How to disable generating special characters when pressing the `alt+a`/`option+a` keybinding in Mac OS (`⌥+a` )? [closed]

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You can create a custom keyboard mapping with option-letters all set to BLANK using online tool from this webpage. You can create a custom mapping in several clicks out of almost any keyboard layout. Proved to work on MacOSX 10.7+ with IntelliJ Idea, Php/WebStorm, NetBeans, Eclipse.

Select “Set blank for option key” radio in the form, submit the form, and download a patched keyboard layout with “option” key feature disabled. I’m sharing the working file for standard US English keyboard layout:

After enabling this custom mapping, if you type a letter with “option” key pressed, nothing is printed to text output. But, the “option key press” is triggered by OS, and detected by your IDE. So you get exactly the same behaviour as you have for other command keys!

  1. Download the key mapping file My Layout.keylayout.
  2. Move it to ~/Library/Keyboard\ Layouts/
  3. Open System Preferences -> Language Input Methods (or Keyboard -> Input Sources)
  4. Go to Input Sources -> (hit +) -> Select Others
  5. You should find My Layout in the list and select it.

Step 4 can change slightly across MacOS versions. Please be patient to find keyboard layouts list in the settings.

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