FREE Tool to Automate Your Repetitive and Boring Tasks | AutoHotkey

[@LeilaGharani]

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[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Thanks for covering AutoHotkey! I really hope more people realize just how powerful AutoHotkey is! I call it the "swiss army knife for Windows"

[@ryanwells7596]

Joe, you're very modest. Lelia did a nice job. And if anyone wants to have deeper dive on AHK they should check out your amazing channel. kzbin.info/door/R0Hs-Bgz1SgGCq_0kbzjjg

[@EnriqueSanchez-tf3bs]

Great video, I liked the introduction to this amazing tool, I've used it for two years, and I'm very happy with it.

[@Riegle105]

Agreed

[@uravindarreddy]

I use AHK a lot for my personal productivity. I learnt it from your udemy courses. Thanks a lot

[@dmurray16]

Please make more AutoHotKey videos and tutorials. Automating repetitive tasks is the future. This will give users tools and time back to become creative instead of repetitive.

[@Jerome54DXB]

I've also been using AHK for years, literally every single day! Text expansions, e-mails filling, Excel format painter, program windows placement on different screens, specific program quick launch, custom music playlist shortcut, ... I even created several shortcuts for repetitive actions (like copy-paste between different files, or even new folders creation in project folders). It saved me HOURS at work!! Don't underestimate its potential, I cannot work without it anymore!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

I always hate using someone else's computer because I have to remember the old / "mundane" way of doing things. lol

[@LeilaGharani]

😁

[@xexeia]

What’s the script for copy a file and automatically paste it in another folder as back up?

[@MonsterFenrick]

I have been using AHK since 2006. It started as you had mentioned, with text expansion. Since 2006 I've written countless utilities and 2 applications that have been Enterprise adopted. Hopefully AHK will be universally recognized in organizations as a productivity improvement tool, though currently it always takes convincing since it is not well known in most organizations.

[@LeilaGharani]

Great! Thanks for sharing 👍

[@alfonsneumann1878]

Yeah same here, using it since 2002, in the beginning as a script package made by a magazine and quickly started to adopt it and wrote my own set of tools now over the years. I really love how good everything is explained in it's help.

[@Holodeck1]

I work from home, and I use AHK. I can run a script that does the majority of my work HANDS-FREE! I cannot count how many times I've gone to the store or the post office "on the clock" and my script was doing all of the work. I rated top marks for production last month too!

[@jayo3074]

I haven't told my employees this but I've used an automation tool to do about 70% of my daily tasks. It's been ridiculous how much free time I have because of it, going to the gym, reading, napping lol I feel automation is the future of work

[@markusarmbruster8949]

Does only me make this comment thinking --- what an greedy arrogant person (some would even say how dumb it is as a boss) not to help and teach his employees to be more efficient and have better work life balance and like their job more ^^ but ok ... its your business :D

[@Ayplus]

It is. Especially now with ChatGPT

[@50PullUps]

I’m learning AutoHotKet to make applying for jobs easier.

[@jayo3074]

@@markusarmbruster8949 I don't care tbh with you. The bottom line and satisfying my shareholders is all that's important to me.

[@jayo3074]

@@Ayplus I know

[@michaeltodd2012]

I've been using this for 6 years, have written about 50 applications, from Bible Studies to Reminder apps to Document/Program launchers, etc. It is very capable and great for automating processes. I'm glad to see you are making use of it.

[@RobMedellin]

I've been loving AHK for I don't know how many years now. Couldn't live without it.

[@donlawson2280]

So excited to see AHK being introduced by one of my favorite KZbinrs. AHK can do sooooo much more and they make it so easy.

[@IiOnna222]

I strongly suggest anyone to use AHK or any other text expander. It is a time saver for sure. Great video Leila. My company, outside of actual data management teams, does not allow AHK like it does not allow PowerShell. We have otherwise what's called FastKeys but it's not as well documented or even used. However, it has a text expander function that I use often.

[@LeilaGharani]

Thanks for the tip, Liz!

