10 Powerful UniHotKey Scripts to Automate Your Workflow

Mastering UniHotKey: Tips, Tricks, and Best PracticesUniHotKey is a lightweight, powerful hotkey and automation tool designed to help you save time and reduce repetitive work. Whether you’re a developer, power user, or just someone who wants their computer to do more for them, UniHotKey provides a flexible scripting environment to create custom shortcuts, macros, and automation flows. This guide covers the fundamentals, advanced techniques, real-world examples, and best practices to help you get the most from UniHotKey.

What is UniHotKey?

UniHotKey is a hotkey manager and automation tool that lets you bind keyboard shortcuts, mouse actions, and system events to scripts. It supports text expansion, window management, application launching, and complex automation using an approachable scripting syntax. UniHotKey’s strengths are its performance, small footprint, and extensibility.

Getting started

1. Installation and setup

   • Download and install UniHotKey from the official source.
   • Place your script files (usually with a .uhk or .ini extension depending on the version) in the designated scripts folder.
   • Launch UniHotKey and enable your scripts; most installations let UniHotKey start with your system.

2. Basic script structure

   • Scripts are composed of hotkey definitions and action blocks.
   • A simple example: mapping Ctrl+Alt+T to open Notepad.

     
     ^!t::Run, notepad.exe 

   • Comments help keep scripts readable:

     
     ; This opens Notepad with Ctrl+Alt+T 

3. Key syntax and modifiers

   • Common modifiers: Ctrl (^), Alt (!), Shift (+), Win (#).
   • Use double colons (::) to define a hotkey, e.g.:

     
     ^#n::MsgBox, Hello world 

Essential tips for reliable scripts

• Use descriptive labels and comments. As scripts grow, clarity prevents mistakes.
• Test incrementally. Add one hotkey or function at a time and validate behavior.
• Avoid global shortcut conflicts: check existing system and app shortcuts before choosing hotkeys.
• Use SendInput instead of Send when typing text — it’s faster and more reliable for many applications:

  
  SendInput, This is faster text input 

Useful features and tricks

1. Text expansion and snippets

   • Create quick text expansions for emails, signatures, or code templates.

     
     ::addr::123 Main St., Springfield, USA 

   • Use braces and SendRaw when expanding special characters.

2. Window management

   • Move, resize, or snap windows with hotkeys.

     
     ^!Left::WinMove, A, , 0, 0, 960, 1080 ; snap active window to left half 

3. Conditional logic and context-sensitive hotkeys

   • Make hotkeys behave differently depending on active window or application.

     
     #IfWinActive, ahk_exe notepad.exe ^s::SendInput, ^s ; remap Ctrl+S to itself only in Notepad #IfWinActive 

4. Loops, timers, and scheduled automation

   • Use SetTimer for periodic tasks or delayed actions.

     
     SetTimer, BackupFiles, 600000 ; every 10 minutes BackupFiles: ; backup logic here Return 

5. COM and DLL integration (advanced)

   • Interact with other apps or Windows APIs for powerful automation (e.g., Excel via COM).

     
     xl := ComObjCreate("Excel.Application") xl.Visible := True 

Real-world examples

1. Clipboard manager with history

   • Store recent clipboard entries in an array, show a menu to choose past entries, and paste selected text.

2. Automated form filler

   • Use ControlSend or coordinate-based clicks to fill repetitive web forms quickly.

3. Build a quick-launch menu

   • Create a popup menu bound to a hotkey that launches frequently used apps and websites.

Performance and stability

• Keep scripts modular: split large scripts into multiple files and include them with #Include.
• Limit heavy loops and polling; prefer event-driven approaches (hotkeys, timers).
• Profile scripts if you notice CPU spikes—inefficient loops or frequent clipboard polling are common culprits.

Security and safety

• Be careful when automating password input; prefer secure password managers and use UniHotKey for navigation rather than storing credentials in plain text.
• Review third-party scripts before running them. Scripts can execute arbitrary commands and access files.

Collaboration and sharing

• Use version control (Git) for your script collection.
• Create a README explaining dependencies, intended hotkeys, and configuration options.
• Share snippets as modular functions or libraries to help others reuse useful utilities like clipboard history or window snapping.

Troubleshooting common issues

• Hotkey conflicts: use a hotkey viewer or temporarily disable other input utilities to isolate conflicts.
• Scripts not running at startup: confirm UniHotKey is allowed in startup settings and that script paths are absolute.
• Unexpected behavior in games or full-screen apps: some applications block simulated input; use native APIs or game-specific tools if necessary.

Best practices summary

• Organize scripts into small, focused files and document them.
• Test changes incrementally and backup working configurations.
• Prefer event-driven automation (hotkeys/timers) over tight polling loops.
• Avoid storing sensitive data directly in scripts.
• Use SendInput/ControlSend and COM where appropriate for reliability.

If you’d like, I can:

• Convert any of the examples above into a complete working script.
• Review your existing UniHotKey script for improvements and bug fixes.
• Provide a ready-to-use clipboard manager or window manager script tailored to your workflow.