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Haga Dhorse
Haga Dhorse

Reputation: 47

Meta key does not work

I'm trying M-w (command -w) on my mac Air, but get requests to terminate my terminal process.Then I found on internet that on some computer it uses option. I tried that but still not working.I'm trying to copy file.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 3110

Answers (1)

Jon Kiparsky
Jon Kiparsky

Reputation: 7743

If you're using the Terminal, there is an option under Terminal Settings > Keyboard to "Use Option As Meta key". Select that and you'll be able to use the option key for things like M-w. Personally, I find that I want to have both CTRL and META on both sides of the keyboard, so I map the "command" key to be "control" and "control" to be "command" using the System Preferences Keyboard pane, leaving the "option" key to be a "Meta" on both sides of the spacebar. This allows me to work fluidly without having to strike two keys with one hand, which saves me a lot of ergonomic distress.

Some people like to use the caps lock as a control key, which has the advantage of increased ease of access to the control key on the left side, but it has three major disadvantages in my view. First, it gives an asymmetry, which I find reduces fluidity of typing. Second, it costs you a caps lock key, which I use for example when I have to type out a named constant (rather than holding down a shift key to type out something like SELECTION_CATEGORY_RESTRICTION_ELEMENT, which I would prefer to be able to touch-type). Third, it tends to encourage the use of certain left-hand key chords, which in my experience has led to extremely painful repetitive strain injuries. Because of the latter, in particular, I do not recommend remapping the caps lock key to CTRL, but your mileage may vary.

Upvotes: 3

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