[@janrienk]

Great video. I'm a big fan of AutoHotkey. Great to use it for things like links that I refer to often so that I don't have to search every time I'm looking for that one video, blogpost or VAT No. A few tips for fellow productivity enthusiasts: - Omit the warning message on changing your script by adding "#SingleInstance Force" in the beginning of your script. - Run your script(s) on startup by placing them (or shortcuts to them) in the startup folder. (Which you can find quickly using [win]+[r] --> "shell:startup") - The script is a text file... so don't put any passwords in them.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

I'd add the option of putting "o" between the first two colons if you don't want a space at the end. ex: :o:btw::By the way Really helpufl for emails and passwords

[@janrienk]

@@JoeGlines-Automator Good point, I forgot why I did that XD.

[@ksoonsoon]

Thank you for covering this product. I have been using it for years and it is a natural productivity assistant with many of the tools you often provide content for. Appreciated!!

[@dmurray16]

Please make more AutoHotKey videos and tutorials. Automating repetitive tasks is the future. This will give users tools and time back to become creative instead of repetitive.

[@LeilaGharani]

Will do, Dave!

[@jeeswg]

@@LeilaGharani Great news! Cheers.

[@sorinm221]

@@LeilaGharani I second this please do courses Basic and Intermediate with AHK!

[@unkchaos2007]

I have been using AHK for at least 3 years now, and it is amazing what it can do. Awesome Video!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

I think the question is more what can't AutoHotkey do! :)

[@DingusBatus]

I’ve used AutoHotKey for years. Combine it with the Elgato Stream Deck XL and things get a whole lot easier.

[@FaizSheikh]

Can you please mention some of your use cases

[@DingusBatus]

@@FaizSheikh I’m not very good at describing things, somewhat hopeless really. I have button(s) on the Stream Deck that execute AHK macros that Move the cursor to fixed point then click then move again an click, toggling things on/off I have mouse move+click+enter text. I do have a couple of videos of my own that were made as a guide on how AHK can be used with the Elgato Stream Deck. I don’t think any of my videos demonstrate my actual usage though?

[@agn855]

@@DingusBatus - you can go cheaper too… Matric (Android) Touch Portal (iOS + Android)… So you can create fully automated app-related keyboards for just $5/5€.

[@natenatenate10]

or just use numpad+modifiers and self contain everything to ahk

[@whatzause]

Yours is the BEST and clearest on AHK after I’ve tried watching so many others!

[@Sinvisigoth]

I remember commenting about autohotkey on one of your other videos not too long ago. I'm so happy to see you spreading the love for it! It and X-Mouse are invaluable.

[@TABNationAutomation]

Very clear video! I love doing AHK videos on my channel. Been using for years to automate both my job and sometimes single player gaming.

[@submeg5183]

You also have some great videos too; if people are interested, you should definitely check out TAB Nation's channel!

[@clearmanlawyers753]

TAB Nation is amazing. Go Thom. Great to see Leila on the AHK train.

[@SlumberPartyLofi]

I've been hunting for this info for hours- it is surprisingly difficult to find someone breaking down hotkeys in this way-you are a great teacher! Thanks 😘

[@LeilaGharani]

Glad it was helpful, Sara!

[@TABNationAutomation]

I agree with joe about trying out coms with excel and all ms office. Some of my most popular videos I have done.

[@coderlicious6565]

So glad you brought attention to AHK with your large audience. Great video.

[@HowToWorkFromHomeUSA]

Hi @Leila Gharani, I was pleasantly surprised to see AutoHotkey covered on your channel. Thank you for promoting it :) I have been using AHK for over 6 years, and once I got used to it, I now can't live without it haha - it's a must have program on my Windows machine.

[@ctcboater]

Thanks! I've been using AHK for 20 years and I still learned something.

[@edsamuel1767]

Hey Leila, Great job! The AutoHotkey tool is a game-changer in simplifying many tedious and repetitive tasks. Please keep scouring for more tools that simplify our tasks. Cheers!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

I wish more people still looked to simple automation instead of manually doing the mundane!

