AHK News 2025-10-23 Oh that!

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

Years ago I worked at a company where a group of us would meet in the cafeteria for coffee before the day started.

One of the guys was always a “negative ninny” and complained about everything!

He was so bad that I decided to put my belief to the test.

When he and his wife returned from Paris, I asked him what he thought of the Mona Lisa.

“oh that”

was his initial reply (and he went on about “what a waste of time” it was❗)

What I didn’t realize at the time is how much people’s attitudes both affect you and wear off on you.

So be careful who you spend time with.

Our AHK Hero Club is packed with positive people that have a “can do” attitude!

Now, on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

WorkItsMagic

Pasting Files with a Hotkey

During our AHK Hero call last week we discussed updates to our Clipster function.  

In this extract we demonstrated how, besides being able to paste HTML links and pictures, you can now paste files with a HotString or Hotkey.

Pasting files with a HotKey
Pasting files with a HotKey


65 uses of HotStrings

While we’re on the topic of HotStrings, I also discussed this list of 65 ideas for using HotStrings.   Thanks again Ryan for helping me come up with the list!

Discussing HotString Use Cases
Discussing HotString Use Cases


Free Tool for Seeing Hard Drive Usage

A client mentioned she was running out of hard drive space.   In this video I mentioned she could use WinDirStat for seeing a visual of what is eating up file space on her computer.   Several AHK Hero members mentioned they prefer WizTree.

See your Directory and File size with this cool free tool WinDirStat
See your Directory and File size with this cool free tool WinDirStat


Using Clipboard instead of a Variable

During a recent consultation, a client was asking for feedback on his script.  

One thing I noticed was that he was, using the Clibpoard and continuously updating/changing the value (using StrSplit, SubStr, Regex, etc.) on it.  

It made for a great topic during the Hero call.

Tips and Tricks on using a Variable or the Clipboard
Tips and Tricks on using a Variable or the Clipboard


Improving People’s Lives: Story #68

A new client joined the AHK Hero Club and asked for help automating updating parts on a website.

We wrote him a very robust tool using Rufaydium to get the cookies and then do the activities with API calls (instead of automating the browser)

If a human was to do update for a part it would take ~25 seconds (assuming they stayed focused)

The client had around 20,000 parts to update!   This works out to ~139 hours (more than 3 weeks of work)

Our script took around ~2 seconds to update a part (and ran by itself) finishing the task in less than 1 day.  And our script created log files tracking all actions taken❗

Horizontal bar chart comparing cost: AHK automation at 3 versus manual work at ,089 for the same parts update task

Ballparking it, they would have paid around $7,100 to have a human do it❗


What we’re reading


AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  

Put your phone in the other room for a couple of hours each day and block social media & email on your computer.  You’ll be amazed at what you can get done❗


A spot of Humor: Wow he’s Schnockered❗

I’ve seen a lot of people go through their sobriety tests but this guy really took the cake!

The Funniest Body Cam Arrest I Have Ever Seen
The Funniest Body Cam Arrest I Have Ever Seen


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #107

In this week’s video I walk through the various scripts and tools we developed for clients this week, including DPI adjusters, visual effects tweakers, and my new favorite FFmpeg wrapper that makes sharing tutorial snippets a breeze.

It’s been a productive week of problem-solving and I’m excited to share these time-saving solutions with you!

What we automated with AutoHotkey #107
What we automated with AutoHotkey #107


Clients say…

“There’s no way I could have accomplished what we’ve done without your support!” — Stephanie Holland


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero Club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 478 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

  • Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
  • API call to Google Sheets
  • Regular Expressions: Difference between AHK and RegEx101
  • Script highlight: Windows 11 Context Menu Switcher
  • Object Oriented Programming- getting a reference to an element & reusing it
  • Debug configuration – Switching between scripts in VS Code
  • Using SendTo for passing multiple files to a script
  • Classes
  • Why Group Code Together?
  • Comparing a Function to a simple Class

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared toward people new to AutoHotkey.)


