MultiShortcuts Pro — Setup Guide

Step 1 of 4

Install AutoHotkey v2

MultiShortcuts Pro runs on AutoHotkey v2 — a free, trusted Windows automation engine used by millions of people. You install it once and it runs quietly in the background.

Standard install (recommended)

Go to autohotkey.com
Click the big Download button and choose AutoHotkey v2
Run the installer and accept the defaults

Portable zip option (no install)

If your work or school computer doesn't allow installing software, AutoHotkey also offers a zip version. Visit the AutoHotkey downloads page and grab the v2 zip — extract it to any folder or USB drive and run MultiShortcuts Pro from that folder. Some organizations may still block this — follow your IT policy.

You only need to install AutoHotkey once. After that, any AHK script — including MultiShortcuts Pro — just runs when you double-click it.

Step 2 of 4

Download and run MultiShortcuts Pro

MultiShortcuts Pro is a single script file — no installer, no database. Download it and double-click. The script handles the rest.

Download MultiShortcutsPro.ahk from the latest GitHub release.
Double-click it to run.
It will ask "Move MultiShortcuts Pro to a folder on your Desktop?" — click Yes. The script will create a folder called MultiShortcuts Pro on your desktop and move itself there. (This keeps your shortcut library from getting lost in your Downloads folder.)
A small H icon appears in your system tray (bottom-right of screen, near the clock). You're running.

The first-run dialog only appears if you ran the script from a temporary location like Downloads. If you downloaded directly to a permanent folder, you'll skip straight to running.

Once your MultiShortcuts Pro folder is on your desktop, you can drag the whole folder to OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Your shortcut library will sync across every PC you use.

Step 3 of 4

Try a shortcut — then make your own

Open any app — Notepad, your browser, a chat window. Type `c and Claude opens in your browser. That's MultiShortcuts Pro working.

AI launchers pre-loaded for you

Type any of these anywhere — in any app, browser, or chat window — and the site opens instantly.

Trigger	Opens
`a	ChatGPT
`c	Claude
`g	Gemini
`p	Perplexity
`1	Google Voice
`2	Gmail
`3	Google Calendar

Backtick sits right next to the 1 key, so `1, `2, and `3 are a single tiny finger movement — even without any keyboard remapping.

Now make your own

This is the core of the program. To build your real library, MultiShortcuts Pro gives you a handful of Alt-key hotkeys. These are the ones to remember:

Hotkey	What it does
Alt+T	Add a new text expansion (e.g. mE → your email address, vN → your VIN number)
Alt+A	Add a new app launcher (browse to a program)
Alt+W	Add a website launcher — automatically captures the URL from a browser's address bar
Alt+D	Add a document launcher (browse to a file)
Alt+C	Capture selected text as an expansion
Alt+E	Open the editor — view, edit, or delete any shortcut
Alt+R	Reload the script — try this first if any shortcut stops working
Alt+H	Show the full help screen (all hotkeys)

Tip — Alt+W is the easiest way to bookmark a website. Visit any website. Click into the browser's address bar (so the URL is highlighted). Press Alt+W. MultiShortcuts Pro automatically grabs the URL and pre-fills the dialog — you just type a short trigger like `b for "bank" and hit Save. No copy-paste needed.

Every pre-loaded shortcut is yours to change. The shortcuts that ship with MultiShortcuts Pro are a starting point, not a rulebook. Open the editor (Alt+E) anytime to rename, change, or delete any of them. Your real library is whatever you build.

A few more pre-loaded families to know about. Open any category that interests you — skip the rest.

All of the pre-loaded shortcuts start with a semicolon (;) — that's just the convention we ship with. Your own custom shortcuts can use any letters or characters you want. You can also change the pre-loaded prefix — see Change the trigger key near the end of this guide if you'd prefer a different character.

