How do I hit the “Ctrl” key without straining my pinky?

Question

When I'm using Chrome, Powerpoint, Notepad++, etc. I take a lot of advantage of the keyboard shortcuts in those programs. However, this gets a bit tedious and straining, having my pinky stretch down to the Ctrl key every time I need to save, for example.

At this point my pinky is strong enough to beat anyone in the "Pinky Wrestling" that Burger King describes on their hash brown baggies, but it's also quite sore after a couple hours in front of the computer.

How should I go about hitting the Ctrl key without straining my pinky?

Solution 1

I'd suggest that you don't use your pinky at all - press the outer command keys using the base of your small finger on the relevant hand (the edge of your palm, essentially), this works well for Ctrl and Ctrl+Shift combos.

This method doesn't require moving your hand much and doesn't require any finger gymnastics. I guess it might need a little bit of practice if its new to you, and is completely useless if you have a "flat" laptop keyboard as you need to be able to press in from the edge of the keys.

Since I'm not 100% sure I've explained what I mean very well, here's a quick photo I've just taken of what I mean - my left hand pressing the Ctrl key with the base of my small finger having not moved my hand. For pressing Ctrl+Shift my hand would just be a little further up, to cover both:

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Another option is to press Ctrl and the key being modified with different hands if you don't do so already - allowing you to lower the hand pressing Ctrl and avoid the finger gymnastics, but this again will need training and might be slower in general but especially if you happen to have the other hand on the mouse at the time.

Solution 2

Using autohotkey, remap your capslock key as your third control key; the script will go something like this--

; capslock into control key
SetCapsLockState, AlwaysOff
Capslock::
Send {Control Down}
Sleep 500
Send {Control Up}
Return

Solution 3

OS X has a built-in way to remap ⇪ to ⌃:

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A bit extreme, but you could make a custom keyboard layout where the actions usually provided by modifier key states are accessed with dead keys under the thumbs:

_{On OS X the actions under control or command can't be remapped using this technique, but the actions that output single characters (under shift and option) can.}

Solution 4

Since you are supposed to hit the control key on the opposite side of the keyboard of the key that you want to hit, just slide your other hand back to hit it. It may be easier to rotate your hand instead though.

Solution 5

Here is a page (xahlee.org) that talks about various ways to avoid the pinky problem.

I tried the method he outlines for pressing the control key using your palm, and had varying levels of success. Unfortunately, years of habit is very hard to break, and I keep falling back to using my pinky (on Caps Lock key, at least).

View more solutions

Comments

[Synetech]

By “stretching”, do you mean folding/bending? Which hand are you talking about? I have no trouble pressing the left Ctrl key with my pinky, but doing so with the right one certainly crunches my finger. However, I can comfortably hold the right Ctrl key with my right thumb.

[HikeMike]

That's why Apple placed their equivalent primary keyboard shortcut key where the alt key is on Windows keyboard. Much easier on the fingers.

[surfasb]

Funny, I never use the pinky to hit the Ctrl Key. I just hit it with my outside knuckle.

[new123456]

My first thought when reading was "EMACS Syndrome". And @Daniel, Haiku OS does much the same thing, but instead uses ALT for what most other operating systems use CTRL for.

[HikeMike]

@new Interesting, unfortunately I'm not particularly keen on using an alpha release OS ;)

[Synetech]

@surfasb, I didn’t notice until I looked at DMA’s answer, but apparently that’s what I do as well, I keep my pinky straight and hold the left Ctrl key down with the section between my palm and first knuckle. Now that I think about it, I’m sure that I probably never actually bend my pinky (which would be extremely uncomfortable, though not as uncomfortable as bending my right pinky to press the right Ctrl key since it is even farther from the letter keys).

[surfasb]

@Syntech: Yeah, there is no way I can reach the Ctrl without moving my hands off the Home row. I'm cursed with average fingers.

[digitxp]

@surfasb You got me imagining Superman trying to hit the CTRL key now.

[soandos]

Then how do you use the caps lock key?? Plus, he was asking how to hit it, not how to avoid hitting it.

[bahamat]

@soandos Seriously, how often do you need to type in all caps for an extended period of time? I don't have a mapped CAPSLOCK. Much better to hold the shift key for a few seconds to type a word or two and use that valuable keys pace for something useful.

[HikeMike]

Ctrl-X and Ctrl-Z are difficult to press like that with just one hand.

