this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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207
The new Microsoft copilot key is impossible to properly remap. (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 10 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) by attero@discuss.tchncs.de to c/technology@lemmy.world
39 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The new Micro~~soft~~slop copilot key always sends the following key-sequence when pressed:

copilot key down: left-shift-down left-meta-down f23-down f23-up left-meta-up left-shift-up
copilot key up: <null>

This means there's no real key-up event when you release the key --> it can't be used (properly) as a modifier like ctrl or alt.

The workaround is to send a pretend key-up event after a time delay, but then you mustn't be too slow / fast when pressing a shortcut.

tldr: AI took a perfectly working modifier key from you.

--- edit ---
Some keyboards apparently do the "right" thing and don't send the whole sequence at once, you can remap those properly with keyd, see: https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/issues/1025#issuecomment-2971556563 / https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/issues/825

copilot key down: left-shift-down left-meta-down f23-down
copilot key up: f23-up left-meta-up left-shift-up

this will still break left-shift + remapped copilot and left-meta + remapped copilot, but RCtrl remaps should work as expected

top 39 comments
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[–] Fokeu@lemmy.zip 25 points 2 hours ago

Congrats Microsoft, you managed to enshittify a goddamn keyboard key.

[–] Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 hour ago

so fucking stupid

[–] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

You can remap that key on a hardware level with a little flathead screwdriver. 🪛 🗑️

[–] Sims@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

"tldr: AI took a perfectly working modifier key from you." - 'AI' ?? I can't see how this is anything but Microshit and Capitalism that 'takes away" anything..

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 hour ago

That's the former right click button location. They took it away to implement a AI button. So it's AI that's done it, not literally but figuratively.

[–] wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Is it? I mean, if I have Linux installed, you know.

[–] neclimdul@lemmy.world 3 points 33 minutes ago

Yeah... All the tools in Linux are going to do this weird thing where they expect it to behave like a normal key. So you'd have to do all the hacks mentioned to make it work. For example, GNOME keybind stops detecting the key bind when you release. Etc. Maybe the kernel will accept a “broken copilot key hack“ that implements it but it's not good.

Even with hacks, it still won't work like a modifier like most people use alt/ctrl/win because those rely on knowing the key up to see multiple keys pressed together before release. So... Broken.

[–] fortino@europe.pub 8 points 5 hours ago

Another great product of Free Market Capitalism ©

[–] ashenone@lemmy.ml 77 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I'm gonna hug my old ThinkPad when I get home today

[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 14 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I do that all the time.

There's nothing weird about it, stop looking at me like that

[–] Liberal_Ghost@lemmy.zip 1 points 11 minutes ago

Its totally normal. And its cool if you like to hug multiple Thinkpads at the same time 😆

[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Smells like antitrust violations.

[–] morto@piefed.social 26 points 9 hours ago

And they took the place of a useful key to put that

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 22 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Did Microsoft demand vendors include such a button with those specs? If not, that sounds like a vendor issue, and I'd be looking at other vendors. Either way I'm happy to use keyboards/OSs without that "feature."

[–] attero@discuss.tchncs.de 39 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

copilotPC requirements

It is/was required for vendors to use the AI PC / Copilot+ label and Microsoft "invented" the key-sequence.
src: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/24112500/microsoft-ai-pc-intel-windows-copilot-key-requirements

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 20 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

So to be clear, this key sequence is just how windows interpret the key, the hardware is exactly the same and any other OS can still use it as the context menu key?

Edit : oh, just saw the thing about the linux workaround. So no, they actually fucked it up on hardware level. Wow.

[–] attero@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

nope, the hardware / keyboard controller sends a complete key sequence instead of a distinguishable key-up and key-down event. The OS can interpret that sequence as it sees fit, but you loose the physical key-up signal when you release the key with your finger.

[–] Corngood@lemmy.ml 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

That's insane. Even if they did this intentionally to be as difficult as possible, they locked themselves out of being able to detect long presses?

[–] attero@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I've made an update edit: Some hardware vendors fucked up when to send the key-up-sequence apparently so now every keyboard can behave differently. I don't know if this makes the situation better or worse.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

AI PC / Copilot+ label

Okay that sounds solvable, at least. I mean, I hate it, but it seems that a person is getting what they pay for here. Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully there will be plenty of non-AI PC / Copilot+ computers and keyboards.

