Creates, modifies, enables, or disables a hotkey while the script is running.
Hotkey KeyName , Label, Options Hotkey "IfWinActive/Exist" , WinTitle, WinText Hotkey "If" , Expression Hotkey "If", FunctionObject
Name of the hotkey's activation key, including any modifier symbols. For example, specify #c for the Win+C hotkey.
If KeyName already exists as a hotkey, that hotkey will be updated with the values of the function's other parameters.
KeyName can also be the name of an existing hotkey label (i.e. a double-colon label), which will cause that hotkey to be updated with the values of the function's other parameters.
When specifying an existing hotkey, KeyName is not case sensitive. However, the names of keys must be spelled the same as in the existing hotkey (e.g. Esc is not the same as Escape for this purpose). Also, the order of modifier symbols such as ^!+# does not matter. GetKeyName can be used to retrieve the standard spelling of a key name.
When a hotkey is first created -- either by the Hotkey function or a double-colon label in the script -- its key name and the ordering of its modifier symbols becomes the permanent name of that hotkey as reflected by A_ThisHotkey. This name is shared by all variants of the hotkey, and does not change even if the Hotkey function later accesses the hotkey with a different symbol ordering.
If the hotkey variant already exists, its behavior is updated according to whether KeyName includes or excludes the tilde (~) prefix.
The use hook ($) prefix can be added to existing hotkeys. This prefix affects all variants of the hotkey and cannot be removed.
The subroutine to execute (as a new thread) when the hotkey is pressed. This can be a label name, function name or function object.
Literal label and function names must be enclosed in quote marks. Both normal labels and hotkey/hotstring labels can be used. The trailing colon(s) should not be included. If Label is dynamic (e.g. VarContainingLabelName), IsLabel(VarContainingLabelName) may be called beforehand to verify that the label exists.
If Label is a function, it is called without parameters. To specify a function when a label with the same name exists, pass it by reference instead of name. For example: SetTimer Func("FunctionName"). Hotkeys can also be defined as functions without the Hotkey function.
This parameter can be left blank if KeyName already exists as a hotkey, in which case its label will not be changed. This is useful to change only the hotkey's Options.
Note: If the label or function is specified but the hotkey is disabled from a previous use of this function, the hotkey will remain disabled. To prevent this, include the word ON in Options.
This parameter can also be one of the following special values:
On: The hotkey becomes enabled. No action is taken if the hotkey is already On.
Off: The hotkey becomes disabled. No action is taken if the hotkey is already Off.
Toggle: The hotkey is set to the opposite state (enabled or disabled).
AltTab (and others): These are special Alt-Tab hotkey actions that are described here.
Note: If there is a label in the script named On, Off, Toggle or AltTab (or any variation recognized by this function), the label is ignored and cannot be used with this function.
A string of zero or more of the following letters with optional spaces in between. For example: UseErrorLevel B0.
UseErrorLevel: If the function encounters a problem, this option skips the warning dialog, sets ErrorLevel to one of the codes from the table below, then allows the current thread to continue.
On: Enables the hotkey if it is currently disabled.
Off: Disables the hotkey if it is currently enabled. This is typically used to create a hotkey in an initially-disabled state.
B or B0: Specify the letter B to buffer the hotkey as described in #MaxThreadsBuffer. Specify B0 (B with the number 0) to disable this type of buffering.
Pn: Specify the letter P followed by the hotkey's thread priority. If the P option is omitted when creating a hotkey, 0 will be used.
Tn: Specify the letter T followed by a the number of threads to allow for this hotkey as described in #MaxThreadsPerHotkey. For example: T5.
In (InputLevel): Specify the letter I (or i) followed by the hotkey's input level. For example: I1.
If any of the option letters are omitted and the hotkey already exists, those options will not be changed. But if the hotkey does not yet exist -- that is, it is about to be created by this function -- the options will default to those most recently in effect. For example, the instance of #MaxThreadsBuffer that occurs closest to the bottom of the script will be used. If #MaxThreadsBuffer does not appear in the script, its default setting (OFF in this case) will be used. This behavior also applies to #IfWin: the bottommost occurrence applies to newly created hotkeys unless "Hotkey IfWin" has executed since the script started.
These sub-commands make all subsequently-created hotkeys context sensitive. See below for details.
Within these parameters, any variable reference becomes permanent the moment the function finishes. In other words, subsequent changes to the contents of the variable are not seen by existing IfWin hotkeys.
