AHK News 2026-02-12 Squashing your Lizard Brain 🦎🧠

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

While I was in Las Vegas, Texas (and much of the U.S.) went through a cold spell.

My son got his license last June and had yet to drive on snow or ice.

I tried, over the phone, to explain how dangerous it can be and how he should adjust his driving.

Thankfully I got back to Texas before all of the ice had melted so, at the first chance I got, I took him out to get some “real world” experience.

While, over the phone, I’d mentioned that if you feel yourself “sliding” while braking you need to lift your foot off the brake, until the tires begin to spin again and then re-apply the brakes.

As all of you know this is much easier to say than do which is why I wanted him to have the experience in a controlled environment (with nothing immediately in front of him).

So, hopefully when “it matters” he’s able to squash his lizard brain 🦎🧠 screaming:

“Push the freaking brake pedal through the floor“

It’s why we encourage people during the AHK Hero calls to dabble with different approaches when automating programs.   That way, when they have a need, they’re already conditioned how to test & debug the new approach.

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

praying

AHK v2 Secret New File Template 👀

A while back we were discussing launching v2 scripts in the AHK Hero club and Isaias asked if we knew about the place we can easily store and access our New File Template.

You can check out the extract in this video.

🚀 AutoHotkey V2 Templates: The Secret Feature You’re Missing! | AHK Hero Extract
🚀 AutoHotkey V2 Templates: The Secret Feature You're Missing! | AHK Hero Extract


AHK Script Maker Pro

We’ve been working on AHK Script Maker for over 5 months now❗

It’s quite an amazing tool on its own but, the other day, I asked Irfan to go ahead and create the “Pro” version which (currently) has an additional 17 “must have” scripts built into it.

Each of these tools are typically sold individually and, if you sum up their value, it comes to $91.84.  

All this for $12.99

If you want to know more about the scripts embedded in the Pro version you can learn more by watching this video.

I’m currently outlining the features it has and will begin to make videos next week.

⚡ I Just Unlocked Pro Mode – These AutoHotkey Tools Will Blow Your Mind
⚡ I Just Unlocked Pro Mode - These AutoHotkey Tools Will Blow Your Mind


Building a Custom Windows Tool Launcher

I was reading an article about the top Windows Utilities we should use.  The article mentioned the arbitrary ways you can find the tools in Windows.   I then thought: “Why should I have to search for the tools❓

Why not ask Claude to build a launcher for me❓

So, 10 minutes later, I had a working tool that launched a lot of built-in Windows tools.

You can check it out in this video.

I think I’ll add a few more tools and a search bar.  After that I’ll share it as a download.

🛠️ AI Built My Custom Windows Tool in Minutes – You Won’t Believe How Easy! | AHK Hero Extract
🛠️ AI Built My Custom Windows Tool in Minutes - You Won't Believe How Easy! | AHK Hero Extract


Improving People’s Lives: Story #79

We had a great client call with a Radiologist.   He mentioned his company is forcing them to use new tools that incorporate AI and “streamline” the flow.

Unfortunately, he said he’s losing around $1,000 a day because of their new “improved“ tool.

In our 2 hour private consultation we invented work-arounds to get him back to his productive levels!

If you’re a Radiologists, book a call with us and i 💯% guarnatee you that we will make you more productive❗


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  Excel Hotkeys

  • Ctrl+Shift+L – Toggle filters
  • Ctrl+Space – Select entire column
  • Shift+Space – Select entire row

🤣 A spot of Humor: Leslie Nielsen was so darn funny!

Leslie Nielsen Puts His Skills to the Test

Leslie Nielsen Puts His Skills to the Test | #shorts


What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #121

This week was packed — we worked on everything from game automation for high-end clients to video processing tools that chopped a 2+ hour auction video into individual clips automatically.

In this video I walk you through all of it, including a stock portfolio tracker, some handy video compression tricks, and a bunch of cool utility tools that just make life way easier.

Lots of real-world problem solving and a few fun surprises along the way!

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #121
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #121


Clients say…

I had no idea you could do this with AutoHotkey — Jim F.


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 521 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

  • Today is always the most productive day of your week — Mark Hunter
  • Comfort is a sedative; struggle is the cure — Joe Glines
  • Turn off the TV and go read — John Carlton

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. If you’d like our eyes on your project, simply check my calendar and see when we have time for you.