[DMA57361]

Ctrl+X isn't really a problem - the index finger is much easier to bend to X than the small finger is to Ctrl. But you are correct that Ctrl+Z is pretty difficult, I tend to use a curled 3rd finger here, but it's not the most comfortable manoeuvre. But Ctrl+Z is (usually) "undo" anyway, so will normally cause a break in flow, such that I'd say a delay in pressing it isn't really a problem. Hopefully, it's also used more rarely than the "easier" combinations.

[Alex Barrett]

It's fairly easy to use your thumb to press Ctrl+Z in this position.

[DMA57361]

Somehow that feels even less comfortable that using my third finger @Alex. Just what I'm used to, I suppose. Still, one way or another it is viable. :)

[JdeBP]

For some ergonomic keyboards, the Control key isn't even under the little finger in the first place. ☺

[Jim Syyap]

@sandos--after remapping caps lock as your third control key, you then use that as you would when you need to use the control key (but now it's easier on your pinky). Like bahamat, I seldom use caps lock. I sit on the shift key while I type in the letters. Try it yourself and see the difference.

[Synetech]

I can’t press the left Ctrl key with the side of my hand in your photo, instead I (apparently naturally, though I didn’t notice until just now), hold it with the first segment of my pinky (the section between the palm and first knuckle). In other words, I never bend my pinky, I keep it nice and straight.

[surfasb]

The key is to roll your hand 45 degrees. I learned this habit from Starcraft. For Control Z, I find myself instinctively reaching for the right side Ctrl.

[DMA57361]

@Synetech - I don't use the side of my hand, the photo was only to demonstrate how my hand lines up with the keys as per the line, I keep my hand almost entirely flat when doing this. I'll see if I can manage to take a decent reverse angle shot that isn't as misleading.

[nick]

I never use the caps lock key either, so I mapped it to CTRL. A cleaner way to achieve the same thing would be a registry edit; that way you don't have to install/run another program.

[Aaron McDaid]

I already use Caps Lock for Escape. So this isn't an option for people like me (i.e. vim users!)

[Samuel]

I used 3 different ergonomic keyboards from now and I can assure you that ergonomic keyboards are the best solution IMHO. I currently use the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard since 3 weeks and it's a joy for my fingers. Just not to be totally inapt to use a normal keyboard, I tried yesterday to switch back to a normal keyboard for one week and I change my mind after a couple of hours because the pain having the hands squeezed at the center of the keyboard. Ctrl+C and other shortcut are done with the left part of the space bar button that I change to Ctrl key.

[Samuel]

This is a very useful program. I personally use it to invert all the number row keys to be able to access symbol directly and number with the help of shift key. This prevent having to use my pinky to press the shift key and, in my case, because I'm a programmer, I more often use the symbols than numbers.

[Veridian]

What?? How would you press Ctrl-s with your left hand like this?

[DMA57361]

For Ctrl+ a single key in awkward place - S, A, Z etc - I tend to press that key but curling my 3rd finger or just raising my hand and finger-pressing everything. The latter is certainly the case for key combos with Ctrl+Shift and an awkward key (Ctrl+Shift+Z for redo or Ctrl+Shift+A for the action list in my IDE) - but use of those is quite rare.

[miroxlav]

@soandos – you can use CapsLock very easily even after remapping. Just press Shift+CapsLock. I am using CapsLock with various modifiers to do various things but I reserve Alt+CapsLock, giving it no such function so it allows the original functionality.

[thenaglecode]

@bahamat, if you are an enterprise SQL developer with strick UPPERCASE standards. I just used it then.

[Jérôme MEVEL]

I don't know what's the problem but this AutoHotKey code doesn't work very well in Visual Studio...

[Jérôme MEVEL]

Well actually the AutoHotKey script could be much simpler: CapsLock::LCtrl so this is working exactly like the Control button does with no weird behaviors

[Kellen Stuart]

don't work if you use an ergonomic keyboard :p

[Kellen Stuart]

I actually use the caps key pretty often. In VIM, (just used the caps key :) ), I was considering remapping the CAPS LOCK to ESC because it's such a pain in the butt. I definitely don't use CAPS enough to justify it being in the home row though... Perhaps you could make a macro to make CAPS just be triggered by hitting SHIFT twice quickly

[ns.]

+1 to use the other hand. Similar to how people typically use the Shift key on the opposite side of the letter they're typing.

[Web Dev Dude]

This AHK solution would be a problem for web browser users who want to use Ctrl + Tab for quick tab switching