swapped keys on USB keyboard.

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Level 1

12 points

swapped keys on USB keyboard.

When I connect my USB keyboard to MacBook Air 13 (2025) it replaces some key inputs with totally wrong characters on Estonian layout.

the key between Esc, 1 and Tab instead of inserting ^~• (normal; with shift; with AltGr) it gives me <>|
the key between left-shift and Z instead of inserting <>| gives me ˇ~¶

additionally the key on the Mac itself, between Esc/1/Tab, gives me ˇ~¶ instead of ^~• so maybe it's then "mac thing", in any case then it's swapping those 2 keys for attached USB keyboard.

How can I fix this?

Posted on Feb 4, 2026 10:38 AM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

123,118 points

Feb 4, 2026 8:14 PM in response to deemon-

deemon- wrote:

Already have switched between ANSI and ISO5 times now... didn't do a thing.

Thanks for that info. If your usb keyboard is not from Apple, ask in their own support forum, as some 3rd party keyboards have their own internal settings for ISO/ANSI/JIS keyboard type.

The key under ESC in the ISO/European Estonian layout is supposed to produce ~ and ˇ which are diacritic marks used in Estonian. In your first post you seemed to say it should produce ^, which I assume was a typo.

I understand your desire to avoid 3rd party apps to fix this problem, but it may be the only way. Karabiner Elements is probably easiest and has worked for lots of people.

If Apple at some point provides you an easier fix, please come back and report it here. I've been helping users with this issue for a long time, and so far I have not seen any indication that Apple support has a clue about it, which is why the User Tip provided in the link earlier was created.

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Answer 2

deemon- Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 5, 2026 3:14 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom Gewecke wrote:

Thanks for that info. If your usb keyboard is not from Apple, ask in their own support forum, as some 3rd party keyboards have their own internal settings for ISO/ANSI/JIS keyboard type.

Internal settings? Accessed from where?

The key under ESC in the ISO/European Estonian layout is supposed to produce ~ and ˇ which are diacritic marks used in Estonian. In your first post you seemed to say it should produce ^, which I assume was a typo.

You might be correct. But not a typo either, since was just taking Linux no-dead-keys layout as reference, but this might be a little bit different indeed. (We normally don't use any separate diacritic mark keys in estonian to combine into letters, because we have separate key (õÕ) or key combinations (AltGr + s or z respectively) for the letters that have those (šŠžŽ). Maybe for help to write other language names or something? 🤷🏻‍♂️)

I understand your desire to avoid 3rd party apps to fix this problem, but it may be the only way. Karabiner Elements is probably easiest and has worked for lots of people.

If Apple at some point provides you an easier fix, please come back and report it here. I've been helping users with this issue for a long time, and so far I have not seen any indication that Apple support has a clue about it, which is why the User Tip provided in the link earlier was created.

Ok. will look into the app. Will it swap/change the keys for only this the connected USB device or also for the macbook own keyboard? and/or any other USB keyboards in the future?

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

123,118 points

Feb 5, 2026 4:52 AM in response to deemon-

deemon- wrote:

Internal settings? Accessed from where?

You have to consult the support info for whatever make/model of keyboard you have to determine whether the "type" is switchable via specific keypresses or other internal means. I don't think it is a common feature, but the only way to find out is to check with the maker.

Ok. will look into the app. Will it swap/change the keys for only this the connected USB device or also for the macbook own keyboard? and/or any other USB keyboards in the future?

My understanding is that normally Karabiner Elements modifications can be programmed in that app to apply only to external keyboards. If you use Ukulele, you create a custom keyboard layout that you need to switch to when using the external keyboard.

With Ukulele you can also make a custom layout that conforms to the Linux version if you prefer that to the Apple version.

Let us know how it goes.

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Answer 4

deemon- Author

Level 1

12 points

Feb 4, 2026 3:27 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

No, not particularly. Already have switched between ANSI and ISO5 times now... didn't do a thing. Those 2 keys remained with the same wrong symbols. Basically falls to the "if everything else fails, start using keyboard hacking apps". I hoped there is a real solution from apple itself, which I might have overlooked.

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

123,118 points

Feb 4, 2026 11:56 AM in response to deemon-

This may help

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250007848

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swapped keys on USB keyboard.

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