> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.minimalmacropad.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Change What a Key Does in MinimalPad Studio for Mac
> Click any key in MinimalPad Studio for Mac and pick what it should do — a shortcut, a key, a media control, a layer key, an app to open, or one of the pad's own commands.
Click a key on the pad drawing and the inspector asks **"What should this key do?"** Pick a kind of action, then pick the action itself. The key changes the moment you choose something.
## The kinds of action
Several keys pressed together, such as ⌘C or ⇧⌘Z.
A single key — a letter, an arrow, Esc, or F13.
Play and skip, volume, and screen brightness.
Hold, toggle, or switch to another set of keys.
A Mac app Studio opens, or brings to the front, when you press the key.
The pad's own Bluetooth, lights, and output commands.
**Nothing** does nothing at all. **Inherit** falls through to whatever the layer below does.
On a profile whose app has a shortcut library, an extra tile appears with that app's icon — see [App shortcuts](#app-shortcuts) below.
## Record a shortcut
Choose **Shortcut**, click the recorder, then press the combination on your keyboard. Studio writes exactly what you pressed.
If you'd rather not press it — say the shortcut would trigger something — build it instead: pick the modifiers, then pick the key.
A shortcut with no modifiers is just a key, so Studio files it under **Key** instead. That's expected.
## Open an app
Choose **Open app** and pick any app on your Mac — what's open right now is listed first, then everything installed. Press the key and the app opens, or comes to the front if it's already running. It works on Default and on every profile, over USB or Bluetooth.
The pad itself only reports the key press; Studio does the opening. So an Open app key works while Studio is running (it lives in the menu bar, so that's normally always), and it needs MinimalPad firmware **0.5.0 or newer**. On older firmware the tile doesn't appear — Studio can [install the newer firmware](/mac/updates) for you.
## App shortcuts
For 31 apps, Studio knows the app's default Mac shortcuts by name: **Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Blender, Sketch, Fusion, Claude, ChatGPT, Xcode, VS Code, Cursor, Terminal, Slack, Notion, Obsidian, Linear, Zoom, Discord, Spotify, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Safari, Chrome, Arc, and Finder**. On a profile for one of them, the last tile in the inspector carries the app's icon and opens its actions — Figma's tile opens **Figma actions**, grouped and searchable, with up to 30 of the app's most useful commands.
Pick **Group** and Studio writes the ordinary chord ⌘G. The pad sends a normal keyboard shortcut, so nothing needs Accessibility permission and nothing runs in the background.
These are the app's *default* shortcuts. If you've remapped a command inside the app, the named action won't match — choose **Shortcut** and record your own version instead. Commands that have no default keyboard shortcut aren't in the library.
## The dial
The dial's **button** is a key like any other: click it on the pad drawing and assign it.
What the dial does when you **turn** it is set for each layer. Select a layer or profile, then open **Dial** above the pad, next to the layer's name:
| Choice | Turning right | Turning left |
| ------------------------- | --------------------- | --------------------- |
| **Volume** | Volume up | Volume down |
| **Scroll up and down** | Scrolls down | Scrolls up |
| **Scroll left and right** | Scrolls right | Scrolls left |
| **Zoom in and out** | ⌘= | ⌘− |
| **Light brightness** | Brighter | Dimmer |
| **Light colour** | Next colour | Previous colour |
| **Nothing** | — | — |
| **Custom keys** | A shortcut you record | A shortcut you record |
* **Hold while scrolling.** With a scroll chosen, pick ⌃, ⌥, ⇧ or ⌘ to hold them while the dial scrolls. Many 3D, video and design apps pan, zoom or orbit when you scroll with a modifier held; the app's own navigation shortcuts say which.
* **Reverse direction** swaps what turning right and turning left do.
* **Same as Default** gives a profile or layer Default's dial again. On Default and **Connections & LEDs**, **As it came** puts back what the pad did out of the box: volume, and light brightness.
Out of the box the dial changes the volume, and while you hold the bottom-right key for **Connections & LEDs**, the light brightness. A profile you haven't given a dial of its own uses Default's.
The pad keeps your choice, like your keys, so it works without Studio running and on any computer. The pad does it itself, so the dial is as quick as a key, and nothing needs Accessibility permission. Changes are part of undo.
Changing the dial needs MinimalPad firmware **0.6.0 or newer**. Studio can [install it](/mac/updates) for you.
## Renaming a layer
Double-click the layer name above the pad, or click the pencil next to it, or right-click the layer in the sidebar and choose **Rename…**. Return keeps the name, Escape cancels. Names are limited to what the pad can store, so the field stops you at 19 bytes.
## Saving, undo, and quitting
There is no Apply or Save button.
* **Changes reach the pad immediately**, so you can press the key and test it straight away.
* **They're written to the pad's memory about three seconds later.** The status area says *Unsaved · saving shortly*, then *Saved to pad*.
* **⌘Z undoes** the last change, and ⇧⌘Z redoes it.
* **File › Discard changes…** throws away everything not yet written.
* **Quitting waits for the pad.** Studio finishes the final save before it closes. If the save fails, it stays open and offers **Try again**, **Cancel**, or an explicit **Quit Without Saving**.
Force-quitting Studio, or pulling the cable mid-save, can lose the last few seconds of edits. A normal Quit never does.
## Keyboard and VoiceOver
* Arrow keys move across the pad, **Return** edits the selected key, **Escape** backs out.
* **⌥⌘I** hides and shows the inspector.
* Every key announces what it does, including whether it's inherited from Default.