Karabiner Edition
Before Capslock was a native app, it was a configuration for Karabiner-Elements, and it still is. Capslock Enhancement V3 is a set of Karabiner rules that turns Caps Lock into Escape on a tap and a Hyper key on a hold, with the same sixteen control planes and the same layout that the native app ships as Capslock Classic. It is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, with its source at github.com/Vonng/Capslock.
Which one should I use?
| Karabiner Edition | Capslock app | |
|---|---|---|
| What you install | Karabiner-Elements, then import one rule file | The Capslock app |
| Permissions | Karabiner's driver, background services, Accessibility and Input Monitoring | Accessibility only |
| Changing a key | Edit the JSON, or use the configurator | Click the key in the editor |
| Learning the layout | These pages and the configurator | Hold-to-Reveal and the Playground |
| Price and source | Free, Apache 2.0, open source | Proprietary; see Download |
| Status | Maintained | 0.4.0 release candidate |
Use only one of them for Caps Lock at a time. The Capslock app refuses to start while a Karabiner rule uses Caps Lock; turn the rules off in Karabiner-Elements first, as described in Coexisting with Karabiner-Elements.
Start in three steps
- Install Karabiner-Elements and grant the permissions it asks for.
- Import the rules with the button on Install.
- In Karabiner-Elements › Complex Modifications, enable every Capslock rule.
Tap Caps Lock: Escape. Hold it and press H J K L: the cursor moves.
Versions
| Version | Years | Runs on | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac V3 | 2021 – today | Karabiner-Elements | Maintained |
| Mac V2 | 2017 – 2021 | Karabiner-Elements | Archived |
| Mac V1 | 2015 – 2017 | Karabiner and Seil | Archived |
| Windows | 2013 – 2015 | AutoHotkey | Archived |
Install Karabiner-Elements, import the Capslock rules in one click, check that they work, and learn tap, hold, Hyper and the sixteen control planes.
Move and select text, delete by character, word or line, and drive the pointer and wheel from the home row, the arrow keys or the keypad.
Close and cycle windows, launch applications, send terminal and IDE chords, keep five extra clipboards, and type code punctuation from the home row.
Function keys, screenshots, the symbols used in this manual, how a rule is written, what changed in V3.1, customization, and troubleshooting.
Browse all sixteen control planes of the Karabiner rules, inspect any key, rename the application shortcuts, and export a JSON file to import.
The Mac V2, Mac V1 and Windows editions of the Capslock layout, kept for history and no longer maintained.