Apple Mac computers have a few quirks, one of the more annoying ones is the absence of a hash # key on the standard British keyboard. Hash does exists but you have to play a two finger chord on the keyboard to get to it. ALT and 3.

This really p*ss*s me off as a lot of programming requires the # all the time.

When I bought my new MacBook Pro I decided to fix the problem and wrote a new keymap for it. I have taken the § key, top left of the keyboard and remapped it to give me a #.

Instructions:

Download this file: piper.keylayout RIGHT click it and select save…

Open Finder and navigate to:

Macintosh HD/Library/Keyboard layout/

Put the Piper file in here.

Open System Preferences, go to International. Select the Input Tab. Find the Piper file in the list of Languages and select it. At the bottom of the page check the ‘Show input menu in menu bar’.

Shut System Preferences. On the Menu bar click the British Flag. Check the Piper option. # should now be on the § key and vice versa.

Simple!

UPDATE: I had a request for a keyboard layout that puts a € Euro symbol on the § button so here you are:

Download this file: euro.keylayout RIGHT click it and select save…

UPDATE: The Mac Geeb Gab have linked here so if you are after creating your own keymap use the Ukelele application linked to here.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!