# §eyboard malfunction **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986 "2022-09-05T11:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/1 "2022-09-05T11:58:00Z")
All of a sudden I get this § symbol when I hit the §ey between the letters J and L on my IMac §eyboard. It started yesterday but the problem later stopped. When I booted the computer this morning it reappeared. It is the only §ey that performs this way. Can anyone help? I have Googled it but with no luc§. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/2 "2022-09-05T12:28:11Z")
Maybe the key has been remapped somehow? > **[How to Remap a Keyboard on a Mac](https://www.lifewire.com/remap-keyboard-on-a-mac-5181558)** > > You aren't stuck with the default settings for your Mac keyboard. Here's how to customize the settings for fun and productivity. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/3 "2022-09-05T13:00:29Z")
My first thought was that your alt/option key was stuck (or the keyboard intermittently thought it was stuck), but option-k is ˚ and shift-option-k is . I’m not even sure, off the top of my head, what the shortcut for the section symbol is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/4 "2022-09-05T13:13:44Z")
I’m really reaching here, but … any chance your answer is in here? [https://animaldesigner.blogspot.com/2021/07/section-symbol-on-keyboard.html](https://animaldesigner.blogspot.com/2021/07/section-symbol-on-keyboard.html) ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/5 "2022-09-05T13:39:14Z")
I should have mentioned it is a Spanish §eyboard. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/6 "2022-09-07T11:35:16Z")
On a US-English keyboard it’s option-6. Not sure about a Spanish layout. An intermittently stuck option key would probably also cause other keys to misbehave as well. But some kind of short circuit that “triggers” the option key when another key is pressed is conceivable. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyboard-malfunction/970986/7 "2022-09-07T11:40:24Z")
On further research, Chronos’s instinct turns out to be correct: On a Spanish Mac keyboard, option-k produces the § symbol. (I found this out by going into my System Preferences and mucking around with my keyboard settings.) So it seems like your keyboard is consistently interpreting “k” as “option-k”. Why this is happening I couldn’t say, but it might give you something to go on, or other people here some ideas on how to fix it.