Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

For some reason sometimes the numeric enter key acts as return and sometimes it doesn't. (I'm talking of the last key on the keyboard, the one with the "k" symbol tilted towards left.)

I'd like to be able to use it as the regular enter.

Do you know any tip in order to fix this? At the moment it is totally random. My guess is that some software I use remaps the enter into return, but I've not been able to point to which one.

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

You've got your assumption a tiny bit mixed up. It's not that some software remaps the enter into return, it's that some software treats an enter as a carriage return and some doesn't.

They are two different keys with two differnet histories. One is enter and one is carriage return and they perform different functions.

I hate referencing wikipedia but hell, here ya go ... Differences between Enter and Return.

Usually most programs assume they are the same key - some don't. The AppleScript Editor for example uses ⌘+enter to force a script parse.

share|improve this answer
I can assure you that once it's automagically remapped to act as enter, it is across all programs. iterm2, chrome, textmate etc... – sathia Jan 23 '12 at 15:31
1  
True, and that's true for any key mapping in OSX but you lose the functionality that the enter key gives you in certain programs – Stu Wilson Jan 23 '12 at 16:23
up vote 0 down vote

Use Ukelele to create a new keyboard layout that maps the enter key to return.

Open Ukelele and select File » New From Current Input Source. Select Keyboard » Edit Key… and confirm to press the key. Then, press enter. You will be asked what character to replace it with. Enter 
 and confirm.

Optionally assign a new name to your keyboard using Keyboard » Set Keyboard Name….

Select File » Save As…, navigate to ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts and assign any name.

Your new keyboard layout will be available in System Preferences » Language & Text. If you didn't change the name, you can recognize it by the missing flag icon (it's a keyboard icon instead).

enter image description here

share|improve this answer
Hi, thanks for the nice explanation, I think I may have messed up my configuration. I followed step by step your answer, but the result is that my enter key now maps to the command button. I entered exactly &#000d; but it just resolves to command (⌘)(I am not sure if it was doing it before or not). I can now save a document pressing enter+s which of course is useless! – sathia Jan 24 '12 at 9:12
@sathia If you press Return instead of Enter when asked to press the key you want to edit, what does the dialog say is its default mapping? It looks like this for me, so I wrote that when remapping Enter, you need to enter exactly that. I can't imagine why it maps to Command for you. To revert changes, just enter Enter's default value (&#x0003, displayed in the equivalent dialog). Please try again, it just sounds so odd... – Daniel Beck Jan 24 '12 at 9:35
it's the same here: i.imgur.com/gh1hY.png but when I press the enter key, on the virtual keyboard of Ukelele the command keys are lit... it's crazy! – sathia Jan 24 '12 at 10:33
@sathia Could you try to reproduce this behavior on a new user account? Maybe something else interferes here. – Daniel Beck Jan 24 '12 at 10:35
good point, i'll try later, now I need to stay logged for a while since I should be working :P I'll update later. – sathia Jan 24 '12 at 10:46

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.