Support

Support

Setup steps, the Accessibility permission, and the questions that come up most. The signed and notarized Windsify 1.4.13 download is available now.

Getting started

  1. Download Windsify 1.4.13 and open the DMG.
  2. Drag Windsify Mac into Applications and launch it. It runs as both a Dock app and a menu-bar utility — the Dock icon and the menu-bar Settings item open the same settings window.
  3. On first run, approve the Accessibility permission: open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and turn on Windsify Mac. That one permission is what translates the keys and moves the windows.

VS Code editor and terminal

Free applies ordinary Windows-style shortcuts throughout editors and chat apps, including their embedded terminals, without identifying the focused pane. In those embedded terminals, Ctrl+C copies instead of interrupting. Pro keeps ordinary editing shortcuts in confirmed main views and adds the terminal integrations below. Native Command shortcuts remain available.

  1. With Pro or an active Pro trial and Windows keyboard shortcuts enabled, open VS Code. Windsify configures terminal support automatically; no setup button or window reload is normally needed.
  2. Select terminal text and press Ctrl+C to copy and clear the selection. Without a selection, Ctrl+C interrupts. Use Ctrl+V to paste; Ctrl+Shift+C/V also copy and paste.

This Pro integration supports stable desktop VS Code’s default and independent profiles on the internal disk, including running instances with custom user-data directories. Existing keybindings and comments are preserved and backed up. Turn off Automatically configure VS Code terminal in Windsify to remove its unchanged bindings. Windsify does not read terminal text to decide whether to copy.

If setup cannot complete, Windsify shows the reason and leaves that instance’s terminal shortcuts native. External and network profiles are left unchanged. Invalid or edited configuration, macOS folder permissions, extensions or workspace-level shortcut overrides may need attention; a window reload is a troubleshooting step only.

Codex and Claude

Free uses ordinary Windows-style mappings throughout these apps. Pro uses them in confirmed main views. In a recognized embedded terminal, Pro supports Ctrl+Shift+C or Ctrl+Insert for copy, and Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Shift+V or Shift+Insert for paste. Native Command+C/V remain available. Ctrl+C remains an interrupt, even with selected terminal text; selection-aware copy/interrupt is currently specific to the VS Code setup.

Free does not detect embedded terminals: Ctrl+C/V remain generic copy/paste mappings, so Ctrl+C does not interrupt there. In Pro, text shortcuts pass through unchanged when focus cannot be identified reliably. Both editions preserve native Control shortcuts in recognized standalone terminal apps, including Terminal and iTerm2. Other editors do not automatically receive these terminal integrations. Report the app, version and focused pane through Shortcut Help so we can investigate.

Choose your interface language

Existing Free, trial and Pro customers keep English when upgrading unless they have already chosen another language. Only new installations see a language welcome during their first setup session; updates will not ask again.

Open Settings → General → Language and choose Follow System, 简体中文 or English. The interface changes immediately. Your shortcuts, license and other settings stay the same; macOS permission dialogs continue to use the system language. If this setting is missing, choose Check for Updates from the Windsify menu first.

A shortcut isn't working?

  1. Click the Windsify icon in the Mac menu bar, choose Check for Updates…, and install the latest update.
  2. Open Settings → Shortcut Help, click Test shortcut, and press your shortcut once.
  3. Windsify explains the result. If you still need help, choose Send feedback… → Open email draft and send the prefilled message.

Your app version, keyboard information and test result are included automatically. No technical knowledge, terminal commands or manual log collection needed. Shortcut Help is available in Free and Pro starting with Windsify 1.3.0.

Windsify 1.3.1 and later recognize newer Apple function keys, including Spotlight at the F4 position. After updating, try Option (Alt) + F4 normally. If macOS still handles the key, hold Fn (Globe) as well. To make the whole top row work as standard F1–F12 keys, you can choose System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Function Keys → “Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys”. This setting is optional. Testing previews the mapping without executing it; macOS may still handle reserved system keys.

If the app still says it needs Accessibility

macOS ties Accessibility approval to an app's code signature, not just its visible name — so a row left over from an older copy can look enabled while the copy you actually launch is still denied. Reset it:

  1. Remove the stale Windsify Mac row from Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
  2. Use the + button to add the exact installed app that you launch.
  3. Turn that row on and restart Windsify Mac.

Common questions

The keyboard layer paused itself — why?

Windsify detected another remapper. While a running Karabiner-Elements process, an active hidutil mapping, or a macOS Modifier Keys mapping is remapping your keys, Windsify pauses only its own overlapping keyboard layer — window management keeps running. While Karabiner is actively remapping, Windsify also releases its Command-based Win-key hot keys, so Karabiner's Home and End translations aren't mistaken for window-snapping commands. This is expected: it's a migration aid, so you can move over at your own pace.

Does it work with Rectangle?

Yes. Rectangle is one of the tools Windsify's conflict detection recognizes, and its Ctrl+Option halves and quarters aliases are built into Windsify, so those shortcuts carry over when you switch.

Home and End only work in text editors. Is that intended?

Yes. Home and End become Windows-style line navigation only while a text editor is focused. Everywhere else they pass through to the app unchanged, which prevents synthetic Command+Arrow events from activating unrelated menus or window commands.

Can I download or buy Windsify right now?

Yes to both. Windsify 1.4.13 is available now and runs as full Pro for 14 days. When the trial ends the Pro features lock and the app keeps running as Windsify Free, so every Free feature stays available. A Pro license is $19.99 one-time for up to 3 Macs, with lifetime access and all future updates included. The current limited-time early-bird offer is $14.99. You can buy it any time.

How many Macs does a license cover?

3. One licence covers your desk, your laptop and one more.

How do updates work?

Choose Check for Updates from the Windsify menu at any time. Windsify 1.2.0 and later verifies both the signed update feed and the downloaded app before installing it. Sparkle asks before enabling scheduled checks, and you choose whether future updates may download and install automatically. Routine updates keep your license and settings.

What happened to the public source?

Windsify v1.0.1 remains GPL-3.0-only for anyone who already obtained it. The full development repository is private, and the reviewed Windsify Free source is now public in a separate repository.

Contact

Email [email protected]. For shortcut issues, Shortcut Help can fill in the useful details for you. You are also welcome to email us directly.

Everyday shortcut questions

VS Code terminal: copy, paste, interrupt and automatic setup →