Tips on using a Macintosh keyboard
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Tips on using a Macintosh keyboard

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Article ID: 344573

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Updated On:

Products

VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on using a Macintosh keyboard with VMware Fusion.

The tips in this article help you to send key strokes or perform functions that you know from PC keyboards. These tips help when using VMware Fusion virtual machines.

Environment

VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion 1.x
VMware Fusion 5.x
VMware Fusion 6.x

Resolution

This table lists the PC key strokes and provides methods to accomplish the corresponding key stroke/function using a Macintosh/Fusion keyboard:
 
PCMacintosh / Fusion
Ctrl+Alt+DelTo send Ctrl+Alt+Del to a virtual machine:
  • From the Fusion menu, go to Virtual Machine > Send Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
  • On a Macintosh notebook keyboard, press Fn+Ctrl+Option+Delete.
  • On a full-sized Macintosh keyboard, press Control+Option+|X>.

    Note: The |X> (Forward Delete) key is below the Help key.
     
  • If you are using an external PC keyboard, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
DeleteThe Delete key on an Apple keyboard is actually the backspace key to all other operating systems.

To send the PC Delete key to a virtual machine:
  • From the Fusion menu, go to Virtual Machine > Send Key > |X> (Forward Delete).
  • On a Macintosh notebook keyboard, press Fn+Delete.
  • On a full-sized Macintosh keyboard, press |X>.

    Note: The |X> (Forward Delete) key is below the Help key.
InsertTo send the Insert key to a virtual machine:
  • On older Macintosh keyboards, this is the Help key.
  • On older Macintosh notebook keyboards, press Fn+M.

    Note: Newer Macintosh notebooks do not support Fn+M. To map the Insert key to any convenient key combination you choose, navigate to VMware Fusion > Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Key Mappings.
Print ScreenTo send the Print Screen key to a virtual machine:
  • From the Fusion menu, go to Virtual Machine > Send Key > Print Scrn.
  • On a full-sized Macintosh keyboard, press F13.
Alt-GrTo send the Alt-Gr key to virtual machine:
  • On a full-sized Macintosh keyboard, press the right Option (or Alt) key, or press the Enter key on the number pad.
  • On European Macintosh notebook keyboards, press the Option (or Alt) key next to the right Command key.
Notes:
  • This is overridden when Num Lock is used for numeric keypad support.
  • To disable this Alt-Gr mapping:
     
    1. Open this file in Text Edit:

      [Macintosh HD]/Users/your_username/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/preferences
       
    2. Find the line that begins with:

      pref.mapISONumpadEnterToAltGrEnabled
       
    3. Change TRUE to FALSE.

      Note: If a line containing pref.mapISONumpadEnterToAltGrEnabled does not exist in the file, add this line:

      pref.mapISONumpadEnterToAltGrEnabled = "FALSE"
Selecting multiple list itemsTo use Ctrl+click as you would in a normal Windows environment:
  • To do so permanently, disable the mouse shortcut for the secondary button:
    1. Go to VMware Fusion > Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Mouse Shortcuts.
    2. Disable Secondary Button, so that it no longer maps to = Control - Primary Button.
  • For a temporary workaround, press and hold Ctrl-Option while clicking to select multiple items.
Num LockTo send the Num Lock key to a virtual machine:
  • From the Fusion menu, go to Virtual Machine > Send Key > Clear (Num Lock).
  • On a full-sized Macintosh keyboard, press Clear.
Function keysTo send a Function key (for example, F1 or F3) to a virtual machine:
  • Press Fn+<the desired function key>
Note: To make the Macintosh function keys act like regular function keys, and trigger the special functions with Fn+<the function key> instead, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard (or Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard), and select Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

Note: To use F13-F24 in a virtual machine, you must use the steps above to change the default behavior of the function keys.
Windows keyBy default, this is mapped to Either Command key, but it can also be mapped to Right Command key or Left Command key according to your choice.

To map the Windows key to any convenient key you choose, navigate to VMware Fusion > Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Key Mappings.

Notes:  

Additional Information

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