A quick review of your project can be a 💯% game changer

2025-09-11 Being ‘the Idea Guy’ is my super power

Tag: 2025-09-22-ideaGuy      Subj: Being ‘the Idea Guy’ is my super power

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

I created this amazing podcast with NotebookLM based off of The Magic of Thinking Big: The True Secret of Success by David Schwartz.

I found the podcast to be incredibly thought provoking❗

It helped me understand why I had such an “easy time” succeeding.

According to David Schwartz, some of the main things that drive success are:

  • Believing in Yourself
  • Not Giving Up
  • Being Creative

Anyone who knows me knows how I strive in all three of the above.

I think this is also why I love AutoHotkey!

AutoHotkey makes it “easy” to create tools to implement the ideas I have.

How about you %name%❓

Are you a Creative Genius⁉️

Does AHK empower you to be successful⁉️

If not, join our AHK hero club and tap into many of us that thrive on a challenge.

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

FileOfExcuses


Finding Files by topic: AI is so cool…

Can’t remember the exact name of your file but remember what it was “about”?

A while back I was playing with AI and had it write this “Fuzzy matching” file tool.   It allows you to filter your files based on the “topic” which is one reason why we say “AI is the ultimate fuzzy matching tool”.

You can check it out in this video.

AI Fuzzy Match – File Search
AI Fuzzy Match - File Search


Adding Color to a Status bar

During the AHK Hero call last weekend Isaias showed Hero members how to add color to a status bar.  This was really cool so I extracted it here.

Just another great example of what you’re missing by not being a member!

How to get Color in Statusbar
How to put Color in Statusbar


Adding Hotkeys for tools in MS Office

I was reading an article discussing how to create hotkeys for frequently used tools in MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.   I realized, with a little AutoHotkey love, it could be much easier for users to remember.  Check out what I did in this video.

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


New Functionality coming in V2.1

We’ve discussed Fat Arrows in v2 before but what if you want a loop❓   In this video Isaias shows us how, in v2.1 we’ll be able to have even more functionality.

One New Functionality in AutoHotkey v2.1
One New Functionality in AutoHotkey v2.1


Improving People’s Lives: Story #62

A client of ours wrote me saying how he wanted to create transcriptions from Audio / Video files.  I mentioned it is possible to get transcripts from our Transcribe & Summarize tool however it takes a couple of steps to get them. 

I had Irfan borrow a lot of code from Transcribe & Summarize but create a new tool named Transcriber.

The new tool allows you to drag multiple media files to it and, automatically, create transcriptions, saved as text files, in the same folder as the files dragged to it.


What we’re reading


AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:   You need to be bord!

You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why.
You Need to Be Bored. Here's Why.


A spot of Humor:  More accurate than I care to admit

Developer VS Tester 
Developer VS Tester | Developers Memes | Testers Memes | Developers fun | Tester Fun | War | Funny


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #101

In this video, I walk through a bunch of AutoHotkey solutions I’ve worked on over the last week , showing off how versatile scripting can be for solving real-world problems.

I demo everything from automatically adjusting screen settings and manipulating calculator controls to formatting Facebook posts and managing window positions – basically giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how I use AutoHotkey to automate tasks that would otherwise be tedious or repetitive.

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #101
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #101


Clients say…

The content is great in general and often questions can actually help and improve interest in AutoHotKey. —  Rodrigo Costa


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 460 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
  • Demo OpenRouter Class
  • Convert Newsletter tool to v2
  • Creating scripts that don’t break when shared with others
  • Demo Recording Audio with Windows RT
  • Demo Transcriber
  • UIA – reliably connecting to an element
  • Review Names for Concatenator
  • Object Oriented Programming- getting a reference to an element & reusing it
  • Update to Clipster– Pasting Files
  • Updates to Recently Modified Files that will save me a ton of time!
  • Hotkey Loop & MsgBox issue

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

  • The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing — Walt Disney
  • Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness — Napoleon Hill
  • A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve , not by the desire to beat others — Ayn Rand

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. Don’t forget that being creative is something that can be developed.   It’s one of the fun things people realize in the AHK Hero club.  Over time people start getting inspired (and inspiring others)