How a left hand changes MMO keybinds

Mouse in your left hand? Then WASD is on the wrong side of the keyboard. Here’s how I move everything to the right. The spells you press most still belong next to the movement keys. The hand that presses them is the other one, so the cluster is no longer W A S D.

I am left-handed. The aiming hand is the left. The keyboard sits to the right of the pad. I play Devastation Evoker in WoW (2849 Blitz, RBG main) and Zarya in Overwatch with the same keys. The spec pages are the Evoker PvP guide and the Zarya guide. The mice are the Logitech PRO 2 LIGHTSPEED for aim and the Razer Naga Left-Handed for WoW.

The layout I actually use:

• Movement on UHJK. U forward, H strafe left, J back, K strafe right.
• Naga Left-Handed 12-button thumb grid for buffs and consumables.
• Trinket and interrupt on the scroll wheel.

Most MMO defaults assume the mouse is on the right and the keys are under the left hand. How to keybind an MMO is that layout: frequent spells around the movement keys, rarer ones a step farther, modifiers for a second slot. If the mouse stays in your right hand, that page still fits, whether or not you write with your left. If your mouse is in your left hand, read on.

Pick where the mouse is. The line is where the keys should sit.

The aiming hand isMy left hand, on the mouseMy left hand, and I steer with the mouseMy right hand, on the mouse

The right hand takes the keys. Put movement on a cluster that hand can rest on, on the right side of the board.

The cluster moves to the hand that has it

The right hand rests on the right side of a normal keyboard. W A S D is the left end. Keeping it means the key hand reaches across the board, or the mouse hand reaches across the board, and one of those reaches is the whole problem.

UHJK is my row. U sits above H J K the same way W sits above A S D. The pinky on that side still reaches the right Shift and the right Ctrl. I keep this cluster in every game so the hand does not relearn forward after a patch. Keyboard for MMO is the size question after the letters are set. A 60% board still has UHJK. You lose the F-row, but the mouse grid covers that in WoW.

Zachary Cimaglio’s How-To Geek piece from April 2024 uses a different mirror: I forward, K back, J left, L right. If IKJL fits your rest better than UHJK, use it. The test is the same one from the keybind page: can that hand hit the key without leaving its rest, including while it is also moving.

A spell on the same finger as a strafe key cannot be pressed while you strafe. If H is strafe left, a main attack on H’s finger is a button you lose the moment you need to move left. Put the spell you press while moving on a finger that is not already holding a movement key. A mouse button, or a letter the movement fingers are not sitting on, is the usual way around that. The finger that is busy does not get a second job.

The modifiers move with the hand too. On the right side of the board those are the right Shift and the right Ctrl, not the pair beside W. If holding one pulls the hand off UHJK, it is a bad modifier, the same way Ctrl plus a far number is a bad modifier on the left side. Use the modifier that hand can hold while the other fingers stay on the cluster.

The scroll wheel is two combat keys

Trinket and interrupt sit on the scroll wheel. They are always one flick away. I never want those two under a modifier or under a letter I also use to strafe. What a kick is is the spell. What a focus macro is is an optional second aim for that spell. The wheel is still the bind.

A wheel click and a wheel flick are different inputs if the game receives them as their own keys. Bind them in Escape → Options → Keybindings, the same window as everything else. The rule is: those two jobs do not share a finger with H J K.

Nameplates are how I see the cast I am kicking. Midnight can mark an important cast with a glow and a cast aimed at you with a red border. The wheel does not replace that look. It just means the kick is not hiding under Shift.

The Naga grid is the bag I can press

The Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition (RZ01-0341) is a true mirrored shape with a 12-button thumb grid and 19+1 programmable buttons. Official US price from $99.99 at Razer. I keep it for WoW. The left-handed gaming mouse page is the shape and the PRO 2 split.