Windows apps tap to expand

Trigger	Opens
;c	Calculator
;q	Snipping Tool
;f	File Explorer
;T	Task Manager

Windows commands tap to expand

Trigger	Action
;s	Save (Ctrl+S)
;S	Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S)
;n	New (Ctrl+N)
;o	Open (Ctrl+O)
;p	Print (Ctrl+P)
;w	Close tab (Ctrl+W)
;r	Refresh (F5)
;a	Switch app (Alt+Tab)
;A	Select All and Copy
;L	Lock PC
;E	Emoji picker

Document navigation tap to expand

Trigger	Action
;t	Top of page (Ctrl+Home)
;b	Bottom of page (Ctrl+End)
;u	Page Up
;d	Page Down
;l	Line start (Home)
;e	Line end (End)
;<	Snap window left
;>	Snap window right
;m	Minimize window

Dates & relative dates tap to expand

Trigger	Result
-=	Today's date (e.g. April 26, 2026)
=-	Today's date, short form (04/26/26)
1-=	One week from today
2-=	Two weeks from today
1m=	One month from today
1y=	One year from today

Press Alt+H anytime for the complete hotkey reference. There are more for power users (backup, pause, undo, etc.) but you won't need them at first. If any shortcut ever stops working, press Alt+R to reload — that solves most hiccups.

Step 4 of 4

Run on startup

So MultiShortcuts Pro is always there when you log in.

Right-click the small H icon in your system tray
Click Run on Windows Startup

That's it. From now on, the script starts automatically every time you log into Windows.

You're set up

That's all you need.

You have a working program with dozens of shortcuts ready to use, plus the tools to build your own library. Use MultiShortcuts Pro for a week or two — get comfortable with the shortcuts, build a few of your own, see what fits your workflow.

When you're ready for more, the optional steps below add even faster ways to trigger your shortcuts. They're for motivated users — completely skippable.

Optional · Advanced

Going further — for serious productivity

The steps below are completely optional. But for users whose work depends on speed — anyone who switches apps, opens sites, or fires off commands hundreds of times a day — these add a meaningful step-change. Your mouse and your Caps Lock key become launchers. Custom shortcuts fire from either hand. Repetitive mouse routines record once and replay forever.

Skip whichever don't appeal to you — they're each independent. But if your routine could benefit from the difference between "two keystrokes" and "one click," start with Step 5.

Step 5 Optional

Make backtick effortless — remap Caps Lock

⚠ Before you start, create a Windows Restore Point. This step modifies a Windows registry setting. The change is safe and reversible, but a Restore Point gives you a one-click undo if anything ever feels wrong.

Press the Start button, type Create a restore point, open it, click Create, give it a name like "Before SharpKeys", click Create again. About 30 seconds.

Caps Lock + C opens Claude. Caps Lock + G opens Gmail. Caps Lock + 1 opens Google Voice. This is the supercharging move — about five minutes of setup that transforms how you use your computer every day after.

The idea: Caps Lock sits right under your left pinky and almost nobody uses it for its actual purpose. Remap it to backtick (`) and it becomes a dedicated launcher key — tap it, then tap a letter. Two quick taps. Any custom launcher you've added works the same way.

Install SharpKeys

Open the SharpKeys page in the Microsoft Store and click Get in Store app — this is the same free SharpKeys, just delivered through Windows itself (so it auto-updates and you skip any "is this safe?" prompts).
Open SharpKeys and click Add
From key (left column): select Special: Caps Lock
To key (right column): select 00_29 (`) Grave / Backtick
Click OK, then Write to Registry
Log out and back in (or restart) for the change to take effect

Build your launcher library

Now press Alt+A in MultiShortcuts Pro and add the apps and sites you use most. When you add a launcher, you give it two things: a short trigger (like `m) and a target (the website URL or program path it should open). MSP then opens that target whenever you type the trigger.

Here are some examples of what other users might set up — yours will be entirely your own:

Example trigger	Example target (you supply this)
`m	https://mail.google.com (Gmail)
`b	Your bank's website URL
`y	https://youtube.com
`n	https://netflix.com

You can also point launchers at local programs (e.g. C:\\Program Files\\...) or documents (e.g. G:\\My Drive\\notes.docx). Anything you can open on your PC, you can put behind a trigger.

To undo the Caps Lock remap: open SharpKeys, select the mapping, click Delete, click Write to Registry, log out. Or use your Restore Point for an instant full reversal.

Why SharpKeys and not AHK directly? AutoHotkey can remap keys, but its own remaps don't feed back into its own hotstring engine — so a Caps Lock remap done inside MSP's script wouldn't actually trigger your ` shortcuts. SharpKeys works at the Windows registry level, which AHK sees as a real keypress. That's why we use it here.

