Keyboard shortcuts on virtual windows...

By Mert Ozer, 8 February, 2025

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hello everyone,

I've been experimenting with a virtual Windows 11 on VMware Workstation for a while now, and the speed, responsiveness, and overall performance are so impressive—especially considering it's a VM. However, some common keyboard shortcuts, such as **Ctrl + right/left Arrow**, to navigate word by word, are not working properly because they are being interpreted by the local macOS machine.

I haven’t used SharpKeys or any similar tools, but I can download it if that helps in this case. Also, while Windows runs very fast, there is a slight lag when using the keyboard.

Any ideas on how to solve these problems?

Thank you!

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Comments

By Justin Harris on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 - 08:00

Issues like that, and NVDA just crashing are what lead me to just go get a cheapo Windows laptop instead of fighting with the VM.
Karabiner was good for getting Caps Lock to work for NVDA key, so at least that now works.
If you have a machine with more than just 8 gb ram, the vm experience may be much better, but splitting the 8 gb between the host and vm was just not good enough. I don't exactly know how to fix the problem you discussed, but can confirm I also experienced it.

By Mert Ozer on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 - 08:00

So, the problem with keyboard shortcuts on Windows is that when I press Control + Right/Left Arrow keys to move through words in a document, macOS interprets these shortcuts as Mission Control shortcuts, switching virtual desktops instead. Any suggestions or ideas?

By Brian on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 - 08:00

Do you – need – that hotkey for Mission Control? I ask because it seems like the logic answer would be to just remove that macOS hotkey.

Good luck.