In this blog post, I am going to share with you how to get the missing keyboard keys that let you work in MS Windows via the remote desktop client under Mac OS X with the MacBook’s keyboard.
What is important to know is that when using a MacBook’s keyboard, you don’t have all the keys that you usually have on a PC keyboard.
Essentially, you are missing the following keys:
- HOME / END.
- DEL key. This is different from the MacBook’s “Delete” key (which is equivalent to the “Backspace” key).
- INS Key.
- Page Up / Page Down.
- The “Windows” key.
Make sure you use the RDP Client to remote into the Windows Machine in order for the following keyboard shortcuts to work.
Very Important: Some of the hotkeys below conflict with your macOS’s default global hotkeys. Make sure your global keyboard hotkeys are unassigned (from the System Preferences / Keyboard / Shortcuts) before you proceed.
The following table will tell you what keys combination you can use on a MacBook keyboard to get the same behavior as if you were using a regular PC keyboard:
| PC keyboard hotkey | Mac keyboard equivalent | Description |
| Win key | Command | The “Command” key is like the “Win” key, it triggers the Windows Start Menu. Press for instance: “Command+R” to trigger the Windows Run dialog, etc… |
| Home / End | Fn + Left or Right arrow keys | Pressing the Fn key with the left / right arrow keys will emulate the HOME and END keys on a full PC keyboard. |
| Ctrl + Home / End | Control + Fn + Left or Right arrow keys | Pressing Ctrl+Home or Ctrl+End will take you to the top or the bottom of a document or file. This is useful in text editors. |
| Page Up / Page Down | Fn + Up or Down arrow keys | PageUp or PageDown keys let you scroll one page up or down in a document. The “Fn + Up/Down” equivalent on the Mac keyboard lets you do the same. |
| Delete key | Fn + Delete | In the Mac keyboard, there is only the “delete” key which is the equivalent of the BackSpace key on a PC keyboard. The “Delete” key on a PC keyboard lets you delete the character in front of the cursor. To achieve that using a MacBook keyboard inside a Remote Desktop session, press Fn+Delete |
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what is the shortcut for selecting the last cell in the column , in other words what is the short cut for Ctrl +down in the remote desktop for Excel
I don’t get you. Ctrl+Down remains the same since the macOS keyboard has the “Ctrl” and “Down” keys.
To use Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down as-is, you need to disable those shortcuts – typically used by Mission Control, from Keyboard Preferences.
This was really helpful – thank you!
Any idea how to get Alt+Left Arrow combination to pass through to remote windows as the equivalent for Ctrl + Left Arrow, to move the cursor word by word?
Any idea on how to use Insert and Pause/break keys ?
I wish I know. I would need that too! One way is to use a 3rd-party tool to remap some accessible keys to the missing keys action.
Things I’ve learned since working remotely on a Mac, logging into a PC.
On Mac command-tab switches between applications (so you can toggle your desktop and the remote one)
But to switch between applications on the remote desktop, use alt(option)-tab.
To switch through browser tabs, use control-tab on both desktops.