Small yet mighty AutoHotkey v2 scripts

• The scripts
• Installation instructions
• Remarks
• Recommended apps
• License

The scripts

• caps_to_esc.ahk –
  Maps CapsLock to Esc.
• discord_minimizer.ahk –
  Minimizes Discord to the system tray
  instead of quitting it
  when pressing Alt + F4.
• pop-up_calendar.ahk –
  Shows a pop-up calendar when pressing Win + C.
• special_characters.ahk –
  Provides hotstrings to easily type special characters.
  E.g. ;copy → ©.
• wide_left_shift.ahk –
  Maps the extra key
  between the Left Shift and Z keys
  to Left Shift
  on ISO keyboards.

Installation instructions

1. Download and install AutoHotkey v2.
   • The scripts are developed for v2.0-beta.1.
     Newer versions might also work
     since the scripts are very simple.
   • Currently there’s no installer for v2, only a zip file.
     Extract the zip file e.g. to %programfiles%/AutoHotkey_2.0-beta.1/.
2. Download the scripts that fancy you
   or clone the whole repo:

   git clone https://github.com/mtsknn/AutoHotkey.git

3. Run the scripts that fancy you by opening them.
   • When opening an .ahk file for the first time,
     Windows should ask you
     what program to use to open the file.
     Select “Always use this app to open .ahk files”
     and choose AutoHotkey64.exe
     from AutoHotkey’s installation folder.
   • If Windows doesn’t ask you,
     or if you later want to change the default program to open .ahk files:
     1. Right click on an .ahk file and select “Properties.”
     2. Change the program in the “Opens with” section.

Bonus points if you modify the scripts to your liking!

Running scripts automatically when logging in to Windows

Create shortcuts for the scripts
and place the shortcuts to %appdata%/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs/Startup.

• To open the Startup folder:
  1. Open the Run dialog by pressing Win + R.
  2. Type shell:startup to the Run window and press Enter.
• To create a shortcut:
  • Drag and drop an .ahk file to the Startup folder
    while holding Alt.
  • Or right click on an .ahk file and select “Create shortcut,”
    and then move the shortcut to the Startup folder.

Remarks

#SingleInstance directive

The #SingleInstance directive
is used in every script.
It allows only a single instance of a script to be running,
so that running a script that is already running
makes the new instance replace the old instance automatically.

Why AutoHotkey v2 instead of v1

Because it’s so much better.
More details coming some day.

Recommended apps

These apps provide functionality
that I would want to create with AutoHotkey
if these apps didn’t exist.

In order of importance:

• TouchCursor
  provides Vim-like keyboard shortcuts anywhere in Windows.
  • Examples:
    • Space + H / J / K / L
      = arrow keys.
    • Space + I
      = Backspace.
    • Space + W
      = Ctrl + Backspace
      = delete previous word.
• T-Clock
  allows customizing the taskbar clock.
  • T-Clock sometimes has problems with DPI scaling.
    I once tried to recreate the functionality using AutoHotkey,
    but found it too difficult,
    so I continue using T-Clock.
  • Since Windows 11,
    “apps can no longer customize areas of the Taskbar.” 😟
• KeyMouse
  provides Vimium-like keyboard shortcuts in any app (e.g. Windows Explorer).
  • Vimium (a Firefox extension)
    and
    Vimium (a Chrome extension)
    provide Vim-like keyboard shortcuts in the browser.
  • Alternatives to KeyMouse (not as good in my opinion):
    • hunt-n-peck
    • LabelControl
      (AutoHotkey v1 script!)

License

MIT © Matias Kinnunen