Mac Keys for Windows

Tiny Windows utility that makes hotkeys feel like on a Mac. Lives in the tray, starts at logon, fully driven by a config file.

Mapping is by physical key position next to the space bar:

Mac	Windows
Cmd	Alt
Option	Win
Ctrl	Ctrl

So on Windows you press Alt+C — the utility sends Ctrl+C, and that copies in any app. Same goes for save, paste, find, new tab, screenshots, jump to line start/end, and so on.

Install

Option 1 — prebuilt exe (recommended)

1. Download mac-keys-for-windows.zip from the Releases page and extract it anywhere (e.g. C:\Tools\mac-keys-for-windows\).
2. Right-click install.ps1 → Run with PowerShell. If Windows complains about the execution policy, open PowerShell and run:

   powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1

3. On first launch a dialog appears: "Enable auto-start at Windows logon?" — Yes/No. Yes registers a Scheduled Task (UAC asks for confirmation), No — just runs in the current session. You can toggle it later from the settings window (the Run at Windows logon checkbox) or from the tray (Run on startup).
4. A coloured icon shows up in the tray: green = active, yellow = paused, red = disabled.

Option 2 — from source

1. Install AutoHotkey v2.
2. Clone the repo anywhere.
3. Run install.ps1 the same way — the script finds AHK itself and registers a task pointing at mac-keys.ahk.

Uninstall

Run uninstall.ps1. The startup task is removed and the process stops. Config and log stay in %APPDATA%\mac-keys-for-windows\ — delete manually if you don't want them.

Usage

Left-click the tray icon — opens a mini settings window:

• status (Active / Paused / Disabled, with a coloured dot),
• four checkboxes: Enabled (master), Auto-pause in fullscreen apps, Smart gating, Run at Windows logon,
• two lists: Excluded apps and Fullscreen whitelist with "Add current app" / "Remove selected" buttons,
• at the bottom: Edit config / Reload / Log / Quit.

Global hotkeys:

• Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M — master toggle (enable/disable).
• Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Q — kill-switch, fully exits the utility.

Right-click the tray icon — standard tray menu:

• Enabled — master switch. Mirrored by the Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M hotkey (configurable).
• Pause for 30 seconds / Resume — temporarily hands Alt back to Windows without fully disabling.
• Disable in current app — adds the active process to excludedApps; the utility ignores it entirely.
• Keep active in current app (fullscreen) — adds it to fullscreenWhitelist. Useful when the app goes fullscreen (F11) but you still want the hotkeys there (browsers, video players).
• Auto-pause in fullscreen — toggles auto-pause when a non-whitelisted process is fullscreen (game heuristic).
• Open config.json — opens the file in notepad. Save it and the utility auto-reloads; changes apply immediately.
• Run at Windows logon — registers/unregisters the Scheduled Task.

How we avoid breaking games

In games Alt is often a native key (crouch, voice, walk). Naively rebinding Alt+C → Ctrl+C globally breaks them. Protection has five layers, without any hardcoded list of game names:

1. Smart gating (universal). The utility always knows how long Alt has been held and whether WASD was pressed during the hold.
   • < 250 ms of Alt held → this is a shortcut, fire it (Alt+C → Ctrl+C).
   • > 800 ms held, or WASD pressed during the hold → this is a game-key, let the native Alt through to the game (sends {Blind}c without the modifier).
   • Grey zone (250–800 ms without WASD) — decided by movement. Thresholds live in config.smartGating.
2. Auto-pause in fullscreen. The utility checks the focused window: if it fills the monitor and has no title bar → pause. Covers most games (exclusive and borderless fullscreen).
3. Whitelist of processes that can be ignored: browsers, video players, IDEs, office apps. Fullscreen in those doesn't trigger pause.
4. Blacklist of processes where the utility never runs: RDP, VMware, VirtualBox, Parsec, AnyDesk, TeamViewer. Input passes through.
5. Master toggle and kill-switch. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M — pause/resume, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Q — fully exit.

If a game still slipped through (windowed + non-standard window, say), open the settings window → "Add current app" to Excluded apps. One click.

Config

File: %APPDATA%\mac-keys-for-windows\config.json.

{
  "enabled": true,
  "autoPauseFullscreen": true,
  "smartGating": {
    "enabled": true,
    "altShortcutMaxMs": 250,
    "altGameMinMs": 800
  },
  "masterToggleHotkey": "^!+m",
  "quitHotkey": "^!+q",
  "excludedApps": ["mstsc.exe", "parsec.exe"],
  "fullscreenWhitelist": ["chrome.exe", "vlc.exe"],
  "bindings": [
    { "from": "!c", "to": "^c", "enabled": true, "desc": "copy" },
    { "from": "!+4", "to": "#+s", "enabled": true, "desc": "screenshot region" }
  ]
}

Hotkey notation (AutoHotkey v2)

Symbol	Meaning
^	Ctrl
!	Alt
+	Shift
#	Win
{F4}	named key
Space, Left, Right, Up, Down, Home, End, BackSpace, PrintScreen	as-is

Examples:

• !c = Alt+C
• !+4 = Alt+Shift+4
• !{F4} = Alt+F4
• #+s = Win+Shift+S

No restart after editing config — the utility detects the file change and reloads itself within 2 seconds.

What's mapped by default

• Editing: Alt+C/V/X/A/Z/Shift+Z/S/Shift+S/W/Q/T/Shift+T/N/Shift+N/O/P/R/F/G/Shift+G/B/I/U/K/L
• Tabs: Alt+Shift+] / Alt+Shift+[ — next / previous tab
• Screenshots: Alt+Shift+3 (fullscreen), Alt+Shift+4 and Alt+Shift+2 (region), Alt+Shift+5 (screen recording via Game Bar)
• Search: Alt+Space → Win+S (system search)
• Navigation: Alt+←/→/↑/↓ — line start/end, document top/bottom; Alt+Shift+←/→/↑/↓ — same with selection
• By word (Option+←/→): Win+←/→ — move, Win+Shift+←/→ — with selection, Win+Backspace — delete previous word
• Backspace: Alt+Backspace — delete word (like on Mac)

Everything is editable in config.json. Any entry can be turned off with "enabled": false.

Important caveats

• Alt+F opens Find, not the File menu. The cost of Mac-style mapping. Access the menu with F10 or the mouse. If it really gets in the way, set "enabled": false on the !f binding — File menu comes back.
• Alt+Space is captured for system search, so the native window system menu (move/minimise) via Alt+Space is no longer available. Use the title-bar buttons or Win+arrow.
• Utility only works while running. It's not a kernel driver — quitting via the tray restores native Windows behaviour.
• Auto-start is opt-in and explicit. First run asks in a separate dialog, no silent registration. If you agree, UAC separately asks for confirmation to create a Scheduled Task with HighestAvailable. Admin rights are needed for hotkeys to work in elevated windows (Task Manager, regedit). Without auto-start it just runs in the current session.

Log and debugging

%APPDATA%\mac-keys-for-windows\mac-keys.log — plain text log (starts, binding errors, config reloads).

If a hotkey doesn't fire:

1. Check the log for a registration error.
2. Check whether the app ended up in excludedApps.
3. Make sure the utility isn't paused (tray icon).
4. If the app is elevated (admin), the utility needs to be elevated too (that's what the Scheduled Task solves).

License

MIT. See LICENSE.