Step 6 Optional

Add mouse-button launchers

For an even richer setup, remap your mouse middle-click to backtick. Then your right hand on the mouse can fire launchers too — middle-click + G opens Gmail, no keyboard touch needed.

This requires installing X-Mouse Button Control, a free utility by Highresolution Enterprises (a UK developer, around since 2007). It's not in the Microsoft Store, so you'll download from the developer's own site. The installer is digitally signed by the publisher.

Install X-Mouse Button Control

Go to highrez.co.uk/downloads/xmousebuttoncontrol.htm — the official developer site
Download and run the installer (Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt — click "More info" → "Run anyway")
Open X-Mouse Button Control from the system tray
On the Layer 1 tab, set Middle Button to Simulated Keys and enter a backtick:

Button	Set to	What it gives you
Middle click	` (backtick)	Click + letter fires any backtick launcher

Right hand on mouse, left hand on keyboard. Middle-click + G opens Gmail, middle-click + C opens Claude. Any launcher fires in one motion — no keyboard needed.

Step 7 Advanced · depends on your mouse

Turn wheel-tilt into a Ctrl key

If your mouse has a wheel that tilts left and right, you can turn those tilts into a Ctrl modifier — handy for one-handed Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+S. This one is genuinely fiddly and behaves differently from mouse to mouse, so treat it as an experiment. If it doesn't feel solid within a few minutes, skip it with no loss — Step 6's middle-click launcher is the mouse mapping worth keeping regardless.

The approach that works most reliably is a toggle rather than a hold: one tilt turns Ctrl on, the other turns it off. (A held modifier fights the way a tilt wheel sends its signal, which is what makes the hold version stutter.) In X-Mouse Button Control, on the Layer 1 tab, set each tilt to Simulated Keys, choose "As mouse button is pressed" under "How to send," and enter:

Button	Enter	What it does
Tilt left	{LCTRL down}	Latches Ctrl ON — then tap C, V, S, etc. with your other hand
Tilt right	{LCTRL up}	Releases Ctrl

Watch the invisible state: with a toggle, Ctrl stays on until you flick right to release it — there's no on-screen indicator. If you flick left, get distracted, then start typing, a normal word can fire shortcuts instead of letters. The rule of thumb: if your typing suddenly "goes weird," flick tilt-right once to clear Ctrl. That hidden on/off state is exactly why this is an advanced extra and not part of the main setup.

Step 8 Optional

Record mouse routines with GhostMouse

Some tasks involve clicking specific spots on screen in a set sequence — filling a form, navigating a complex workflow, repeating the same series of clicks every day. GhostMouse records those sequences and replays them on demand.

Download GhostMouse

Go to ghost-mouse.com
Download and run the installer

Record a routine

Open GhostMouse and click Record
Perform the mouse actions you want to automate
Click Stop and save the script file
Click Play to replay it anytime

Trigger it from MultiShortcuts Pro

Add the saved GhostMouse script as a launcher in MultiShortcuts Pro — press Alt+A, point to the file. Now a couple of keystrokes replays the entire recorded sequence automatically.

GhostMouse has not been updated in several years but still works on Windows 10 and 11 for basic mouse recording. It runs completely independently of MultiShortcuts Pro — no conflicts.

Change the trigger key tap to expand

If the semicolon conflicts with how you type — or you just prefer a different character — you can change it. MultiShortcuts Pro will rewrite all your existing shortcuts to use the new key automatically.

Right-click the H tray icon
Click Trigger Keys Setup…
Enter the character you want to use (comma, period, backslash, or tilde all work well)
Click Save

Every pre-loaded shortcut and every custom shortcut you've defined updates instantly. ;t becomes ,t, `c stays the same (or changes if you also change the launcher prefix), and so on.

Avoid using letters or digits as your trigger key — they'll fire in the middle of words. Punctuation that you rarely type at the start of a sequence works best.

Now go build your library.

Press Alt+T to add your first text expansion. Alt+A to add a launcher. Alt+C to capture selected text instantly. Alt+E to open the editor where you can view, change, or delete any shortcut — including the pre-loaded ones.

The full guide covers everything in depth: the trigger system, placeholders, sequences, and SpeedKee compatibility.

Get everything working, step by step.