Beginners Guide
This page contains a basic introduction on how to use AutoKey to create abbreviations and hotkeys. Contributed by user marshag63.
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On the left side of the configuration window you will see a "tree" view of the folders/subfolders already in AutoKey.
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Let's first add a New Top-level folder for the abbreviations you are going to add:
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File > Create > New Top-level Folder. You can choose to create the new folder anywhere you wish, or you may click "Use Default" and type a name. This will create a new folder under the default folder.
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Now that we have a new folder, we can start adding abbreviations.
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Ensure you have the folder you want the phrase created in selected, then press
Ctrl + Nor use the menu or the right-click menu. The main menu option is File > Create > New Phrase. Enter a name for your phrase and click OK. -
Next press the tab key to get to the big dialog window to enter the contents of your phrase. Once the phrase is entered press
Ctrl + Tabto navigate via keyboard or click on the "Set" button for "Abbreviation". This will bring up a "Set Abbreviation" dialog - this is where you set the actual abbreviation for the phrase. Leave the "Trigger on" to "Default." Make sure you leave "Remove typed abbreviation" checked, unless you want to leave the abbreviation in the document for some reason. -
In this example, we'll set the "Match phrase case to typed abbreviation" - this option and "Ignore case of typed abbreviation" work in concert to let your abbreviation expand with case sensitivity:
| Abbreviation | You See |
|---|---|
| tp | the patient |
| Tp | The patient |
| TP | THE PATIENT |
Click "OK" or type Alt to accept the abbreviation settings. One last step - click "Save" or Control + S to save the changes to the phrase.
Now, if you type the abbreviation you created in any document or window, it will be replaced with the phrase contents you created.