[–] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 12 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (3 children)

Just don't buy an AI slop PC and get a Thinkpad, or a Framework laptop instead. Vote with your wallet. If you already own an AI PC, well, OP's post might help.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago

Lmao. All non shit PCs are “ai PCs” now. It’s already built into the CPU. All you need is not 8 gigs of ram and to put that button and Microsoft hands you that sweet sweet dosh.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 34 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

all new thinkpads have copilot buttons

[–] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 2 points 52 minutes ago

Well damn.

[–] helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world 11 points 7 hours ago

Pretty sure MS made this a "standard keyboard" button, which could mean it needs to be included for the OEM to be able to put windows on the machine.

[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

My ThinkPad has one and it is just kinda there... despite it supposedly being remapable since Kernel 6.16 or so I can't get it to properly remap.

I'd love to map it to open LM Studio lol

[–] PoopMonster@lemmy.world 7 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Never thought I'd say this... I'm considering a Mac as my next laptop.

[–] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 14 points 8 hours ago (5 children)

Base model Macbook Airs are very hard to beat for price:performance, especially now the new base model has 16gb of RAM. I've been to numerous local computer shops and felt and tried numerous Windows laptops that were around the same price and they all felt like flimsy plastic trash.

The Mac Mini is also very good for its price and size. My dad is considering a base model Mini to replace his Windows office computer which is on 10 and reached EOL and he doesn't want 11.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

Can confirm. Decided to pop for a base MBA, but with 32g ram, about a year ago, and it’s fantastic. Unbelievable battery efficiency, completely silent (passively cooled), and still decently performant for when I want to compile something/do a cpu intensive thing. I’ve used MBPs as corp-issue dev machines for nearly a decade and a half now, so I’m quite comfortable in the ecosystem.

I still have my old T14g2 running fedora, though (in addition to a plethora of non-mobile systems). Also snagged one of those silly-cheap Acer laptops with a fairly late model i3 in it, because it was $200 and had a SODIMM and m.2 slot, just as a spare/extra (it’s running kinoite)

[–] bagsy@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago

Just the battery life alone will be enough to hook you on macs. The air is such a nice piece of hardware for the price.

[–] kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 hours ago

When you realise the main difference between an Air and a Pro is active cooling on the CPU on the Pro, it makes sense why the Air is a powerhouse. Knowing the M-series is very efficient, you'll only notice the difference on heavy loads. (I know the Pro has more options, but it only makes a difference in specific workloads)

Paying the exuberant Apple tax for more soldered RAM and storage is something you'll never see me do as long as there are ultrabooks without permanently attached storage.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world -1 points 3 hours ago

I was using a 2012 "vintage" minitower PC that originally came with Win7 as a crappy little plex/local FTP/Minecraft server, and I had been wanting to try MacOS after not seeing it for a while, so I got a Mac Mini with an M2 in it, and while I've hardly stressed it, it seems really nice. It's small and completely silent, and if I did want to use it more, Apple has certainly tried to keep their walled garden pretty and well-organized.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

I have an M1 Pro that’s still going strong without issues, even with 8GB RAM. They’re insanely durable (repair issues aside) and MacOS is wildly good at resource management.

[–] attero@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

You might wanna start getting used to pressing command with your thumb, instead of ctrl with your pinkie then:

Here's my rant about inconsistent keyboard shortcuts on non-macOS systems:
https://mastodon.social/@attero/115771231064736124

[–] thejml@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I prefer it, however there are apps for Mac to remap it if you like. I use Karabiner to remap my Capslock to Escape. I have Capslock and moving the escape key there is much more ergonomic and where i have it on my custom mechanical keyboards.

[–] UltraBlack@lemmy.world -1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Custom keyboard... Install custom firmware dawg

[–] thejml@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

Oh, i do on mine, but can't do that on the built in keyboard in a laptop!

[–] probable_possum@leminal.space 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

It's worth taking a look in the BIOS/ UEFI setup - maybe the key can be remapped there? Once the default F-key behaviour could be defined in there for ThinkPad devices.

[–] goatinspace@feddit.org 0 points 5 hours ago