OS X language change disables Caps Lock function

Gik254 wrote:

when I switch language the Caps Lock button automatically turns off (the light & the function). Is this intended or is it something I am missing?

Is there a way to go back to the old-useful function of the Caps Lock key?

I don't think so. What was your previous MacOS? Catalina has the same behavior you describe. You have to hit Caps Lock again when you change keyboards.

Have you tried using Fn to switch languages? This can be set in keyboard preferences in Big Sur.

Maybe write a little Automator workflow to change any selected text to uppercase. Automator is not great for sharing in a web forum. Here is a screenshot:

Here is the code you'll need:

use Encode;

foreach (@ARGV) {
	print encode("utf-8",uc(decode("utf-8",$_)))
}

Make sure to select "/usr/bin/perl" as the shell. I tried a number of different methods in different shells and different tools. Although this was easy to do on the command line and in a text editor like BBEdit, a web form proved much more challenging. I didn't use Perl just because I'm a Perl guy, but I'm very pleased to see it was the only solution that worked in Safari.

Then, in any app, just select some lowercase text, right click on the text to get the context menu, go to Services, and choose "uc" (of whatever you want to name your script).

Here is an example. Type the following:

CODE-αθηνα-bank#-σκ23cha-πτ-loc-πειραιωσ-sec-κεντρικο

Select the text, right click, Services, choose "uc":

CODE-ΑΘΗΝΑ-BANK#-ΣΚ23CHA-ΠΤ-LOC-ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ-SEC-ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΟ

I don't know how far back you are referring to by the "old way". As I mentioned, it switches every time as far back as OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. That only leaves OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, OS X 10.7 Lion or earlier. Over 12 years ago.

Gik254 wrote: Say you have to type (as in my case) a mixed language form in all caps

Right here, in Safari, I can take your example

CODE-ΑΘΗΝΑ-BANK#-ΣΚ23CHA-ΠΤ-LOC-ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ-SEC-ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΟ

Select it, and go to Edit > Transformations > Make Lower Case, and get

code-αθηνα-bank#-σκ23cha-πτ-loc-πειραιως-sec-κεντρικο

and then go to Edit > Transformations > Make Upper Case, and get

CODE-ΑΘΗΝΑ-BANK#-ΣΚ23CHA-ΠΤ-LOC-ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ-SEC-ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΟ

Does that help?

Gik254 wrote: The thing is, is there a way to fix this bug / problem?

You can always ask Apple to change the behavior via

http://www.apple.com/feedback

Do you really think your 10.13 behaved differently? All my info and experience indicates it has been standard for quite a long time before that version.

I'm having difficulty understanding what the problem is. I expect the Caps Lock key to disable whenever I switch languages. I can always enable it again if need be.

FWIW, I checked back as far as OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. The Caps Lock key disabled when switching languages.

PS See this earlier discussion. It seems this has probably been the standard behavior since at least 2015

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8046337?page=2