People with a much better understanding of AutoHotkey describe much more advanced things in the comments to this Lifehacker article<\/a> like a script to remind them to get up every 20 minutes to stretch or a script that immediately switches off their computer screen at the press of a button. Let\u2019s look at a few easy things that should already increase your efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To get\nstarted, you\u2019ll want to download AutoHotkey from https:\/\/www.autohotkey.com\/<\/a>. You\nwill also find the extremely helpful documentation on that site. Install the\nsoftware and, hey presto, now you are ready to create scripts. Open Notepad\n(press the Windows key, type notepad<\/em>\nand hit Enter) and start scripting. Don\u2019t save your file as a .txt file but\ngive it the ending .ahk \u2013 then you can double-click it to run it or simply\nstick it in your Start-up folder to automatically run when you\u2019re starting your\nPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AutoHotkey, as the name implies, lets you easily set hotkeys for certain actions. The syntax here is easy: first you type in the keys you want to use, then you add :: <\/strong>(two colons), then you add the action. Hotkeys are abbreviated – you can find a list of hotkeys in the AutoHotkey documentation<\/a>. Here are some examples for hotkeys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s\ncreate a script that will let us use Alt\nGr<\/strong> + F<\/strong> to open Firefox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here we have <^>!f<\/strong> \u2013 the first two letters are for the Alt Gr<\/strong> key, f is for the f<\/strong> key. Run<\/strong> is used to tell the program to run an executable file. Can you\nmake a script that will open your D:\\2019\\Invoices<\/em><\/strong> folder when you\npress Ctrl+i<\/strong>? (Hint: Think of\nopening a folder as executing <\/em>it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s\nthe solution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far,\nall our scripts only ran across one line. If you use more than one line, you\nhave to add return<\/strong> at the end, like\nso:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you run an AutoHotkey script, you will see the AutoHotkey symbol in your taskbar. Right-click it to easily open the running script to change it (Edit This Script<\/em>) and then reload it once the changes have been made (Reload This Script<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s go\nfrom hotkeys to hotstrings! In order to replace text as you type, stick it\nbetween double colons, like so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now when you type byex <\/strong>(and a space), you will automatically write the given text. {enter}<\/strong> is used for adding a linebreak. Also, in case you\u2019re wondering why I picked byex<\/strong> and not bye<\/strong>: There might be cases in which I\u2019ll still want to write \u201cbye\u201d and I don\u2019t want to bother with suspending my AutoHotkey script when that time comes. (Although there is a hotkey for that!<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019d rather your text triggered without an ending character (like space), so immediately after typing the x, use this instead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out more about hotstrings in the official documentation<\/a>. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise<\/strong>: Create a script that will\nautomatically replace l10n with Localization, t9n with translation and i18n\nwith Internationalization! (And then can we stop using the acronyms? Thanks!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending\non what software is used for proofreading, you might want to add a date to a\ncomment along with your initials to better track them and make them easily\nsearchable. You should already know how to write a script that adds your\ninitials \u2013 a date is a bit more complicated. Luckily, everything has been done\nbefore and the hotstrings documentation has just this example! I\u2019m copying and\npasting it here with my preferred keyboard shortcut: Left Alt + D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is this: 2\/7\/2019 11:46<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find all the necessary info about formatting dates and time here: https:\/\/www.autohotkey.com\/docs\/commands\/FormatTime.htm<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s\nanother way of doing it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will return the following format: 02\/08\/2019 <\/strong> Now we get this format: 2019-02-08 VH:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also very easy to use AutoHotkey to open websites for you, e.g. if you want to look up a word in an online dictionary. Here\u2019s a script that will look up a term for you in the Leo English\/German dictionary. You only have to highlight the term with your mouse and use the keyboard shortcut<\/strong>. In this case I use Alt + L, which you can of course change if you\u2019d rather trigger this using just one hand for that little extra bit of efficiency (so you don\u2019t have to remove your hand from your mouse).