There are many different ways to launch applications from keyboard shortcuts in Windows. Here are a few to try.

Windows 10 Task Bar

A very quick and easy way to launch apps in Windows 10 is with keyboard shortcuts which correspond to the first ten apps pinned to your taskbar. By holding the Windows key plus any number from 1 - 0 (pretend the '0' is a '10') you can automatically launch that item.

So, place Chrome as the second item on your taskbar and then press windows+2 to launch. Easy!

This method works in Ubuntu Linux as well! The 'Super' key stands in for the 'Windows' key.

AutoHotkey

AutoHotkey is a free, Open Source scripting language for Windows that allows you to automate all kinds of tasks on your machine, including setting up app launching keyboard shortcuts.

You can download it here and then check out this tutorial to get started.

Once you've installed AutoHotkey, it's a good idea to get familiar with it by doing the basic tutorial. Then, you can create shortcut launch scripts for any application you like. Here's an example script that uses windows+ctrl+alt+w to launch Chrome:

#^!w::
Run, Chrome.exe
return

Save and launch that script, and now when you set up your Launch Deck Trellis M4 code in CircuitPython you'll specify the windows+ctrl+alt+w keycode combo for your Chrome button!

Keyboard Launchpad

From Stardock, the $10 Keyboard Launchpad app makes it very easy to set up app launching hotkeys.

This guide was first published on Dec 01, 2018. It was last updated on Nov 28, 2018.

This page (Windows App Launching) was last updated on Nov 28, 2018.

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