Does QMK Work on Mac in 2024?

By: Editorial Team

QMK Toolbox is a powerful firmware development tool that lets you customize your keyboard’s functionality.

While it was originally designed for Windows users, Mac users can also take advantage of its features with a little bit of effort. Does QMK work on Mac?

In this guide, we will show you how to set up QMK Toolbox on Mac and walk you through the process of creating your own custom firmware. Let’s get started!

Does QMK work on Mac?

Yes, QMK Toolbox can be used on Mac computers with a few extra steps. First, you will need to install Homebrew, which is a package manager for Mac that lets you install software from the source.

Once Homebrew is installed, you can use it to install the dependencies needed for QMK Toolbox. Open up a terminal and run the following command:

/usr/bin/ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL get.pivotal.io)”

This will install Pivotal CLI, which is required for running QMK Toolbox on Mac. Next, download the latest release of QMK Toolbox from Github and unzip the file.

Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the file and run the following command:

./qmk_toolbox.py

If everything is installed correctly, you should be able to open up QMK Toolbox and start working on your firmware projects.

How do I use QMK toolbox on Mac?

To use QMK Toolbox on Mac, you will need to install Homebrew and Pivotal CLI.

Once these are installed, you can download the latest release of QMK Toolbox from Github and unzip the file.

Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the file and run the following command:

./qmk_toolbox.py

This will launch QMK Toolbox and allow you to start working on your firmware projects.

QMK
Setting up QMK on Keychron

Is Drop Ctrl Mac compatible?

Drop Ctrl is a popular Windows-based keyboard layout that has been ported to Mac. If you are using this layout, QMK Toolbox will work without any additional setup.

However, if you are using a different keyboard layout, you may need to configure your keyboard’s keymap in order to use QMK Toolbox properly.

How to set up QMK For Mac

Configuring your keyboard for use with QMK Toolbox on Mac is a bit more complicated than on Windows, but we will walk you through the process step-by-step.

First, you will need to download and install the Keyboard Layout Editor software. Next, you will need to create a new keyboard layout and add your desired keysyms to it.

Finally, you will need to export your keyboard layout as a JSON file and import it into QMK Toolbox. Congratulations – you are now ready to start developing custom firmware!

Here’s another way to step-up QMK for Mac:

To set up QMK Toolbox on Mac, you will need to install Homebrew and Pivotal CLI.

Once these are installed, you can download the latest release of QMK Toolbox from Github and unzip the file.

Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the file and run the following command:

./qmk_toolbox.py

This will launch QMK Toolbox and allow you to start working on your firmware projects. Note that some features may not be available on Mac due to differences in the operating system.

Final Thoughts

QMK Toolbox is a powerful development tool that lets you customize your keyboard’s functionality.

While it was originally designed for Windows users, Mac users can also take advantage of its features with a little bit of effort.

In this guide, we have shown you how to set up QMK Toolbox on Mac and walk you through the process of creating your own custom firmware. Thanks for reading!