<\/p>\n\n\n\n %clipboard% <\/strong>here will be replaced with the highlighted\nterm, so if you want this for another dictionary, just figure out how the URL\nchanges if you look up a word. As an example, Linguee \u2013 another English\/German\ndictionary \u2013 will have the following URL if you enter \u201cpasta\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.linguee.com\/search?query=pasta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So in order to adjust your script for Linguee, simply replace your search term with %clipboard%<\/strong> in the script and that\u2019s where the highlighted term will be entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve modified this from a script I found at lthr.io<\/a><\/a> that shows you how to look up highlighted terms on Google (see below). Remember: Almost everything has been done before \u2013 so figure out what you want to do, google the problem and adjust any similar scripts to your particular needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, here\u2019s a script for keeping windows always on top, say if you\u2019re transcribing a video you want to keep looking at while you type in another window, or if you want to keep your calculator visible while working on an invoice in Excel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to move the window to the background again, just use your hotkey on it again (in this case, Alt + A). This one is taken from maketecheasier.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AutoHotkey\ncan also display message boxes. By now you probably know how to write a script\nthat will open a text file or Word file for you, so if you wanted to have a\ncheat sheet for terms or words you regularly look up, that would be an easy\noption. Just set a hotkey to open that specific file for you and the terms are\nliterally at your fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as I said, AutoHotkey can show message boxes, so you can stick all those terms or grammar rules you constantly look up into a message box instead. Here\u2019s a short sample script that will show a cheat sheet for commas that throw me every time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hotkey for this is Alt + P<\/strong>, MsgBox<\/strong> \u2013 as you might have guessed \u2013 is the command for opening a message box, and after a comma you can simply add the text you want. The `n<\/strong> looks a bit funny \u2013 that\u2019s an accent (not an apostrophe) followed by an “n” \u2013 and it is used here to start a new line. Simple as that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last but not least, here\u2019s one of my personal favorites, a script that lets you control the volume of your PC with the ALT key and the mouse wheel. Hold down ALT and scroll up or down to adjust the volume, or click the mouse wheel in order to mute the sound altogether:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously you can easily adjust this to your liking in whichever way you want \u2013 you can even script your volume controls to your keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope\nyou now have an idea of what AutoHotkey is capable of. Ideally, the above tips\nand scripts are already helpful to you, but AutoHotkey can do a lot more. Even\nif you don\u2019t really want to get into the details of the scripting language, the\ninternet is full with example scripts and you can always go to a forum to see\nif anyone can help you find a solution for your particular problem to increase\nyour efficiency!<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Defining hotkeys<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
^ - the Ctrl key\ufeff\n<^>! \u2013 the Alt Gr key\n! \u2013 the Alt key<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<^>!f::Run C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe<\/strong> is where my Firefox.exe is stored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n^i::Run D:\\2019\\Invoices<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n^w::\nRun D:\\2019\\Invoices\nreturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nPro tip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Taskbar](\"http:\/\/translationgeek.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/autohotkey.jpg\")
Replacing text as you type<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
::byex::Best regards and hope to hear from you soon,{enter}Veronika<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n:*:byex::<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAdding your initials with a date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
!d::\nFormatTime, CurrentDateTime,, M\/d\/yyyy h:mm tt\nSendInput %CurrentDateTime%\nreturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n!d::\nSend, %A_MM%\/%A_DD%\/%A_YYYY%\nreturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s adjust this a bit and add our initials!<\/p>\n\n\n\n!d::\nSend, %A_YYYY%-%A_MM%-%A_DD% VH: \nreturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nHotkey for looking up terms in dictionaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
!l::\n\tSend, ^c\n\tSleep 50\n\tRun, https:\/\/dict.leo.org\/englisch-deutsch\/%clipboard%\n\tReturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n![\"Search](\"http:\/\/translationgeek.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pastapointer.jpg\")
!g::\n\tSend, ^c\n\tSleep 50\n\tRun, http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=%clipboard%\n\tReturn<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nKeep a window always on top<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
!a:: Winset, Alwaysontop, , A ; ctrl + space<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nMake a cheat sheet in a message box<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"http:\/\/translationgeek.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cheatsheet.jpg\")
<!>p::MsgBox, weder ... noch `nsowohl ... als auch`nnicht nur ..., sondern auch<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAdjusting sound volume with your mouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
LAlt & MButton::Send {Volume_Mute}\nLAlt & WheelDown::Send {Volume_Down}\nLAlt & WheelUp::Send {Volume_Up}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/translationgeek.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/TGeekNewsletter_transparent.png\"){kind=spacer}
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nFinal Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sources & Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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