[@skipper63400]

I have automated my tasks with Excel VBA and Autohotkey the last 3 years now. My scripts are in place and work from me everyday. I learnt everything from Joe Glines and Leila through their Udemy courses. Very interesting qnd happy to see the circle close in this video

[@lepolder]

About three months into being a ahk user, I now have 20 ahk files up and running at my desktop. I use it to run an image viewer. The viewer my company recently bought sucked, and I had to do something to save myself from repeatative clickings and draggings.

[@joegargreaves6487]

You are an amazing teacher. You are so polite and your personality is quite incredible. Thanks for teaching me always. 🥰😍😍🤩

[@gracemark5995]

wow . really amazing and helpful . thanks leila it helped a lot

[@AzulonKaiba]

Leila, It’s awesome AutoHotKey, I have used it to expand VBA outside the Office applications. How it’s possible? Because it uses COM. The objects that installed at Office installation. COM are the object that manipulate VBA in process. That explains how anybody who says Excel is dead and move to Python, the latter uses COM to automate Excel. I have used AutoHotKey to a data engineering pipeline of web scraping to upload data to an Access database. It’s not possible to use it with VBA because AHK has a library to control a browser if you know DOM and JavaScript (Web development stuff) to avoid sending clicks. If anybody knows VBA it can be expanded to another level with AHK. Specially for any Windows user.

[@UA-js9fn]

Many thanks for your efforts and supports

[@jayblev]

Very helpful tutorial. I have a malfunctioning key on my laptop, and AutoHotKey has allowed me to duplicate that key in Excel and other apps. No need for a hardware replacement. Thanks!

[@giovanniielapi9296]

Not the hero we deserve but the hero we need.

[@JitendraBhatt28]

Hey Leila, Thanks for the video. For curious friends on this topic, I use AHK for mouse cursor highlighter and to keep sticky notes or any windows always on top.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Yeah, that's a super handy and helpful one (especially if you're leading zoom calls / giving presentations

[@JitendraBhatt28]

@@JoeGlines-Automator true

[@gotbordercollies]

I have been using AutoHotKey for 2 years and it is amazing! GREAT intro video 😊

[@dineshrddy]

Can we apply it on Excel spreadsheet too? Because I have requirement which is a repetitive in nature.

[@annan9752]

@@dineshrddy It will work in Excel just as well

[@dineshrddy]

@@annan9752 oh! That's really cool.

[@edwinjonah]

Great video! I found AutoHotkey some years ago, I remember I used to have a long list of shortcuts on a cloud script, that would move with me across computers. I also had copies of specific hotstrings that I shared with coworkers back when we did a lot of transactional work and data entry, saved us a lot of time and also help standardize responses and completion comments.

[@4Evr_Cruzn]

Just purchased a laptop that has Window 11, and this video was extremely helpful...thank you!

[@jameswoodward5121]

Hi Liela, I've just reviewed your video about Auto Hot Key and I was excited to give it a go. I downloaded Auto Hot Key and tried to follow your instructions and had all sorts of problems which I eventually found out mostly related to your video being based on Auto Hot Key v1 (which is no longer supported) and very different to the current Auto Hot Key v2. It would be great if you could update your video to Auto Hot Key v2. Thanks again for your great videos. James - Brisbane Australia

[@rudiklein]

Why didn't learn about Hotkey earlier, like 15 years earlier?! WHY 😭?! Thanks very much for covering it!

[@kbalaji9516]

Thank you so much for the very interesting tool Leila..

[@maestrith]

Nice, thank you for getting the good word of AutoHotkey!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Amen Chad! So happy seeing AutoHotkey get some deserved respect. :) Let's hope she makes more!

[@manujmalhotra]

Thank you very very much Leila. I just found this video while scrolling thro some stuff in KZbin and I am loving hotkey now. Exploring it more and more. Thank you again.

[@shirleymoreman6725]

Love this! Have already set up a hotkey to enter my standard text that I put at the top of every VBA module I create and can think of lots of other uses.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Yeah, I have a ton of templates for my favorite snippets. :) Saves a ton of time coding. Do you make any that are context sensitive? So you can type the same exact thing however it replaces different text depending on the program/window you're in?

