Use your Apple Keyboard in Windows with Boot Camp

You can use an Apple keyboard or a keyboard designed for Microsoft Windows with your Mac. Some keys on your keyboard might work differently between macOS and Windows. 

Mapping Windows keys to Apple keyboards

Many of the keys that you'd see on a PC have equivalent keys on an Apple keyboard:

Windows logo: press Command (⌘)

Backspace or Delete: press Delete

Enter or ⏎: press Return

Alt (left): press Option

Alt GR (right): press Option + Control

Applications: This key isn't available on Apple keyboards

Using the Windows On-Screen Keyboard for other functions

If your keyboard doesn't include these keys, you can recreate them using the On-Screen Keyboard as described in this Microsoft support article.

  • Pause/Break
  • Insert
  • Forward Delete
  • Home
  • End
  • Page Up
  • Page Down
  • Number Lock
  • Scroll Lock

Printing from the screen

To recreate the Print Screen and Print Active Window function in Windows, use the Snipping Tool as described in this Microsoft support article.

Numeric keypad mappings

Use the standard numerical keys beneath the Function keys for numerical entry on the Apple Wireless Keyboard. Apple external keyboards with built-in numeric keypads provide the same function as Microsoft-compatible numeric keypads.

If your keyboard isn't working

Boot Camp installs Windows support software (drivers) that let you use features of Apple keyboards in Windows. If your keyboard works when your Mac is started in macOS but not Windows, try reinstalling Windows support software from Boot Camp Assistant.

Learn more

Use Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to find the key combinations for unique characters in the language and region your Apple keyboard is designed to support:

  1. Download, install, and open the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.
  2. Choose File > Load Existing Keyboard.
  3. Select the keyboard you want to see. 
  4. Find the country or region name in the keyboard list that's followed by "(Apple)".
  5. Follow the instructions provided with the app. You can print images of the keyboard, including what keys look like when holding modifiers like Shift, Option, or Fn.

Microsoft provides a keyboard mapping article that describes using a Windows keyboard with macOS.

Apple does not provide technical phone support for installing, using, or recovering Microsoft Windows. Support is available for using Boot Camp Setup Assistant, as well as installing or restoring Boot Camp software while your Mac is started from Windows. Support articles and discussions might also be available on Apple's support website.

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