Strafr Keyboards, step by step
Strafr Keyboards changes what your keys do: how deep a key has to go before it counts, what happens when you hold two opposite keys, which key does what. Everything you change works at once, there is no Save button. These lessons start at zero.
11 lessons, about 34 minutes in all. The same lessons are in the app: open Guide in the sidebar and click Start this lesson, and a small panel walks you through each step on the real pages.
Set it up the first time
Start the app and sign in. About three minutes. About 3 min.
Step 1: Unzip the download from strafr.com and double-click Strafr Keyboards.exe. There is nothing to install. If Windows says it protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.
Step 2: Click Sign in with your browser. Your browser opens strafr.com with a short code. Sign in there if asked, check the code matches the one in the app, then click Approve sign-in. The app opens by itself a few seconds later.
Step 3: Plug in your Wooting keyboard if it isn’t yet. The chips at the top show its name. Without a Wooting keyboard, key remaps, macros and Snap Tap still work on any keyboard.
In the app: Overview
Step 4: Look at the switch at the top right. Engine on means Strafr is changing your keys; click it to turn everything off and back on. The default shortcut for this is Ctrl + Alt + F12.
In the app: Overview
Good to know
- Closing the window keeps Strafr Keyboards running in the tray (the small icons next to the clock). Use Exit there to really quit.
- Your settings are saved by themselves about half a second after every change.
Faster movement with Rapid Trigger
Make W, A, S and D react sooner and stop the moment you let go. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Actuation in the sidebar. You see a picture of your keyboard.
In the app: Actuation
Step 2: Click WASD above the keyboard picture. The four keys are now selected (you can also click keys, Ctrl+click more, or drag a box around them).
In the app: Actuation
Step 3: Tick Rapid Trigger. Now a key counts as released as soon as it moves up a little, and as pressed as soon as it moves down again, wherever it is.
In the app: Actuation
Step 4: Drag Actuation point to about 0.3 mm (how deep the key goes before it first counts) and Sensitivity to about 0.15 mm (how little movement switches it).
In the app: Actuation
Step 5: Open Key tester and press W slowly: the orange bar is how deep the key is, the blue ticks show when Strafr counts it pressed.
In the app: Key tester
Good to know
- Keys feel too twitchy? Raise the actuation point or the sensitivity a little.
- Reset to keyboard default puts the selected keys back to how the keyboard does it by itself.
- Rapid Trigger needs a Wooting keyboard, because only it reports how deep a key is.
Snap Tap for A and D
Decide what the game sees when you hold left and right at the same time. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Snap Tap. A new profile already has two pairs: A with D, and W with S.
In the app: Snap Tap
Step 2: Each pair shows what happens live. Hold A, then press D: the line says D wins. With Last input priority the key you pressed last counts, so you change direction instantly without lifting A.
In the app: Snap Tap
Step 3: Want something else? Open Priority and choose Neutral (cancel both) to stand still when both are held, or First input priority to keep the first key.
In the app: Snap Tap
Step 4: Leave Switch timing on 0 to start. A small gap (for example 1 ms) makes the switch look more human.
In the app: Snap Tap
Good to know
- Some games forbid this. CS2 kicks players who use it on Valve servers. Check a game’s rules first, and remove the pairs (×) in profiles for those games.
- If Wootility’s own Snappy Tappy or Rappy Snappy is on for the same keys, turn it off there.
Give a key another job
Make any key type something else, click the mouse, play a macro or switch layers. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Remap and layers and leave Base selected at the top.
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 2: Click the key you want to change on the keyboard picture.
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 3: Click the button below the picture (it says Default (the key itself)). Choose Press a key... and press the key it should send, or pick something from the menu: a mouse button, a media key, a macro or Disabled (does nothing).
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 4: Try it right away in any app. Changed keys show blue on the picture. To undo, click the key, open the same button and pick Default (the key itself).
In the app: Remap and layers
A second layer of keys
Hold one key to turn other keys into arrows, media keys or anything else. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Remap and layers. Under Quick setups, click Caps Lock = Fn1 while held. Holding Caps Lock now switches to layer Fn1.
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 2: Click Fn1 + IJKL = arrows. Hold Caps Lock and press I, J, K or L: they move like arrow keys.
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 3: Click Fn1 + F-row = media for play/pause, previous, next, mute and volume on F1 to F6 while Caps Lock is held.