[@LeilaGharani]

Great! 👏

[@shirleymoreman6725]

@@JoeGlines-Automator Haven't tried that yet. It would definitely make a lot of sense then I guess you can use the same hotkeys for different things depending on what you're doing.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

@@shirleymoreman6725 Yep. I have 1 hotkey for commenting out code but it will put in different text depending on my file extension / editor. It's great because I don't need to think about what language I am in (well at least not more than once when I write the script).

[@duartefernandes1555]

Thanks a lot for this video, it's really going to help me to be more productive on my daily tasks👏👏

[@submeg5183]

Duarte, really get onto it, it's great!

[@flyingDman]

Hotstrings and Hotkeys are only the tip of Autohotkey's iceberg. There is a lot more to Autohotkey and its ability to interact with Excel makes a must-have tool. For Excel power users Autohotkey can do what VBA does - and much more - using an easier to understand language and with shorter development time. @Leila Gharani, great introductory video! I hope there will be more to come... (until that time and for specific questions, the vibrant Autohotkey forum is available)

[@yogaridho]

old tools but still helping us a lot.. been using since 2015

[@marcosmelendez09]

Yeah, I agree too. I told Leila that this is not a new thing unlike the way she kind of put in the thumbnail. I see Leila making a mistake as she is expanding to more and more areas besides Excel that I am starting to question her approach. I would suggest her to focus on Excel and maybe include Office Applications on factual matters instead of now delving into Finance, Programming and stuff that are clearly not her background or strength.

[@mrpage221]

Thank you for this video. I downloaded AutoHotKey and think it's terrific software. Your presentation, was as usual, outstanding and very much appreciated.

[@LeilaGharani]

Glad it was helpful, Mark!

[@RiminiVirage]

Brilliant. Thankyou so much, once I get this working it will save me so much time. You are a wonderful teacher.

[@homeagent]

AutoHotKey ROCKS!!

[@vAnoski_dragon]

Nice video! I love AHK.

[@SamirHabib]

It is amazing and I always surprised how can you find and discovered such interesting topics. Thank you very much.

[@elaidtahri8203]

Thanks for all the valuable information

[@chrism9037]

Very interesting Leila, I never knew much about AutoHotkey but can see a ton of uses for it!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

@Chris, AutoHotkey has many more uses! She did a great intro but there's a ton more that you can automate with AutoHotkey!

[@submeg5183]

@@JoeGlines-Automator Chris, agree with Joe, get onto it. It's been the best thing to find in my working (and personal) life when it comes to coding.

[@agn855]

I've written a full blown billing system with AHK, it's a gem. Go for it! As said, it's free and fool proof noob friendly. Thx 2 Leila for this tutorial :o)

[@macky2green]

*Typertask* (Windows, free) *_I've been using this for years in my work as a Laboratory Clerk in the Hospital and it's a life-changer._* *Texpand Plus* (Android, paid/free version available) *_When the built-in from Samsung mobile is quite limited, I've decided to try this then eventually upgraded to the paid version. So worth it._*

[@boovank]

I love this very much. Thank you for sharing

[@carlosclaptrix]

I've been looking for such a thing for quite a while. So thanks a lot. You've got a really nice voice and way to explain things!

[@LeilaGharani]

Glad you liked it!

[@RichardJones73]

I love auto hot key. Cannot live without it. But I also use Lintalist which is based on autohotkey

[@zubarmalik4672]

Do you know if AHK can be used to fill out text on a website with a drop down menu?

[@dhammaplayer]

Part II, it is imperative, necessary, etc. i will be immeasurably grateful

[@cristiandrei1980]

I've heard about the software, and planned to use it, but if I knew that is that great. Thank you!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

She did a great job but barely scratched the surface of AutoHotkey's capabilities. I do hope she does more!

[@submeg5183]

Don't wait! Download it and start using it :) You'll be glad you did!

[@cristiandrei1980]

@@submeg5183 of course, already did. Followed the examples shown by Leila, but also the documentation, for example to have more lines for a hotstring.

[@submeg5183]

@@cristiandrei1980 great to hear! There's so many things you can do with AHK, once you get into it, you won't be able to stop! Opening files and applications is a useful step.

