If you're using a 60% keyboard, or any other layout with no F-row, you will have noticed that there is no dedicated Escape key. Grave Escape is a feature that allows you to share the grave key (` and ~) with Escape.
Replace the KC_GRAVE key in your keymap (usually to the left of the 1 key) with KC_GESC. Most of the time this key will output KC_ESC when pressed. However, when Shift or GUI are held down it will output KC_GRV instead.
If Mary presses GESC on her keyboard, the OS will see an KC_ESC character. Now if Mary holds Shift down and presses GESC it will output ~, or a shifted backtick. Now if she holds GUI/CMD/WIN, it will output a simple ` character.
| Key | Aliases | Description |
|---|---|---|
KC_GESC |
GRAVE_ESC |
Escape when pressed, ` when Shift or GUI are held |
There are several possible key combinations this will break, among them Control+Shift+Escape on Windows and Command+Option+Escape on macOS. To work around this, you can #define these options in your config.h:
| Define | Description |
|---|---|
GRAVE_ESC_ALT_OVERRIDE |
Always send Escape if Alt is pressed |
GRAVE_ESC_CTRL_OVERRIDE |
Always send Escape if Control is pressed |
GRAVE_ESC_GUI_OVERRIDE |
Always send Escape if GUI is pressed |
GRAVE_ESC_SHIFT_OVERRIDE |
Always send Escape if Shift is pressed |