this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026
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The new Micro~~soft~~slop copilot key always sends the following key-sequence when pressed:

copilot key down: left-shift-down left-meta-down f23-down f23-up left-meta-up left-shift-up
copilot key up: <null>

This means there's no real key-up event when you release the key --> it can't be used (properly) as a modifier like ctrl or alt.

The workaround is to send a pretend key-up event after a time delay, but then you mustn't be too slow / fast when pressing a shortcut.

tldr: AI took a perfectly working modifier key from you.

--- edit ---
Some keyboards apparently do the "right" thing and don't send the whole sequence at once, you can remap those properly with keyd, see: https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/issues/1025#issuecomment-2971556563 / https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/issues/825

copilot key down: left-shift-down left-meta-down f23-down
copilot key up: f23-up left-meta-up left-shift-up

this will still break left-shift + remapped copilot and left-meta + remapped copilot, but RCtrl remaps should work as expected

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[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 18 points 4 days ago (3 children)

If this garbage is on my keyboard I will drill that motherfucker out no second thought

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I have a Lenovo usb keyboard with a fn Key in place of the Ctrl key that has absolutely no purpose. It's for volume control like fn+F7 BUT... IT ALSO HAS DEDICATED BUTTONS FOR VOLUME CONTROL!!

After the nth time I accidentally switched fn and Ctrl I took a screwdriver and popped it out permanently (being USB it doesn't report fn status to the os and of course the BIOS doesn't allow FN remapping because it's not a laptop)

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[–] xylogx@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I was able to remap it with Autohotkey on Windows.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Yeah, I used PowerToys and it's now Right Control again. It was probably easier than finding drivers for Linux.

[–] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 25 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (9 children)

Just don't buy an AI slop PC and get a Thinkpad, or a Framework laptop instead. Vote with your wallet. If you already own an AI PC, well, OP's post might help.

[–] helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world 19 points 4 days ago

Pretty sure MS made this a "standard keyboard" button, which could mean it needs to be included for the OEM to be able to put windows on the machine.

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[–] rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago

You can remap that key on a hardware level with a little flathead screwdriver. 🪛 🗑️

[–] chraebsli@programming.dev 1 points 2 days ago (3 children)

why even buy that slop of hardware beforehand? if you dont want that feature, you might be happier with another brands laptop

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[–] Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip 12 points 4 days ago

so fucking stupid

[–] RejZoR@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But if you slap Linux on it, it just does nothing then or is it mapped as old AltGr or whatever?

[–] ziggurat@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Neither, it will be as if you pressed all those keys in the list above, which will most of the time do nothing

[–] wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Is it? I mean, if I have Linux installed, you know.

[–] neclimdul@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah... All the tools in Linux are going to do this weird thing where they expect it to behave like a normal key. So you'd have to do all the hacks mentioned to make it work. For example, GNOME keybind stops detecting the key bind when you release. Etc. Maybe the kernel will accept a “broken copilot key hack“ that implements it but it's not good.

Even with hacks, it still won't work like a modifier like most people use alt/ctrl/win because those rely on knowing the key up to see multiple keys pressed together before release. So... Broken.

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[–] Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago

Note to self: start looking into building my own keyboards if it ever becomes standard, somehow.

[–] fortino@europe.pub 12 points 4 days ago

Another great product of Free Market Capitalism ©

[–] PoopMonster@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Never thought I'd say this... I'm considering a Mac as my next laptop.

[–] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 17 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Base model Macbook Airs are very hard to beat for price:performance, especially now the new base model has 16gb of RAM. I've been to numerous local computer shops and felt and tried numerous Windows laptops that were around the same price and they all felt like flimsy plastic trash.

The Mac Mini is also very good for its price and size. My dad is considering a base model Mini to replace his Windows office computer which is on 10 and reached EOL and he doesn't want 11.

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[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

My ThinkPad has one and it is just kinda there... despite it supposedly being remapable since Kernel 6.16 or so I can't get it to properly remap.

I'd love to map it to open LM Studio lol

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