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I am using the Apple Magic Keyboard version for the UK using a Dell laptop running Windows 10. I am having the following struggles,

i) I cant seem to access the # (which is part of the key for 3 and which also has the £ symbol above it.) The # seems to be a third symbol available on the key but I cant seem to access it. I dont know what combination of keystrokes would acccess this special character.

ii) I have the same problem as i) above but for the € symbol which is on the 2 key which has the @ symbol above it.

iii) On the 2 key there is the @ symbol above it but it's not correctly mapped. When I select it I get the " instead. The " and the @ seem to be the assigned the wrong way round on my system. How do I correct this please ?

Not sure if it's a good idea to present 3 problems on the one post or if I should create 3 separate posts - one for each issue - its just they all seem closely related.

Thanks in advance for any help.

enter image description here

Robbie.

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2 Answers 2

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I'm afraid you're fighting several paradigm difference here.

  1. Windows doesn't use the Alt [Opt] key to provide a third layer of characters, instead it has a very limited range of 'extra' characters that can be called by holding the ALtGr key [which the Mac doesn't have physically on the keyboard.] Windows will often accept AltGr if you simultaneously press the right Ctrl and Alt/Opt keys simultaneously.

This is the additional range of characters you get this way -

enter image description here

  1. UK Windows keyboards have both @ and " swapped, compared to Apple UK keyboards. They agree on US keyboards - so to swap these you need to set your Input Language on Windows to US or US International.
    This will have a secondary effect of replacing the UK Pound sign, £, with the US Pound # [which Brits are more likely to call hash or hashtag]

Another quirk of US International is that if you press " followed by a letter it will add an umlaut, such as ö, ' will add a grave accent, à. To avoid this, you tap the spacebar afterwards instead of a letter.

I don't think you will solve your F-Keys issue unless you can persuade something like AutoHotKey to map them for you. This is something I have no experience with, sorry.

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  • thank you - thats a great answer. I tried you're trick for 1. and found the € symbol mapped above the 4 key - which is how you've shown it in your photo. The fact that there are these 3 items are really quite a niggle. I am surprised that there hasnt been a mapping produced specifically for this issue. Thanks again for your answer.
    – robbie70
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 11:38
  • mappings may be produced based on the numbers who need it - perhaps you are doing something "odd"...
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 12:05
  • If you run Windows on Parallels on the Mac, they provide extra keyboard layouts that can get around a lot of this. I would imagine the Boot Camp additional software would do it on a Mac running Windows too - but Apple don't really support Win at all outside of those parameters & you need a Mac to get the Boot Camp Win software, afaik.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 12:08
  • I was thinking more along the lines that its surprising that no one from the Microsoft Windows camp has developed a keyboard mapping for the Magic keyboard to use with MS Windows. The mapping might for instance re-map the Magic keyboard to conform to existing mappings like you mentioned in your Answer i.e. ENG UK or ENG US INTL. I guess it isnt possible to develop this outside of the Apple eco-system ?
    – robbie70
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 15:16
  • I've switched the keyboard mapping to US INTL and tested each key. It maps almost perfectly to the Magic keyboard except as you said the # now replaces the £ but interestingly I found that I can access £ if I simultaneously press the right option + left Shift + 4 keys. I havent found a combination for the Euro symbol which would be useful. I dont suppose you know how I can type out an ascii code ? for example the ascii code the Euro would be Alt + 0128.
    – robbie70
    Commented Apr 5, 2022 at 18:32
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You should be able to make a custom Windows layout to fit the printing on your Apple keyboard with this app.

Also see this page. The one called "English British" may take care of your issue.

Windows Mac Layouts

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