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NuclearMeltdown edited this page Aug 24, 2026 · 2 revisions

Shortcuts

src/hotkeys.cpp, src/hotkeys.h

Defaults

Key Action
Enter Fullscreen
Esc Leave fullscreen
F1 Statistics
F2 Settings
F5 Restart capture
F9 Start / stop recording
F10 Screenshot
M Mute
+ / - or mouse wheel Volume
Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9 Switch profile
Right click Menu

All of these except Esc, the profile digits and Alt+F4 can be reassigned under Settings → Keys.

What is deliberately not rebindable

// Escape always leaves fullscreen and closes the dialog, and Ctrl+1..9 always
// picks a profile: both are conventions people expect to hold, and a binding
// editor that lets you break your way out of fullscreen is a trap rather than
// a feature.

That is the whole reasoning. A UI that lets you rebind Escape produces a program you can get stuck inside.

How bindings work

enum class HotkeyAction {
  Fullscreen, Settings, Stats, RestartCapture, Record, Screenshot,
  Mute, VolumeUp, VolumeDown, Count
};

struct HotkeyBinding {
  int vk = 0;          // 0 = unbound
  bool ctrl, shift, alt;
};

Nine actions, each with one binding, held in a Hotkeys struct indexed by the enum. HotkeyAction::Count doubles as "no action bound to this combination", which is what Hotkeys::Find() returns on a miss.

Modifiers must match exactly — HotkeyBinding::Matches() compares all three, so F9 and Shift+F9 are different bindings rather than one swallowing the other.

Three kinds of name

Each action has three strings, and they are deliberately separate:
HotkeyActionName() the label in the settings and the context menu, in the current language
HotkeyActionKey() what is written to CapView.json — language-independent and stable
HotkeyText() "Strg+Umschalt+F9", or empty when unbound

The middle one matters: a config file written in German and read in English has to name the same action. The first and third are display only.

The combination text comes from the keyboard layout through GetKeyNameTextW, so a French keyboard reads its own labels rather than a translation of the American ones.

Keys that cannot be bound

IsReservedKey() returns true for keys that must not be swallowed as a shortcut:

  • Escape — fixed, for the reason above
  • The modifiers themselves — Ctrl, Shift, Alt and both Windows keys, left and right variants included. A modifier alone is not a shortcut
  • F4 — it would collide with Alt+F4

The binding editor refuses these rather than accepting them and behaving oddly later.

Discoverability

The context menu (right click) shows the same actions with their current combinations, so a rebound key is discoverable without opening the settings.

The toolbar

The button strip along the top is on by default, and everything it offers is also on a key — but a key you have to know about first. showToolbar in AppSettings turns it off for anyone who does.

The picture is fitted below the toolbar rather than drawn underneath it (VideoRenderer::SetTopInset()), so the bar never covers what you are playing.

The statistics overlay

F1 cycles StatsDetail, which has three levels:

StatsDetail Shows
Compact Frame rates and frame age
Normal Those, plus capture format, colour handling and audio buffer
Full Everything, including device names and dropped frame counts

Normal is where a wrong colour range verdict becomes visible, and Full is where the virtual camera's counters from the shared section are reported.

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