Create Keyboard Shortcuts to Open Programs
Posted on April 22, 2010 at 6:44 am
You probably have certain programs that you use often and a quick way of opening these programs would be helpful. You can assign a keyboard shortcut to a program shortcut to provide a fast way to open the program.
We tested it in Windows XP and Windows 7 and this feature works in both of these versions of Windows.
Before you create a keyboard shortcut for a program, you must create a shortcut for the program. To do this, navigate to the folder that contains the program for which you want to create a keyboard shortcut, and right-click on the executable file.
You may see the following dialog box display. If so, click Yes to create a shortcut on the desktop instead of in the program folder.
Once you have created the shortcut, right-click on the shortcut either in the program folder or on the desktop (wherever the shortcut was created). Select Properties from the pop-up menu.
The Properties dialog box displays. Make sure the Shortcut tab is active. Click in the Shortcut key edit box. Press the key that you want to use in combination with Ctrl + Alt (keyboard shortcuts automatically start with Ctrl + Alt).
NOTE: You cannot use the ESC, ENTER, TAB, SPACEBAR, PRINT SCREEN, SHIFT, or BACKSPACE keys to create a keyboard shortcut.
NOTE: The Shortcut key edit box displays None until you select the desired key, and then the box displays Ctrl + Alt followed by the key you selected. You do not need to press Ctrl + Alt while defining your shortcut key.
Click OK to close the Properties dialog box. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, enter the password or provide the confirmation.
You can now use this keyboard shortcut to open the program when you’re on the desktop. The keyboard shortcut will also work while some programs are active, though it might not work with some programs that have defined a keyboard shortcut which is the same as the one you defined as your keyboard shortcut.
In that case, to use your shortcut, minimize the active program before pressing your shortcut key combination.
by Lori Kaufman
» Filed Under Computer Tips
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You don’t need to go to all that trouble. Find the program in the Start menu, right click and choose properties, then add your shortcut key.
I have been using keyboard shortcuts to open programs for decades but what I haven’t figured out is how to change them. If you install a new Office, for example, how do you get your shortcut (ctl-alt-w) to point to the new winword.exe (other than by putting it in the same directory or reinstalling Windows). It must be a registry hack but I’ve looked and can’t find it anywhere.