Recipe 4.5. Launching Applications with Keyboard Shortcuts

Problem

You want to launch an application quickly using a keyboard shortcut rather than having to hunt down icons and click them.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Right-click on the desktop and choose New Shortcut.

2. .

3. Click Next, then select a name for the shortcut box, type in the name of your new shortcut, and click Finish. You've now created a shortcut for launching the application. But you still need to create a keyboard shortcut that will launch the application.

4. Right-click on the shortcut you just created and choose Properties. In the Shortcut tab, pictured in Figure 4-2, put your cursor in the Shortcut keys box and press the key combination you want to use to start the program. It has to be a combination of Ctrl-Alt, Shift-Alt, or Shift-Ctrl, plus a letter key, such as Ctrl-Alt-A or Shift-Alt-A, or Shift-Ctrl-A. (Note: Any quick key combo that you use will overshadow any local application use of the combo.)

   Figure 4-2. The Shortcut Properties dialog box lets you create a shortcut key to launch programs, and customize how the program launches

   
   
   

5. Click OK. The program will now launch whenever you press the shortcut key combination.

Discussion

Note that there are entries on the Shortcut tab that let you customize how the program launches when you use the shortcut. The Run drop-down list lets you start the program minimized, maximized, or in a normal window. The Start in box lets you determine the start location for the application. And you can even customize the ScreenTip that appears when you hover the mouse over the shortcut. In the Comment box, type in the text that you want to appear as a ScreenTip. Figure 4-3 shows how such a customized ScreenTip looks like when a mouse hovers over it.

Figure 4-3. The Shortcut Properties dialog box lets you create a customized ScreenTip, like this one, that appears when you hover your mouse over the shortcut's desktop icon

Also, make sure you choose a unique shortcut key sequence that isn't used to launch another application or that you use inside another application. Otherwise either or both of the shortcut keys might not work.

See Also

Recipe 4.6 shows you how you can use keyboard shortcuts in concert with command-line switches and parameters.