Sometimes, all the buttons you have at your disposal to control a computer fall short of the convenience a twirly little knob can offer. They're often relegated to media volume control on a DAC or an audio amplifier for adjusting levels, but current-day firmware for custom mechanical keyboards also provisions for rotary encoders you might find on macropads.

If you don't have a programmable knob on your desk already, start with a QMK-enabled macropad or a standalone knob like the Binepad BNR1. The most popular mechanical keyboards from brands like Keychron ship with a customizable encoder on board, and there are several cool uses you can put it to, besides plain old volume management.

9 Zoom in and out

Edit photos faster

While most rotary encoders are bound to volume management duties by default, you can also bind them to zoom when turned clockwise and out when turned the other way. Additionally, you can set the click button on the encoder to reset to the default zoom level when pressed. In my experience, this makes localized editing of images a breeze, especially since they usually can't be cloned across multiple images and are rather time-consuming.

Zoom controls bound to a knob are also invaluable while browsing through web pages or inspecting the details in digital art. You can implement this in your mechanical keyboard firmware by recording a macro and assigning the recorded reaction to the clockwise and counterclockwise turn actions of the knob. Alternatively, bind the per-app keyboard shortcuts instead.

8 Move through cells in an Excel spreadsheet

Crunch through those numbers

If your work entails traversing vast expanses of data in spreadsheets, or any other system of grids and columns, twirling a knob can be far easier on the wrist than repeatedly pressing or holding down your arrow keys. To replace your arrow keys with an encoder, simply bind arrows in either direction to the corresponding rotational direction of the encoder, like right or down for clockwise, if you are right-handed.

Additionally, I would suggest assigning the left/right navigation to one layer and up/down navigation to another layer on your macropad or knob. The controllers on most of these can store multiple layers of key assignments, and you can set the click action of the encoder to switch between the layers. A happy byproduct of binding the knob to your arrow keys is that you can also move the cursor with it in word processors just like you can tap and drag the Gboard spacebar to move the cursor on an Android device.

When you're feeling particularly adventurous, you can try assigning mouse keys to your rotary encoder. Open-source firmware like VIAL already supports mouse movement through keycodes.

7 Backspace and delete in text editors

Rephrase with ease

Speaking of word processors, writers and other professionals who often go back to edit text might prefer mapping the knob to Backspace for counterclockwise turns and Delete for the clockwise rotation. This way, retracing what you just typed out is as simple as twisting a little knob, no matter where your cursor is. If your keypad or standalone knob has support for more than a couple of layers, this is one I personally use together with arrow keys for cursor movement.

However, I should caution you that accidental twirls or firm rotations in either direction just to figure out which layer is currently active could both cost you dearly if you're working on something important — I know from personal experience.

6 Brush size control for artists

Save more time in a hurry

Digital artists are familiar with the hassles of changing the brush size repeatedly, like when changing colors, brushes, etc. While most creative apps make the switch easy using keyboard shortcuts or a few taps on touch-first UIs, assigning the action to a knob can make a world of difference to your overall efficiency. This way, you just need to twist the knob to make fine adjustments.

This application isn't limited to digital artists. You can apply this to photo editing apps as well. However, the keybinds might need to be program specific since they vary and aren't as ubiquitous as the arrow key navigation we discussed earlier.

5 Putting a spin on Undo and Redo

Go back in time

Photo editors and artists may also appreciate the convenience of setting up a knob as an undo-redo dial. It quickly takes the effort out of running multiple iterations of a certain edit to see which one looks best. Even otherwise, you can easily replicate n-step checking like an accounting calculator using clockwise rotation for Redo and the opposite to Undo.

With this feature, you can revert to the beginning of your process and figure out which elements need refinement, or just sit back and watch your work come together as you continue turning the dial to redo. Some professionals may prefer this method to toggling edit layers manually or just holding a key down to compare your original image to the fully edited one (since that isn't always helpful).

On Windows, you would just need to set up the rotation of the knob in one direction to register Ctrl + Z and the other direction to repeat Ctrl + Y on each incremental turn. Thankfully, these shortcuts to undo and redo actions are fairly standard across most PC programs.

4 Timeline surfing for video editors

Move with precision and convenience

Another important application for creative professionals, such as those working with video, is timeline scrubbing. Video editors are all too familiar with the tiresome task of clicking and then dragging the cursor along the timeline to determine the perfect start for that transition or jump cut. Using a knob as a for this activity allows finding the same spot in the timeline smoothly.

However, you don't necessarily have to bind the knob to program-specific shortcuts if you can get by with simple horizontal scrolling, which is where our next use for a knob comes in.

3 Scrolling horizontally and vertically

Give the mouse some rest

Before you dismissively scroll past this suggestion, consider how the mouse is technically a pointing device and, so long as the cursor is in the right spot, scrolling is an accessory function. When my mouse's scroll wheel started skipping, I quickly assigned the actions to one of the layers on my rotary encoder. I noticed how reading webpages became much easier and traversing wide spreadsheets was faster. After all, scroll bars aren't visible all the time.

If you're suffering from a broken scroll wheel or just don't like using scroll gestures on a trackpad, QMK and other firmware allow convenient reassignment of these duties to your encoder. As stated above, you might want to use the button press action on the knob to switch between layers. Once set up correctly, you just need to position the cursor in the right screen space to scroll easily.

2 Flip through browser tabs

Get to the right page faster

Sometimes horizontal scrolling cannot get you unstuck from a heap of browser tabs in simultaneous use. Multitaskers and research-oriented web surfers are all too familiar with the inconvenience of unfamiliar logos for obscure websites. Moreover, automatic tab name concatenation leaves behind unhelpfully small tab names, which are sometimes just a few characters long. You could hover your cursor on said tabs for a longer description, but clicking and identifying the entire webpage is often faster.

This is where a rotary encoder can prove invaluable, saving you the deliberate movement of reaching for the mouse, moving it over to a specific tab, and clicking. Instead, just reach for the knob and turn it in the direction you want to move through the tabs. To set this up for Google Chrome on Windows, you just need to define clockwise turns as Ctrl + Tab to move one tab to the right, and counterclockwise turns as Ctrl + Shift + Tab to move one tab to the left.

1 Jump between windows faster

Multitasking with a knob

In a similar fashion, my ultimate suggestion is for multitaskers who Alt-Tab between windows frequently. If you find flipping through tabs convenient, you'll likely enjoy flipping through multiple active windows as well. I personally prefer setting up the knob, so I hold down the clickable button in it to activate Alt, and then twirl in either direction to Tab. This makes window switching a deliberate action and frees up the default layer for other actions.

Another implementation relies on a keybind we discussed above, where the encoder merely simulates left and right arrow key presses. When using this, you'll need to press the Alt-Tab combination on your keyboard before holding down just Alt and spinning the knob to cycle through the active windows in either direction. When implemented this way, you still retain all the advantages of arrow key substitution.

Why pick and choose when you can use it all

If you find more than one of these applications useful, most microcontrollers in QMK-enabled macropads and encoders have sufficient onboard memory for at least four layers, so you can assign at least four of these functions to one knob. Alternatively, you can program tools like a Steam Deck with multiple encoders, or enjoy more layers if the encoder in question is a standalone like the Binepad BNR1. Practically, any repetitive keyboard action, directional or otherwise, can be assigned to a knob for convenience.