️ Quotable quotes

  • Success is a lagging indicator of previous hard work — Jimmy Carr
  • Work harder on yourself than you do on your job — Jim Rohn
  • There’s never a right time to do the wrong thing; There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing
  • Success comes from failure. Not from memorizing the right answers. — Donald Trump

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. While I’m still friends with the “negative” guy I mentioned at the beginning, I did stop hanging out with him and continue to surround myself with people with a “can do” attitude.

It’s amazing what can get done when you put your mind to something❗

 

AHK News 2025-10-09- 269 Newsletters❗

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

Last week’s newsletter was about remembering what it was like starting-out with AutoHotkey.

When I was publishing the newsletter it got me wondering how many AHK Newsletters I’ve done.

Since I keep all of the past ones it was pretty easy to do a search and realize my first Newsletter was sent in July of 2020. 

I know there were two weeks that I missed which means as of today I’ve sent about 269 AHK Newsletters

Some of you might think it is hard to think of new things to write about however I find it incredibly easy.   Probably because I’m still constantly learning what to automate!

How about you❓ Do you ever think you’ll run out of “things to automate“❓

Thank you for being a subscriber/viewer❗

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

DoingItManually

Sadly the above is closer to the truth than you would think❗ I had 3 bosses at Texas Instruments that literally told me “not to automate” things.

Customizing VS Code

During a Hero call last weekend, Ray wanted to tweak his VS Code settings.  

Isaias walked through some of the (seemingly endless) settings in VS code.

I also chimed in with how I’d changed the backgrounds of my inactive tabs.  I extracted the video so you can check it out here.

Customizing your VSCode settings
Customizing your VSCode settings


️Don’t need a Ferrari❓

We often joke that VS Code is the Ferrari of editors.  If you’re a developer coding in AutoHotkey v2 VS code is definitely the right choice however many of us (myself included) don’t need a Ferrari.

Our choice used to be SciTE4AutoHotkey however it has some odd bug in it that changes your AutoHotkey install settings that we can’t track down.  

We use AHK Toolkit a lot however it’s missing some core features (Line numbers, IntelliSense, Autocomplete, Dark mode, assignable hotkeys etc.)

So we’re creating our own (basic) editor for people that don’t need all the bells-and-whistles that VS Code offers.  

We’re planning on naming it AHK Script Maker and I’m hoping to have an early version out next week.

If you’d like an early look at it  you can check it out in this video.

What are your “must have” features %Name%❓

Creating a new AHK editor
Creating a new AHK editor


Deeper Dive into Semantic Versioning

We’ve covered Semantic Versioning before however Isaias learned some new information about metadata so, during a Hero call, we walked through Semantic Versioning again.

Additional info on Semantic Versioning
Additional info on Semantic Versioning


Improving People’s Lives: Story #66

Our Video Sandwich tool was built for me to use however I have several friends that have YouTube channels and will be borrowing it as well.  

Over the years I’ve loved automating my own work but a true joy is being able to give it to others and save them time as well! 

Do you share your scripts with others❓

If so, you might check out this video where we walk through the list on this page about why scripts break when you share them with others.


What we’re reading


AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips: Gmail hacks

During a Hero call we discussed some fun Gmail hacks

Fun gmail hacks
Fun gmail hacks


A spot of Humor: Put to metal

Last week I shared this gem of an Insufferable brat going mental.

This guy took part of it and created a great song!

“GIVE HIM A TICKET!” GOES METAL

give him a ticket


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #105

In this week’s video we’re diving into some really cool updates including our brand new AutoHotkey editor that actually plays nice with your scripts (unlike some other options), plus I’ll show you how AI helped us make one of our tools run ridiculously faster.

We’ve also been cranking on a bunch of media tools and our AI OCR that can do way more than just read text—you’ll want to see what’s possible with custom prompts!

105 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #105
105 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #105


Clients say…

They always deliver more value than promised—  AJ Wilcox


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 472 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)


️ Quotable quotes

  • Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive; We can create it for you! — Joe Glines
  • Decisions without actions are worthless — Dan Kennedy
  • Failure is not the opposite of success; It’s a part of it!

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. I find it hard to believe I’ve been publishing this newsletter for over 5 years.  

