How to make braces with Apple keyboard in Windows?
I'm using Bootcamp to run Windows on my Mac. Now I can't find a way to make curly braces and brackets. What is the keyboard shortcut for that?
I am using a Swiss German Apple keyboard layout.
I believe you would need to create your own keyboard layout in Windows to add these characters as combinations of keyboard keys.
One could use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to update the existing Apple Keyboard layout.
See also this article : Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator Tutorial.
General rules for Mac keyboards under Windows Bootcamp
Find the hotkey
The basic answer for all keyboard layouts is this: If you can insert a special character in Windows with a hotkey (or keyboard shorcut), you can press the same keys on your Mac keyboard. It will enter the same character. Now the easiest method for this is to look a standard Windows keyboard to see where the special characters are located and what keyboard shortcut is required to enter the character.
Use Alt/Option+NumPad
The most generic solution for entering special characters is using the appropriate Alt-NumPad key combination. You could always use the Alt-NumPad combination for all ASCII characters:
- For [ it would be Alt-91
- For ] it would be Alt-93
- For { it would be Alt-123
- For } it would be Alt-125
You hold down the Alt key while pressing the given numbers on the NumPad. Then you release the Alt key and the character will be inserted.
This is a built-in Windows function, no hacks or additional Software necessary. Note that the Alt key corresponds to the Option key on Mac keyboards. It is usually the one to the left of the space bar.
But you will be out of luck if you have one of those Apple keyboards without the NumPad.
Swiss German and French keyboard layouts
Now, for the Swiss German Windows keyboard, the hotkeys required for brackets and braces are as follows:
- [ - Ctrl-Alt-ü (Ctrl-Alt-è for Swiss French)
- ] - Ctrl-Alt-¨
- { - Ctrl-Alt-ä (Ctrl-Alt-à for Swiss French)
- } - Ctrl-Alt-$
You can enter the braces and brackets with exactly the same hotkeys on your Mac keyboard in a Boot Camp partition. It may even apply to running Windows in virtual machines.
For a list of all ASCII characters that can be entered in the same fashion, please consult http://www.asciitable.com/