What Is G Shift? (Detailed Explanation & Usage Tips)

It’s undeniable that keyboard software has been a vital part of the advancements in keyboards with the extra functionality and accessibility they bring to the table.

Keyboard macros are perhaps one of the most significant features among everything that keyboard software brings. Activating a combination of keys with a single key has incredible effects on efficiency, especially for developers and gamers, considering the number of button combinations they use.

If you fall into this category and own one of the newer Logitech gaming (G Series) mice, such as the G502, there is a fantastic feature you can use to make macros even more accessible, called G Shift.

So, what is G Shift?

G Shift is a feature that you can find in Logitech gaming mice, which allows you to activate keyboard keys and macros by pressing mouse buttons.

Invoking the keyboard keys and macros with the mouse increases efficiency and allows you to free up keys on your keyboard that you would otherwise use for macros.

While the G shift feature is pretty straightforward to use, let’s take a deeper dive into it to see all the functions it offers, how you can configure it, and some example usage cases.

What Is G Shift?

Even though it’s relatively unknown, G Shift is one of the best features of a Logitech mouse with the ease of use and functionality it adds to your experience.

When you enable the G Shift feature, you can set one of the mice or keyboard buttons to be the G Shift modifier. Upon pressing this modifier, the functionality of the mouse buttons changes from their default into the keyboard keys and macros you have set.

While the G Shift function only modifies the mouse buttons, the modifier key itself can either be on the keyboard (if you have a Logitech keyboard) the mouse, offering greater flexibility.

In a nutshell, it doubles the number of buttons you have on the mouse by changing their functionality through the modifier key, allowing you to invoke keyboard keys and macros directly from the mouse.

Let’s take a look at a quick example to make how the G Shift feature works easier to understand.

Imagine that you need to press the combination of CTRL + SHIFT + X on your keyboard frequently, which can take a decent amount of effort. To make it easier, you can set the G Shift modifier of the Mouse 4 button to invoke this combination.

By doing so, you can invoke the CTRL + SHIFT + X combination by pressing the G Shift button and the Mouse 4 button on your mouse at the same time.

We believe that the G shift functionality really shines in scenarios where you have one hand on your keyboard and the other on your mouse.

Since having only one hand on the keyboard drastically limits your keyboard input capability, offloading some of the work to the mouse is an incredible way to increase efficiency.

So, how can you configure G Shift? Let’s find out.

How to Configure G Shift?

Configuring G Shift is pretty easy due to the very user-friendly interface of the Logitech software.

If you don’t have the Logitech G Hub software installed on your computer already, you will need to start by doing that, as that’s the only way to access the G Shift interface.

Here are the steps for configuring the G Shift feature in the Logitech G Hub software.

1. Start by clicking your mouse on the window.
2. Go to the Assignments ([+]) menu through the left navigation menu.
3. Switch to the System tab under the Assignments menu.
4. Drag the G Shift element on the left menu to one of the buttons on your mouse. This button will act as your G Shift modifier.
5. To set the G Shift functions, bring the slider from Default to G Shift at the bottom of the panel. While this slider is active, any modifications you to do the mouse keys are for the G Shift mode.
6. Pick the commands, keyboard keys, keyboard macros, or actions you need from the left menu, and drag them on the mouse buttons you want to bind them.

Is There a Way to Toggle G Shift?

While there is no way to toggle G Shift, you can create the same functionality through mouse profiles instead, which would work similarly to a G Shift that toggles.

Here is a quick guide on setting mouse profiles in the G Hub software.

1. Press the Active Profile button at the top of the window.
2. Press the “Add Profile” button while the Profiles tab is selected.
3. Input the name for your new profile.
4. Go back, and click your mouse on the window.
5. Go to the Assignments ([+]) menu through the left navigation menu.
6. Go to the System tab, and drag the Profile Cycle function to the mouse button you will use for switching profiles.
7. Choose the profile you want to modify on the top left of the window to add the functionality you desire to the second profile.

By setting up another profile with all the modifications you need, you can switch to that profile whenever you need to access the modified keys; and switch back when you want to return to the default functionality.

As you can quickly switch mouse profiles with the click of a button, using two separate profiles to emulate the behavior of a toggling G Shift key is the closest solution we have right now.

How to Use G Shift on Keyboard?

While the G Shift feature is to modify the mouse buttons only, a Logitech keyboard also allows you to bind the modifier to a keyboard button if you wish to.

Here are the steps you can take to use G Shift on your Logitech keyboard.

1. Start by clicking your keyboard on the G Hub window.
2. Go to the Assignments ([+]) menu through the left navigation menu.
3. Switch to the System tab under this menu.
4. Drag the G Shift element on the left menu to the keyboard key you would like to use as the G Shift modifier.

Now, you can use the keyboard key you have chosen as the G Shift modifier.

Wrapping Up

G Shift is definitely one of the best features we have seen on mouse (and keyboard) software so far, with the flexibility it adds to the computer usage experience.

Doubling the number of buttons your mouse has allows you to transfer some of the keyboard functionality to your mouse, which becomes especially handy in scenarios where you have to keep one hand on your mouse.

Those who have to frequently input complex key combinations will especially benefit from such a feature, as it can become quite taxing to input those with only one hand on the keyboard.