What’s more amazing is, every day, I find something else to automate!  

Are you the same %Name%❓

Consider joining the AHK Hero club where you can be with others like you.

 

AHK News 2025-10-02 Remembering being New to AutoHotkey

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

I just had a call with Alexander, a new AHK Hero member out of the Philippines.

He’s been working with AutoHotkey for around 4 months now (mostly using Hotkeys and HotStrings) but is leveling-up quick❗

It reminded me of my beginning uses of AutoHotkey.   I only used HotStrings and Hotkeys for ~3 years.  And that made me 3X to 4X more efficient than my colleagues!

He’s already completed our Intro to AHK course and is working through our Intermediate AHK course.

I mentioned our Functions / Objects / Classes course would be the next logical step for him.  

Of course, he being an AHK Hero member he gets 25% off of everything we offer!

How long have you been using AutoHotkey %Name%❓

And what was your first usage❓  I’d love to hear it!

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

AutoHotkey is Life Changing❗

parttimeJob

Creating Hotkeys for Actions in MS Office

I was really surprised to learn how difficult it was to assign Hotkeys to actions in various MS office tools.   I recorded this video to show how you can simplify it with AutoHotkey

Creating Hotkeys for Actions in MS Office
Creating Hotkeys for Actions in MS Office


Starting Out with the MS Word COM object

During an AHK Hero call Dale, a long-time Hero member, had some questions about working with the MS Word COM object.   I extracted the section to this video so you can learn.

Working with the MS Word COM object
Working with the MS Word COM object


HotStrings tool by Hero Member

Speaking of HotStrings, we were talking through some HotString basics when, Stephen, an AHK Hero member, mentioned he has a HotString tool that he’s created.  You can check it out here.

Hotstrings and Cool user tools
Hotstrings and Cool user tools


Non-AutoHotkey Developer User tools

You also might want to check out Prompt Assistant which also let’s you assign HotKeys and provides a nested GUI that is easy to use. 

We’re working on new functionality to it soon which will allow you to, automatically, send your prompts to AI!

Learn more about Prompt Assistant in this video

Supercharge Your Efficiency with these updates to Prompt Assistant
 Supercharge Your Efficiency with these updates to Prompt Assistant


Improving People’s Lives: Story #65

We had another call with a Texas government representative a few weeks ago.  We’re trying to get his employees access to our AHK courses.  

During the call I showed him Prompt Assistant and it blew his mind! 


What we’re reading


AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  HotStrings are magical

I can make you a bet that you should have more HotStrings!   I remembered, back in 2022, Ryan Wells and I brainstormed can came up with 65 unique examples.  

How many of the 65 are you using %name%❓

Want to learn more❓ Check out this quick video

Stop Repeating Yourself! Use Text Expansion to Type Smarter
Stop Repeating Yourself! Use Text Expansion to Type Smarter


A spot of Humor: Just Wow!

Lately I’ve been watching Police “Body Cam” videos.   This one stood out as being completely over the top!   Those boys in blue just don’t get paid anything near what they deserve!

Insufferable Brat Finds Out She Can’t Call 911 On Cops
Insufferable Brat Finds Out She Can't Call 911 On Cops


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #104

In this video, I walk through several real-world AutoHotkey projects I’ve been building, from email merge automation and clipboard tools to impersonator detection for social media.

I also highlight workflow optimizations, showcase updates to my AHK toolkit and NEW Editor, and share resources for anyone looking to streamline tasks with automation.

104 What we Automated with AutoHotKey #104
104 What we Automated with AutoHotKey #104


Clients say…

Holy shit❗ This is amazing — Dr. Kamran J. (Radiologist)


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 469 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

You can watch 1 hour a day for a year and not repeat content! That’s a lot of AHK Learning!

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and a 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)


️ Quotable quotes

  • Never give up, never surrender, and always go for the win. — Charlie Kirk
  • Work harder on yourself than you do on your job — Jim Rohn
  • Decisions without actions are worthless — Dan Kennedy

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. When learning AutoHotkey we all start somewhere.   Programmers have an easier time using advanced functionality however anyone can learn it if you apply yourself!