[@mdexcelpro8495]

no one can lead you like introduction of this kind of new things 🎉

[@daitedve1984]

AHK is the "must have" tool. I use it all the time from issuing strong password till window management. Second tool is Total Commander - I cannot work w/o this gem.

[@noLKWD_vital]

I am personally using AHK for 3 years and never regret it

[@leocarmopereira]

No one but Joe Glines here will believe me but AutoHotkey is actually THE most powerful Windows program.

[@Comosus]

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you very much.

[@LeilaGharani]

My pleasure!

[@alfonsneumann1878]

Wow amazing! I've been using auto-hotkey for more than 20 years now (quite a lot at some stages) but this is the first time I see a general KZbinr using and presenting it. Especially it's documentation is amazing, one of the best I've seen so far. Ever thought of a follow up clip? Without getting into programming I would expand those two chapters of autohotkey and autohotstrings since they are something very useful and unique for autohotkey. Like introducing #ifWinActive to make context-sensitive hotkeys (only working in predefined apps and therefore not messing up other programs) or redefining already existing keys on your keyboard (like blocking CAPS or redefining the scroll key). You can easily improve and show autohotkeys usefulness without making it a programming video. Keep it up!

[@FNL77]

Extremely useful, Leila. Thank you.

[@iecivil]

Thanks for covering this! It was a tool I'd been looking for almost the entire time I started my work as a professional. Looking for more videos on this

[@LeilaGharani]

Very welcome!

[@murtazamohammadi1938]

Thanks for this tutorial. I learnt about this tool for the first time and it seems to be quite promising.

[@DaveSmith-kf8bm]

Hi Leila - thank you for covering this topic! I've used MS Power Automate, but find AHK executes much quicker. I hope you can devote more to this tool!

[@xaquison]

I am currently using some text expansions add ons for Gmail but this AHK looks a lot more powerful. Thanks for a great video to jumpstart using this app.

[@michalrumanek7392]

This can be very useful tool. I am going to give it a try!

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Trust me Michal, you'll be so glad you tried AutoHotkey! It's a life saver!

[@submeg5183]

100% Michal, it's great! Get started :)

[@def__luisAM95__]

This is useful. Thank you!

[@KGF74843]

Leila super wow nice application 👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👌

[@hsh7677]

Amazing Leila!

[@cmdrbozo]

Nice video! Been using it for many years. One use is, as you showed, putting dates in all flle names. Can't find the URL just now but there's an auto correct list available with hundreds of common misspellings.

[@LeilaGharani]

Thanks for the info!

[@jeeswg]

I tried to post the URL but KZbin deleted it. You can find it like so: webpage title: Hotstrings - Definition & Usage | AutoHotkey header: AutoCorrect

[@omnipop4936]

Oh the possibilities! 😃 Thanks for this!

[@alihms]

The devious me see a chance to play pranks on my wife's PC. She gonna get real confused... and then angry!

[@omnipop4936]

@@alihms 😁 Here's hoping "virtuous you" reminds "devious you" that happy wife = happy life.

[@bheardnow6410]

Another excellent Excel add-in is ASAP Utilities. Very helpful vba based tool with tons of helpful shortcuts .

[@CivReborn]

AutoHokey is great. I have been using it for years.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

You know it @CivReborn! I'm so stoked she did a video on it! :)

[@jeeswg]

I agree with both of you! Cheers. 😁

[@CivReborn]

@@jeeswg Miss having you on the forums bro. How you been?

[@jeeswg]

​@@CivReborn That's very kind Hellbent, thanks. I've been great. I'll be posting my final batch of new AutoHotkey features, estimated 1st May. And hopefully my website, later in May. One preview: I've written machine code for spellchecking in AHK (the Levenshtein distance and Damerau-Levenshtein distance). Maybe I'll be back on the forum this year, we'll just see what happens! How have you been? It's been great seeing your GUI and other projects! Cheers!

[@tommac597]

FINALLY, someone recognizes how powerful and useful autohotkey is. User since 2007. A simple, but useful hack, is to load the delete key under mouse wheel down (mbutton:: send, {del}). Not good for CAD programs.