Buffs and consumables live on that grid. Everything I do not want to hunt for on the keyboard sits under the thumb. A side button that secretly sends 1 while the keyboard hand also presses 1 is the same bind twice — the clash on the keybind article still applies with the hands swapped. Remap the grid in the mouse software to keys the right hand is not using, then bind those keys in WoW.

The job is enough: potions, food, and buffs off the movement cluster. Overwatch does not need that grid. For Overwatch I aim with the Logitech PRO 2 LIGHTSPEED at 1200 DPI, acceleration off.

WoW’s default is still the right-hand one

The menu has not changed for this. Escape, Options, Keybindings, the same screen as the keybind article. Patch 11.2.7 made a fresh default where A and D strafe instead of turn. That default is useful for a left hand sitting on W A S D. It does nothing for a right hand sitting on U H J K, except leave two strafe keys on the wrong side of the keyboard. Replace forward, back, and both strafes. Then put the interrupt and the trinket on the wheel, and put the main heal or the main attack on keys next to UHJK.

Some games keep a second movement set. A vehicle, a menu, or a mounted form can stay on W A S D after you have moved the walking keys. Open every control page and change those too. One mode that snaps back to the left side of the board is how a layout that felt finished breaks in the next activity.

A patch that resets keybinds will restore the right-hand default, A and D included. Write the six keys down: U H J K, wheel trinket, wheel kick. The note is what you put back. Remember, the default layout is built for right-handed players.

Rebind the game, not the whole computer

A system remap can make the U key send W to every program. PowerToys and SharpKeys are the tools the How-To Geek piece names. Controls differ by game, and a remap that is always on also changes typing.

Rebind inside the game. The keys on the keyboard stay letters, and only that title treats U as forward. A keyboard’s own software can store a profile you turn on for the game and off again after. That is the useful version of a system map.

When the mouse does the moving

If the game has click-to-move or mouse steering, the left hand can move and aim, and the right hand is only abilities. Try it for a session before you decide a mirrored movement row is required. I still use UHJK in WoW and Overwatch. I did not drop movement onto the mouse.

If you keep that split, do not also keep a movement row you never press. Those keys are free for spells. The same reach rule applies: the abilities you mash sit under the fingers that are resting, and the ones you press once a fight can sit a step farther or on a modifier.

Learn the row where a miss is cheap

A new cluster feels wrong for a few days. Change the movement keys, the wheel, and two or three spells, and practice where missing one does not matter. Add the next keys after those are boring. Walking into a Blitz on the night you moved the row is how the layout gets blamed for a death that was just a new habit.

I already keep UHJK across titles so that week only happens once. How to review an arena loss is still one sentence about the fight, not a reason to move J again.

That’s my setup: mouse on the left, UHJK, side grid for consumables, wheel for trinket and kick.

Related: WoW guides, Best WoW PvP addons (2026), keyboard guides, Midnight 12.1.5 news.

Common questions

Should left-handed gamers use WASD?

Only if you use the mouse with your right hand. If you mouse left-handed, your right hand works the keyboard, so move your movement keys to the right side, like UHJK, which is what I use.

What is UHJK for left-handed gaming?

UHJK is a WASD-style layout on the right side of the keyboard: U moves forward, H strafes left, J moves back and K strafes right. It lets your right hand rest naturally while your left hand holds the mouse.

What is the IKJL keybind layout?

IKJL is another right-side movement layout: I moves forward, K back, J left and L right. Try it if it feels more comfortable than UHJK.

Should I remap keys in Windows or in the game?

In the game. Windows tools like PowerToys change the key for every program, including typing, while in-game keybinds only affect that game.

How do I change keybinds in World of Warcraft?

Press Escape, open Options and go to Keybindings. Replace the default movement keys with ones your right hand can reach if you play with your mouse on the left.

Where should I bind trinkets and interrupts in WoW?

Put them somewhere you can hit instantly without moving your hand. I use the scroll wheel for trinket and interrupt, and the Razer Naga Left-Handed's 12-button thumb grid for buffs and consumables.