Why are the Ctrl and Fn keys swapped on my ThinkPad?

Question

I just used a ThinkPad for the first time ever. It's weird; the Ctrl and Fn keys are swapped. Why is this? How can I fix it?

can you just pull the keys off and put them back in so input matches what you press? — Jonno_FTW, Dec 03 '09 at 13:06
no, they are in the 'right' place, they do match the input, just the Fn & CTRL keys are swapped in the official Lenovo Thinkpad design. — , Dec 03 '09 at 15:00
Thanks, @slhck! I actually briefly hit exactly 2000 a few days ago, and promptly received a downvote on an old question. — Pops, Nov 09 '11 at 23:25
possible duplicate of Swapping Function (Fn) and Control (Ctrl) Keys on Lenovo ThinkPad W500 — Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007, Jul 02 '14 at 17:16

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:42

10

Simply a foolish design. I'm using ThinkPad X200, and I've hated it for long.

edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:42

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Dec 03 '09 at 15:54

xiaolai

244

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:30

7

This is by design. However, future ThinkPad models will have the option to swap the Fn and Ctrl key in the BIOS.

Lenovo Adds BIOS Option to Configure Ctrl and Fn Key Functions in Future ThinkPad Notebooks

edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:30

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Dec 03 '09 at 14:57

3

What's the reason behind this design? – Daud Ahmad Khokhar Dec 07 '09 at 12:33
i really don't. although i remember reading a blog/article once about the process leading ultimately to this decision but i don't recall any details, sorry. – Dec 07 '09 at 13:22
I've been using Lenovo laptops for years and have always swapped the Fn and Ctrl keys in the BIOS. It's stupid that they put them the opposite of every other keyboard. IMHO Ctrl should be in the corner, always. – Tom Faust Jan 17 '24 at 21:35

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:46

If you are not opposed to learning a new placement for the Ctrl key, you can remap it using a Windows Registry entry (see below).

Someone screwed up keyboards a long time ago. Apple and Sun had it right. As everyone knows Ctrl should be where Caps Lock is. I've kept this configuration the same as long as I can remember.

Enter image description here

Use this for the remapping:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,3a,00,1d,00,1d,00,3a,00,\
  00,00,00,00

This may help with the Fn key confusion.

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:34

4

This is indeed by design.
If there is not enough light you don't have to search for the right keys and instead just press the most left bottom key and the most right top key for the keyboard light embedded in the top of the display.

I don't think there is an official "right" way for the position of the Fn key.
Other notebooks, for example, have the Del key among others in, in my opinion, ridiculous places.

edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:34

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Dec 03 '09 at 15:38

fin

1,886

Interesting, but my Thinkpad has these keys swapped even without having keyboard light. – marcioggs Oct 18 '22 at 11:05

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 23 '10 at 22:00

3

Lenovo conducted a usability study and this won, apparently. (I used to work for them and this is what we were told.)

All the machines that have this now have the ability to swap it in the BIOS.

answered Jul 23 '10 at 22:00

Shinrai

18,776
3
51
72

score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 07 '14 at 14:07

2

Evidently IBM's ThinkPad was the first to have an Fn key, so, pedantic as it may be, it's everyone else that swaps it.

As for why, one rationale is for turning on the ThinkLight keyboard illumination in the dark, which is Fn+PgUp: the lower-left corner and the upper-right corner.

Note that Apple also has Fn before Ctrl.

Reference: Why is the FN key on the outside left instead of CTRL?

edited Aug 07 '14 at 14:07

Linger

3,284

answered Jul 23 '14 at 17:59

Mark Sowul

3,051

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 03 '09 at 14:51

1

Probably because some engineer thought it was a good idea. Honestly, the only way you're going to get a better answer is to ask IBM... or find it on an IBM employee's blog.

answered Dec 03 '09 at 14:51

AnonJr

1,144

4

Not because some engineer, but because some manager went crazy. Engineer would never do such a thing. – Tomas Jul 19 '13 at 14:51

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:40

0

My Gateway MX6448 is the same way. It drives me crazy when I'm using the HP from work (Ctrl is the farthest left on the bottom) then go and use my Gateway. I didn't really think twice about it when I first got the Gateway about 3.5 years ago, but I am going to be much more critical of keyboard layout from now on.

Just an aside, I haven't found any magical tricks (like was mentioned by fin with the Lenovo light) that would make sense for Gateway switching key order. I think they did it just to annoy me. It’s a conspiracy!!!

edited Oct 02 '23 at 19:40

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Dec 03 '09 at 16:08

Milner

101

How does that answer the question? – Peter Mortensen Oct 02 '23 at 19:43

score -2 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 02 '10 at 08:56

-2

So that you don't have to stretch your little finger so much using Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V.

Actually for me personally, it's a great feature: try doing Ctrl-Z with one hand on a German keyboard (with the Z and Y keys swapped), and you will appreciate why :)

answered Jun 02 '10 at 08:56

Joel in Gö

1,003

Why are the Ctrl and Fn keys swapped on my ThinkPad?

9 Answers9