How to add an Escape key to the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard
The Magic Keyboard is a must-have accessory for iPad Pro owners, offering a truly transformative experience that allows the iPad Pro to directly compete with likes of theSurface Pro 7alongside conventional laptops and MacBooks. But despite the £299/$299 price tag (for the 11in variant – it’s £50/$50 more for the 12.9in) the Magic Keyboard is missing one vital element – an Escape key.
The fact that you’ve landed on this page means you’ve likely experienced the same issue of hitting the § key when trying to close a window on your iPad. But while there’s not a dedicated Escape key available by default, there is a way to add an Escape key to the Magic Keyboard. Here’s how.
Add an Escape key to the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard
Thankfully, the solution isn’t taking apart your£299/$299 iPad Pro Magic Keyboardand adding a new physical button – that would be a bit extreme, wouldn’t it? Instead, there’s actually a way to reprogram certain keys on your keyboard via your iPad’s Settings menu.
Before we get started, it’s worth pointing out that your iPad will have to be connected to the Magic Keyboard in order to access the settings for the device, so make sure you do that first. When you’re ready:
From here, you’ll be able to select one of a number of keys on your keyboard and repurpose it as an Escape key. You’ve got the option of reprogramming either the Caps Lock, Globe, Command, Option or Control keys, although frustratingly, the § key in the top-left where you’d usually expect the Escape key to live isn’t an option.
Let’s hope that changes in a future update as it seems odd to not use such an underused key (for this journalist anyway!).
You should then be able to use the remapped key as an Escape key – but what about if you frequently use all the remappable keys and can’t sacrifice one to be repurposed?
The good news is that you can press Command (⌘) and full stop (.) together to recreate the same effect. Handy, right?
For more handy tips, here’show to use an iPad as a second displayandhow to use WhatsApp on an iPadtoo.
Author: Lewis Painter, Contributor
Lewis Painter was once a Tech Advisor Senior Staff Writer. He covers everything from iPhone to AirPods, plus a range of smartphones, tablets, laptops and gaming hardware.
