System-wide Hotkeys

A hotkey, also known as a keyboard shortcut, is a key or combination of keys that you can press to trigger an action - usually the running of a command or launching of a program. Opus lets you create several types of hotkeys.

 

True hotkeys are created through the Hotkeys page of the Customize dialog. You will find that you can create two types of hotkeys this way:

 

    hotkeys.png 

 

One use for system-wide hotkeys is as shortcuts for launching programs - for example, you could reassign Ctrl+Shift+W to launch Microsoft Word.
 

word hotkey.png
 

Because system-wide hotkeys are trapped by Opus no matter which program you are using, you do have to be careful when choosing which keys to use. For example, you could certainly create a system-wide hotkey that activates whenever you press the Space key, but then you wouldn't ever be able to type a space! For that reason, we generally recommend using multiple-key combinations for system-wide hotkeys. Opus even allows you to reassign the Windows-key hotkeys that Explorer normally reserves for itself. For example, you could remap Windows+E to specifically open an Opus Lister even if Explorer Replacement mode is turned off.

 

See the Hotkeys page in the Customize section for more information about creating hotkeys.