HotKeyMan, Configure New Hotkeys In Windows

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 26, 2010
Updated • Oct 26, 2010
Software, Windows, Windows software
|
8

Hotkeys can speed up productivity quite a bit, regardless of where they are used. I like to work with hotkeys to speed up processes that would otherwise take longer to complete. If I want to take a screenshot of a window for instance, I press Alt-Print when the window is active, instead of having to press print and edit the screenshot, or using a screenshot taking program for the job.

HotKeyMan is a lightweight hotkeys manager for Windows. The program comes with a pre-configured set of hotkeys that are ready to use, and options to configure additional hotkeys.

The pre-configured hotkeys are the following:

  • Windows--, Minimize the active window
  • Windows-*, Maximize the active window
  • Windows-S, to create a screenshot
  • Windows-N, to open a file in notepad

New hotkeys are defined in the program's settings. First, a keyboard combination needs to be selected. Available are a key on the keyboard in combination with the Windows, Alt, Ctrl or Shift keys.

new hotkey

The action and parameters are configured in the next and final step. Available actions include:

  • Maximizing and minimizing the active window
  • Closing the active window
  • Opening a file or program
  • Opening a website
  • Take a screenshot of the active window
  • Take a screenshot of the whole screen
  • Exit Windows
  • Send keystrokes

hotkey action

Probably most interesting in this regard are the actions to open a file or website, and to send keystrokes. It is for instance possible to map the five most used programs and websites to hotkeys to open them as fast as possible.

The ability to send keystrokes to the active program is not as advanced as that of specialized macro recorders. Still, it serves a few purposes from configuring signatures to text that is often needed.

HotKeyMan uses less than 10 Megabytes of RAM when running on the system, an acceptable figure. The program is available for download at the developer website. It has been tested on a 64-bit edition of Windows 7, and should run fine on other editions and versions of the operating system.

Advertisement

Tutorials & Tips


Previous Post: «
Next Post: «

Comments

  1. Martin said on March 12, 2023 at 3:05 pm
    Reply

    An even quicker way to open Task Manager is by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc.

  2. archie bald said on March 12, 2023 at 4:32 pm
    Reply

    Win+Pause used to be the goto shortcut for me since… W95… Ms recently hijacked it and you now get Sysinfo. Device manager is still accessible this way: the second to last link at the bottom.

Leave a Reply

Check the box to consent to your data being stored in line with the guidelines set out in our privacy policy

We love comments and welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. Rudeness and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Please stay on-topic.
Please note that your comment may not appear immediately after you post it.