Remap the §± key on my magic keyboard

Question

I have been provided with a Magic Keyboard with my new work kit and I'm not sure it is a default Australian keyboard.

Above the 3 is £ not # (although shift + press does use #) so the pound symbol is not used without control+press but it's there.

The big issue is that to the left of 1, there is no tilde/backtick (~/`) key. The tilde key is actually down to the right of the left shift key. In the typical tilde key position is ±/§ which is entirely useless to me. Considering how often I spend in terminals, the tilde key is very important to me and I have hit this § key a thousand times in the past 3 days.

Is there a way to remap this key? I tried Karabiner with no luck.

Note that the keyboard is in the prefs as an Australian keyboard.

This image is not the same as mine, I dont have the extra characters but it does show the location of the keys I am referring to. (Ignore the red highlights, that wasnt me).

Answer 1

Your keyboard is no doubt the one called English - Great Britain in the Apple documentation.

One common way to do what you want is to create a custom keyboard layout via the Ukelele app.

Answer 2

This will require your participation :)

1. Download and run free Key Codes utility.
2. Press ± § key on your keyboard and write its HEX code from the utility screen.
3. Press ` _ key and write HEX code for it.

4. Open Terminal app and enter the following command (copy and paste it):

   hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000032,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000035},{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000035,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000032}]}'

   HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc is what you press on your keyboard and HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDstKey is what will be the result.

5. Pay attention to the bolded numbers endings!! You will need to replace them with actual readings from the Key Codes utility (Step 2 and 3). I wrote most probable values, but they may differ in your case.

As an alternative solution, you may want to try Flamingo app.

Reference to the hidutil usage is here: Technical Note TN2450.