Like #IfWinActive/Exist, WinTitle and WinText use the default settings for SetTitleMatchMode and DetectHiddenWindows as set in the auto-execute section. See #IfWinActive/Exist for details.
Associates subsequently-created hotkeys with a given #If expression. Expression must be an expression which has been used with the #If directive elsewhere in the script. Although this function is unable to create new expressions, it can create new hotkeys using an existing expression. See #If example 4.
Note: The Hotkey function uses the string that you pass to it, not the original source code. Commas and deref chars (percent signs) are interpreted before the function is called, so may need to be escaped if they are part of the original expression. Escape sequences are resolved when the script loads, so only the resulting characters are considered; for example, Hotkey "If", 'x = "`t"' and Hotkey "If", 'x = "' A_Tab '"' both correspond to #If x = "`t".
Associates subsequently-created hotkeys with a given function object. Such hotkeys will only execute if calling the given function object yields a non-zero number. This is like Hotkey "If", Expression, except that each hotkey can have many variants (one per object). FunctionObject must be a single variable (not an expression) containing an object with a call method. The function or call method can accept one parameter, the name of the hotkey.
Once passed to the Hotkey function, the object will never be deleted (but memory will be reclaimed by the OS when the process exits).
The "three-key combination" example below uses this sub-command.
If the first parameter is "If" or begins with "IfWin", an exception is thrown if a parameter is invalid or a memory allocation fails. ErrorLevel is not set in those cases.
ErrorLevel is changed only when the word UseErrorLevel is present in the Options parameter.
| Error | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Label parameter specifies a nonexistent label name. |
| 2 | The KeyName parameter specifies one or more keys that are either not recognized or not supported by the current keyboard layout/language. |
| 3 | Unsupported prefix key. For example, using the mouse wheel as a prefix in a hotkey such as WheelDown & Enter is not supported. |
| 4 | The KeyName parameter is not suitable for use with the AltTab or ShiftAltTab actions. A combination of two keys is required. For example: RControl & RShift::AltTab. |
| 5 | The function attempted to modify a nonexistent hotkey. |
| 6 | The function attempted to modify a nonexistent variant of an existing hotkey. To solve this, use Hotkey IfWin to set the criteria to match those of the hotkey to be modified. |
| 98 | Creating this hotkey would exceed the 1000-hotkey-per-script limit (however, each hotkey can have an unlimited number of variants, and there is no limit to the number of hotstrings). |
| 99 | Out of memory. This is very rare and usually happens only when the operating system has become unstable. |
Tip: The UseErrorLevel option can be used to test for the existence of a hotkey variant. For example:
Hotkey "^!p",, "UseErrorLevel"
if ErrorLevel = 5 or ErrorLevel = 6
MsgBox "The hotkey does not exist or it has no variant for the current IfWin criteria."
The current IfWin setting determines the variant of a hotkey upon which the Hotkey function will operate.
If the goal is to disable selected hotkeys or hotstrings automatically based on the type of window that is active, Hotkey "^!c", "Off" is usually less convenient than using #IfWinActive/Exist (or their dynamic counterparts "Hotkey IfWinActive/Exist" below).
Creating hotkeys via double-colon labels performs better than using the Hotkey function because the hotkeys can all be enabled as a batch when the script starts (rather than one by one). Therefore, it is best to use this function to create only those hotkeys whose key names are not known until after the script has started running. One such case is when a script's hotkeys for various actions are configurable via an INI file.
A given label can be the target of more than one hotkey. If it is known that a label was called by a hotkey, you can determine which hotkey by checking the built-in variable A_ThisHotkey.
If the script is suspended, newly added/enabled hotkeys will also be suspended until the suspension is turned off (unless they are exempt as described in the Suspend section).
The keyboard and/or mouse hooks will be installed or removed if justified by the changes made by this function.
Although the Hotkey function cannot directly enable or disable hotkeys in scripts other than its own, in most cases it can override them by creating or enabling the same hotkeys. Whether this works depends on a combination of factors: 1) Whether the hotkey to be overridden is a hook hotkey in the other script (non-hook hotkeys can always be overridden); 2) The fact that the most recently started script's hotkeys generally take precedence over those in other scripts (therefore, if the script intending to override was started most recently, its override should always succeed); 3) Whether the enabling or creating of this hotkey will newly activate the keyboard or mouse hook (if so, the override will always succeed).
Once a script has at least one hotkey, it becomes persistent, meaning that ExitApp rather than Exit should be used to terminate it.