In the app: Remap and layers
Step 4: To set your own: choose Fn1 at the top, click a key and pick what it should do there. Grey keys on a layer simply do what they do on Base.
In the app: Remap and layers
Good to know
- The Fn key on a Wooting never reaches the PC, so another key (Caps Lock is popular) has to be the layer key.
Two actions on one key
Tap for one thing and hold for another, or do something different when a key is pressed all the way down. About 4 min.
Step 1: Open Advanced keys and click Presets.
In the app: Advanced keys
Step 2: Pick Mod-Tap Caps Lock: Esc on tap, Ctrl on hold. A short tap on Caps Lock now sends Esc, holding it works as Ctrl.
In the app: Advanced keys
Step 3: Pick DKS on W: walk, and sprint (Shift) when bottomed out if you have a Wooting: pressing W lightly walks, pressing it all the way also holds Shift.
In the app: Advanced keys
Step 4: Each one is a card you can change: Hold after sets how long a hold takes. The × on a card removes it.
In the app: Advanced keys
Record a macro
Record a few keys once and play them back with one key. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Macros and click + New macro. Type a name in Name.
In the app: Macros
Step 2: Click Record, type the keys you want (their timing is recorded too), then click Stop recording.
In the app: Macros
Step 3: Choose a Mode: Play once, Repeat while held or Tap to start / stop.
In the app: Macros
Step 4: Open Remap and layers, click the key that should play it, open the button below the picture and choose Macro, then your macro.
In the app: Remap and layers
A profile for each game
Keep settings per game and switch to them by themselves. About 3 min.
Step 1: Open Profiles and click New (or Copy to start from the current one). Give it a name.
In the app: Profiles
Step 2: Under App linking, click Pick a running app while the game runs and choose it, or type its program name, for example cs2.exe, and click Add.
In the app: Profiles
Step 3: Click Activate and set up this profile on the other pages. When the game is in front, Strafr switches to this profile by itself and back when you leave.
In the app: Profiles
Step 4: The profile switcher at the top of every page shows which profile is active and lets you switch by hand.
In the app: Overview
Good to know
- To share a profile, click Copy share code or Export to a file…. Someone else pastes the code or double-clicks the file.
Change the lighting
Pick an effect and colours for your Wooting, or leave the lighting to the keyboard. About 2 min.
Step 1: Open Lighting. Effect says Keyboard default: the keyboard and Wootility control the lighting.
In the app: Lighting
Step 2: Choose an effect, for example Wave or Reactive, and set Color 1, Color 2, Speed and Brightness.
In the app: Lighting
Step 3: With Static you can paint keys: pick Color 2, then click or drag over keys on the picture.
In the app: Lighting
Step 4: Under Indicators you can show, for example, Caps / Num / Scroll Lock on top of the effect.
In the app: Lighting
Use keys as a controller stick
Walk slowly or fast depending on how deep you press, like a controller. About 4 min.
Step 1: Install ViGEmBus first (free, from github.com/nefarius/ViGEmBus). It lets Strafr create a virtual Xbox controller.
In the app: Gamepad
Step 2: Open Gamepad and tick Gamepad enabled in this profile. The chip should say virtual Xbox controller connected.
In the app: Gamepad
Step 3: Click WASD → left stick. Pressing W halfway now pushes the stick halfway.
In the app: Gamepad
Step 4: Untick Mapped keys also type on the keyboard if the game reacts twice.
In the app: Gamepad
Good to know
- Needs a Wooting keyboard, because the stick follows how deep a key is.
When something doesn’t work
The usual causes, and the fix for each. About 3 min.
Step 1: Nothing changes in one game? If the game runs as administrator, Windows hides Strafr’s keys from it. Open Settings and click Restart as administrator.
In the app: Settings
Step 2: The chip says no analog input? Open Settings and check Analog input under Keyboard: Automatic (recommended) works for most keyboards.
In the app: Settings
Step 3: Want to turn everything off quickly? Click the switch at the top right, or press Ctrl + Alt + F12.
In the app: Overview
Step 4: Still stuck? Open Account, describe what happens under Feedback and click Send feedback. It reaches the developer directly.
In the app: Account
Good to know
- Tachyon mode, switch calibration and firmware updates are Wootility’s; Strafr can’t change those.
Still stuck?
Send feedback from the app or from your account. It goes straight to the developer. Other guides: Strafr Audio and Strafr Mic.