Karabiner-Elements is a free, open-source key remapper for macOS with per-app rules. It can only turn one key event into another; it cannot make Option, H, O, I run AutoFit, because out of the box Excel for Mac has nothing on the ribbon to receive those letters. Accelerator Keys ($39.99/year) drives the Mac ribbon directly and shows the badges. Karabiner for a few custom keys; Accelerator Keys for the Windows Alt system.
| Accelerator Keys | Karabiner-Elements | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per year | $39.99 (Excel) or $59.99 (Excel + PowerPoint) | $0 — free and open source (public domain) |
| Setup time | About 2 minutes: install, grant Accessibility permission, done | 10 minutes to install and approve its driver and permissions; then hours to write and test JSON rules for each command you want |
| Keystroke latency | Native — the app sends the ribbon command directly to Mac Excel | Native — Karabiner sits at the input-driver level |
| Battery and CPU | Negligible — a 20 MB menu bar app | Negligible |
| Needs a Windows license? | No | No |
| Works offline? | Yes | Yes |
| Alt shortcut coverage | 900+ Excel and 380+ PowerPoint ribbon sequences, plus legacy Alt+E / Alt+I / Alt+O / Alt+D, with KeyTip badges on the ribbon | None out of the box. Each command needs a hand-written rule that maps a key to an existing Mac shortcut, and only commands that already have a Mac shortcut can be reached |
| Windows-only Excel features (Power Pivot, Power Query editor, some VBA, some add-ins) | No — you are still in Excel for Mac | No — you are still in Excel for Mac |
| Files stay in native Mac apps | Yes | Yes |
Karabiner-Elements is a free, open-source keyboard customizer for macOS. It sits at the input-driver level and rewrites key events before apps see them. It is stable, well maintained, and many Mac power users run it every day.
It has three layers:
If you have ever thought “I wish this key did that,” Karabiner is the tool. This page is not here to talk you out of it.
The problem is not Karabiner. The problem is what Excel for Mac exposes.
On Windows, Alt puts the ribbon into keyboard mode. KeyTips appear. Each letter you type walks one level deeper. Excel does the routing.
On Mac, out of the box, Excel has no keyboard mode for the ribbon. So when Karabiner sees Option, H, O, I, it has nowhere to send those letters. It can only emit other keys. That leaves you two options for every command:
Sequences make this harder. Karabiner can chain keys with variables, but each multi-key path is a hand-written rule with state, and a typo in one rule can break the rest. Nobody is going to write 900 of them. And even if you did, no letters would appear on the ribbon to guide you, because Karabiner does not draw on screen.
Accelerator Keys does not remap keys. It talks to Excel’s ribbon through the macOS Accessibility API. When Excel or PowerPoint is in front and you press Option, it shows KeyTip badges on the real ribbon and runs the command you type.
Yes, and some people do: Karabiner for the global tweaks, Accelerator Keys inside Excel and PowerPoint. The one thing to avoid is a Karabiner rule that remaps Option itself while Excel is frontmost, because Accelerator Keys needs to see that key.
It is macOS only and covers Excel and PowerPoint only. Word support is planned for Q3 2026 and is not shipped. It is a subscription. It needs Accessibility permission. And like Karabiner, it does not add Windows-only Excel features such as Power Pivot, the full Power Query editor, or some VBA and COM add-ins.
Karabiner-Elements is the best free key remapper on the Mac. Remapping keys is not the problem, though. Excel for Mac has no Alt layer to remap into. Karabiner is right for a few custom keys or a global swap. Accelerator Keys is right if you want the Windows ribbon shortcuts back, badges included, without building them yourself.
Only in a limited way. Karabiner turns one key event into another. It can map, say, Option+I to Cmd+Option+I inside Excel. It cannot make Option, H, O, I run AutoFit, because out of the box Excel for Mac has no keyboard mode for the ribbon. There is nothing on the receiving end for those letters.
Yes. It is free, open source, and released into the public domain. It runs on macOS 13 and later (older builds go back further) on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. It installs a virtual keyboard driver and asks for macOS permissions once during setup.
Yes. Complex modifications support a frontmost_application_if condition, so a rule can fire only when Excel’s bundle identifier is the active app. This is how people keep a remap from breaking other apps. It does not change what the rule can do inside Excel.
Usually, yes. Accelerator Keys listens for the Option key when Excel or PowerPoint is in front. If a Karabiner rule remaps Option itself, or swaps Option and Cmd, the two can conflict. Keep Karabiner rules away from Option inside Excel and PowerPoint and both tools work side by side.
When you want a global change to your keyboard, such as remapping Caps Lock, swapping modifiers on a Windows keyboard, or a handful of custom keys in Excel. It costs nothing and it is very stable. It is the wrong tool for rebuilding hundreds of Alt sequences with on-screen badges.