The "Hotkey If" functions allow context-sensitive hotkeys to be created and modified while the script is running (by contrast, the #If and #IfWinActive/Exist directives are positional and take effect before the script begins executing). For example:
Hotkey "IfWinActive", "ahk_class Notepad" Hotkey "^!e", "MyLabel" ; Creates a hotkey that works only in Notepad.
Using Hotkey "If" puts context sensitivity into effect for all subsequently created or modified hotkeys in the current thread. In addition, each If sub-command is mutually exclusive; that is, only the most recent one will be in effect.
To turn off context sensitivity (that is, to make subsequently-created hotkeys work in all windows), specify any If sub-command but omit the parameters. For example: Hotkey "If" or Hotkey "IfWinActive".
Before Hotkey "If" is used in a hotkey or hotstring thread, the Hotkey function defaults to the same context as the hotkey or hotstring that launched the thread. In other words, Hotkey A_ThisHotkey, "Off" turns off the current hotkey even if it is context-sensitive. All other threads default to creating or modifying global hotkeys, unless that default is overridden by using Hotkey "If" in the auto-execute section.
When a mouse or keyboard hotkey is disabled via an If sub-command or directive, it performs its native function; that is, it passes through to the active window as though there is no such hotkey. However, joystick hotkeys always pass through, whether they are disabled or not.
A particular hotkey can be created more than once if each definition has different IfWin criteria. These are known as hotkey variants. For example:
Hotkey "IfWinActive", "ahk_class Notepad" Hotkey "^!c", "MyLabelForNotepad" Hotkey "IfWinActive", "ahk_class WordPadClass" Hotkey "^!c", "MyLabelForWordPad" Hotkey "IfWinActive" Hotkey "^!c", "MyLabelForAllOtherWindows"
If more than one variant of a hotkey is eligible to fire, only the one created earliest will fire. The exception to this is the global variant (the one with no IfWin criteria): It always has the lowest precedence, and thus will fire only if no other variant is eligible.
When creating duplicate hotkeys, the order of modifier symbols such as ^!+# does not matter. For example, "^!c" is the same as "!^c". However, keys must be spelled consistently. For example, Esc is not the same as Escape for this purpose (though the case does not matter). Finally, any hotkey with a wildcard prefix (*) is entirely separate from a non-wildcard one; for example, "*F1" and "F1" would each have their own set of variants.
For more information about IfWin hotkeys, see #IfWin's General Remarks.
Hotkey Symbols, #IfWinActive/Exist, #MaxThreadsBuffer, #MaxThreadsPerHotkey, Suspend, IsLabel, Threads, Thread, Critical, Gosub, Return, Menu object, SetTimer
Hotkey "^!z", "MyLabel" return MyLabel: MsgBox "You pressed " A_ThisHotkey return ; Other examples: Hotkey "RCtrl & RShift", "AltTab" ; Makes RCtrl & RShift operate like Alt-Tab. Hotkey "#c", "On" ; Re-enables the Win-C hotkey. Hotkey "$+#c", "Off" ; Disables the Shift-Win-C hotkey. Hotkey "^!a", , "T5" ; Changes the hotkey to allow 5 threads. Hotkey "IfWinActive", "ahk_class Notepad" Hotkey "^!c", "MyLabelForNotepad" ; Creates Ctrl-Alt-C as a hotkey that works only in Notepad.
; This GUI allows you to register primitive three-key combination hotkeys:
Gui := GuiCreate()
Gui.Add("Text", "xm", "Prefix key:")
Gui.Add("Edit", "yp x100 w100 vPrefix", "Space")
Gui.Add("Text", "xm", "Suffix hotkey:")
Gui.Add("Edit", "yp x100 w100 vSuffix", "f & j")
Gui.Add("Button", "Default", "Register").OnEvent("Click", "RegisterHotkey")
Gui.OnEvent("Close", "Gui_Close")
Gui.OnEvent("Escape", "Gui_Close")
Gui.Show()
RegisterHotkey(BtnCtrl) {
Saved := BtnCtrl.Gui.Submit(false)
fn := Func("HotkeyShouldFire").Bind(Saved.Prefix)
Hotkey("If", fn)
Hotkey(Saved.Suffix, "FireHotkey")
}
HotkeyShouldFire(prefix) {
return GetKeyState(prefix)
}
FireHotkey() {
MsgBox(A_ThisHotkey)
}
Gui_Close() {
ExitApp()
}