[@LeilaGharani]

Thanks for the tip!

[@leondevries478]

Autohotkey is awesome !

[@EngLuizD]

Amazing tool and another amazing video.

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

AHK is amazing for automating the mundane!

[@robertallenkim]

I loved this tool! At work, I was on Windows, and only used the word expansion like date, email address, creating new emails and filling in everything but the file paths that changed (I created files that others needed access to). Now, at home, I’m on a Mac and iOS devices. Quickest is no longer around, so I’m still searching.

[@joshkuperus]

Keyboard Maestro is the closest thing to AutoHotKey on Mac that I’ve found!

[@obitwokenobi69]

Hi Leila! Please make more videos about Autohotkey! It is simply AMAZING 🙏

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Amen! I hope more people realize automating your PC CAN BE easy!

[@ROLLTIDEJOE]

Thank you so much for this! You have helped increase my workflow drastically!! Master teacher! 😊

[@guadalupeaguilera7818]

Fantastic tips , think very applicable to the concept of times and movements, thank you Leila

[@panaiyappanpalaniyappan3781]

Expecting more videos on this....

[@andrewbrown3618]

nice to see there is a way to implement features that are standard in MacOS albeit third party and thankfully free

[@shiazasif8058]

Thank you Leila

[@francoisstrydom7506]

Hi Leila Never knew of this before today. Thanks for sharing. As always, you are my go-to person on youtube for everything. One day, I want to work for you... just for the experience of it.

[@LeilaGharani]

You are so welcome!

[@hemvaidya]

Fantastic...thank you so much ....

[@prishasrivastava6169]

That's really useful for me. Thank you ^-^

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Keep on it! AutoHotkey is an amazing tool!

[@nerenlakhraj5252]

Hi Leila ... thanks for sharing. Acutally learnt this from Randy ... Excel for Freelancers. Your videos are awesome. Keep up the good work 🙂

[@alclosebr]

Ms. Gharani, thank you again for your excellent videos.

[@LeilaGharani]

My pleasure 😊

[@nazarttgoh333]

Many Thanks for sharing this tool out! ❤

[@JimmYJammA2099]

What a fantastic time saving tool. Free and easy to use and you explained it so well!

[@ruudb72]

Nice demo. I'm a longtime user of AutoHotkey and know it can be a great help But Leila, keep in mind that Autohotkey (and the similar Sikluli and SikuliX) are banned in many companies. In my consultancy job I have several customers where the use is not allowed.

[@omnipop4936]

Easy fix. Just set up an AutoHotkey with the function, "Override Company Ban". 😜

[@JoeGlines-Automator]

Yeah, anything "powerful" must be banned. Such a shame to try and be productive... lol It can be a pain, but you can present your case and get them to change their minds... I did it at every place I worked.

[@reneschmidt1902]

@@JoeGlines-Automator well banning AHK is for me nothing more then an Systemadministration being unable to correctly setup GPOs in the Company. Good GPO can hold AHK easyly in check to just do the things its allowed to do. AHK is just brilliant although I still have little issues I cant fix when I converted my script to .exe files x)

[@agn855]

@@reneschmidt1902 - die da wären?

[@reneschmidt1902]

@@agn855 ich habe ein script mit nem settimer der werte einer .ini liest und eine Gui aktualisiert. Wenn man das Script beendet bleibt bei der Exe datei immer ein Hintergrundprozess geöffnet vermutlich wegeb dieses timers. Exitapp process close etc. Funktioniert alles leider nicht. Wenn ich die datei als .ahk öffne und schließe verbleibt der Hintergrund Prozess nicht. Bisher habe ich dazu leider noch keine Antwort gefunden.

[@AbdicateDotNet]

Thanks so much! I've been using it for a while and I only wish it worked on Macs. Great video!

[@technicaldata3227]

Thanks for sharing 👌

[@LuisCarlosChavez717]

It was a wonderful video, as always your videos are very helpful. Please a second part, I'll be waiting. Thanks a lot.

[@djhansol4224]

Really good video. Just getting started . Thanks.