escape

6. Click the “OK” button to confirm your change.

system-preferences-keyboard-caps-lock-escape-ok

Conclusion

You can swiftly and easily remap your “Escape” key to your “Caps Lock” key using the keyboard preferences pane in macOS.

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Alexander Fox

Alexander Fox is a tech and science writer based in Philadelphia, PA with one cat, three Macs and more USB cables than he could ever use.