Yes. Any time I capitalize a letter on the left side of the keyboard. Isn't that normal?
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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That is the way I was taught, but not the way I did it then. Never developed the habit, so I never do it.
Damn, that makes sense. I one hand everything with my left hand. Maybe it's because of muscle memmory from playing videogames lol
I tend to use right shift for pretty much everything. The arrow glyph has worn off the key I use it so much.
Important factors:
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British English keyboards, like the one I have, tend to be ISO, with a larger shift key on the right. Bigger target. Easier to hit.
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I have at least a couple of passwords that each have at least one shifted character from the left side of the keyboard and it's much easier to use both hands when I need to type those.
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It might even go back to the fact that most of my early typing was on a Commodore 64C and the positions of surrounding keys. Hitting shift-lock or run/stop by mistake would have been a nuisance. Caps lock isn't quite as annoying because it's not a literal mechanical toggle, but even so, the right shift avoids that particular error.
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i don't type capital letters
because fuck capitalism :3
That's capitalisation. Capitalism is a philosophical view that the universe is solely based on randomness
That's casualism. Capitalism is the practice of eating the flesh of your own kind
That's cannibalism. Capitalism was a practice done in the First Brazilian Republic that is also known as "rule of the colonels".
That's carnivorism. Capitalism is when an organism has tissue made of different genetic composition
That's chimerism. Capitalism is a large-scale and violent event in the natural world.
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Yes, I trained myself only to use opposite hand shift combinations. You can do this with a programmable keyboard, autohotkey, or karabiner.
So Left Shift+a doesn't do anything, only Right Shift+a will output A
It was a exercise in getting better typing hygiene.
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Yes, I touch type so use it whenever I capitalise a letter typed by the left hand.
I thought this was strange, but I noticed my muscle memory actually uses left shift for letters typed with my left hand, and right shift for my right, I use my pinkie in either case.
Yes. Proper use of touch typing uses both shift keys. That's how I type.
Yes, I use both. Learned typing that way.
It's funny, isn't it? My mom made me take a typing class at the community college one summer - on IBM electric typewriters. This was before everyone owned game consoles, much less PCs. You'd think in today's world, typing classes would be even more in demand, but are they? Do kids take typing classes in K-12?
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Same. That's why it's there, folks.
Ergonomically, you should use the Shift (or Ctrl or Alt) key on the opposite side of the keyboard as the key you are modifying. This helps prevent carpal tunnel issues because you can keep your wrists straight and not be twisting them unnaturally to reach key combos. You should also not have your wrists resting on the wrist rest or other surface while typing as that also contributes to carpal tunnel problems. Just use it in between stretches of typing (or maybe people just hunt and peck these days, I dunno).
Just as I learned on a mechanical typewriter.
I think a good followup question for this one would be "Were you able to answer the question from memory?"
I couldn't remember, so I had to do some typing to see. And based on the amount of visible keycap wear, I'd say they get used equally.
I touch-type, so yes.
Yes, because I ran out of keys to bind in modded Minecraft.
Once every blue moon I'll use the right shift to Ctrl+Shift+m and unmute a Teams call but thats the only time I can think I've used it.
Well, I don't use the wrong shift key /s
I do. Perhaps, as another poster pointed out, it ties into typing classes I had back in the late '80s or early '90s.
Yes. E.g. when typing a capital ~~P~~ Q. But less often for more complex chords, I use left hand modifiers more often when using multiple modifiers.
That is the exact opposite of how you're supposed to do things (assuming you're on a qwerty keyboard or other keyboard where P is typed with the right hand). The reason there are two shift keys is so that you can hold down the one that is not the one you're typing the letter with, i.e. you should be using the left shift key to type P, but the right shift key to type Q, W, E, R, etc.
Ah, you're right, I got my left and right mixed up in that example 😅
Anyway, I use both.
I legitimately know people who press the caps lock key, type what they need uppercased, then press the caps lock key again. That said, I use both shift keys.
I type with both hands usually so use both, but when doing the one hand thing it's always the right shift key. That one is more worn on my keyboard.
Only if I need to type a capital letter with one hand
I use a Dvorak keyboard to touch-type, so no, never.
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
Which one is the wrong one?
Thank you for participating in our market research. The right shift key will now be replaced with a "Grok" key. Goodbye.
Left shift only works for games
Right shift is for typing
My keyboard has two shift keys. I don't think I've ever used the right shift key, not even for usage with emulators for consoles with a lot of buttons... the modifier is always the left shift key since it's closest to my left hand and I can have my right hand on the other side where the arrow keys are. The arrow keys, WASD, Z, X, A, S, Q,W, 1, 2 etc have always been sufficient for most games.
Interesting. Ive never thought about it but I think I actually capitalize exclusively with RShift.
I had to type a bit to check, but found that I mostly use the right shift if the letter I'm capitalizing is on the left side of the keyboard. Oddly, it wasn't 100% though.
yep when game controls wasn t with wasd u have to use arrow keys to move the player
Nope. I use left shift for everything.
Even if you do use both shift keys correctly, it still feels awkward to me since you have to sacrifice a pinky from home row and shift your hands.
It's why I've been curious to try a layout where Shift and Alt are swapped, that way you can use your thumb to press shift and keep your fingers in place.
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Yes, but I don't use the right control key.
I also don't use the right alt key, except for keyboards where I don't have a menu key, and don't use it as alt in that case. In both cases, I bind that to Compose.
I actually use them frequently, like I have Ctrl+Alt+L bound to lock my computer, and workspace commands using the arrow keys and the like. It's easier to do one handed.
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