Kinesis Reference

This page is designed to provide a quick reference to the codes that are used to program a Kinesis keyboard. For current manuals, see http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/.

Common tasks

Desired Action	Kinesis Classic (KB133)	Kinesis Advantage (KB500)
Reset most keyboard memory	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F10`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F10`
Toggle beeping for CapsLock / NumLock	`Progrm`+`−` (hyphen)
Toggle key click noise	`Progrm`+`\` (backslash)
Set upper thumb keys to PC mode	`Esc`+`p`	`=`+`p`
Remap a key	`Progrm`+`F12` source key destination key `Progrm`+`F12`

After a reset, the Advantage KB500 defaults to being in Macintosh mode. This mode affects the upper four keys in the thumb area, as well as some behavior of the numeric keypad. You probably prefer classic PC mode (=+p), or perhaps Windows mode (=+w).

Another behavior of the Advantage KB500, is that the Insert key defaults to being an "International key". The Insert action is available when the keyboard is in Keypad mode. You can remap the top-level key to make the Insert action available without needing to toggle into Keypad:

Progrm+F12
Keypad, Insert, Keypad
Insert
Progrm+F12

More Tasks

Desired Action	Kinesis Classic (KB133)	Kinesis Advantage (KB500)
Activate embedded layer (numeric keypad)	`Keypad`
Program a Macro	`Progrm`+`F11` trigger keystroke macro text `Progrm`+`F11`
Turn macros on/off	`Progrm`+`F10`
Delay (1/2 second) during macro	`Progrm`+`F8`
Long delay in macro (Macro waits for the user to type `Progrm`+`F7` before resuming)	`Progrm`+`F7`
Turn on/off a "sticky" modifier key		`Progrm`+modifier+`F6`
Turn on/off Dvorak layout	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F5`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F5`
Reset macros and resize memory to 48 macros	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F4`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F4`
Reset macros and resize memory to 36 macros	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F3`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F3`
Reset macros and resize memory to 24 macros	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F2`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F2`
Reset most keyboard memory, but preserve macros and Dvorak mode setting	`Progrm`+`Ctrl`+`F10`	`Progrm`+`Shift`+`F10`
Reset keyboard to factory settings	`F7` during keyboard turn-on
Old firmware does not support switching between Macintosh/PC/Windows modes. Firmware version 2 supports it, triggered by `Esc`-key combinations, and firmware version 3 supports it, triggered by `=`-key combinations. (`Cmd` is the Macintosh `⌘` key. `WinKey` is a PC's "Windows Logo" key.)
Type out mode status and firmware version	`Esc`+`s`	`=`+`s`
Configure for Macintosh mode Thumb keys: `Cmd/WinKey` `Alt/Option` `Ctrl` `Cmd/WinKey`	`Esc`+`m`	`=`+`m`
Configure for Windows mode Thumb keys: `Ctrl` `Alt/Option` `Cmd/WinKey` `Ctrl`	`Esc`+`w`	`=`+`w`
Configure for traditional PC mode Thumb keys: `Ctrl` `Alt/Option` `Alt` `Ctrl`	`Esc`+`p`	`=`+`p`