The One Thing That Made Our Ideas Actually Work❗

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

In last week’s episode I mentioned I was collaborating with a friend of mine named Joey.

We’ve been having weekly calls and discussing ideas on how we can improve our respective businesses by helping our clients.

I mentioned to him that, when we worked at Texas Instruments together, the vast majority of ideas that we implemented on our team came from the two of us talking.

He reminded me that, at one point, we had the maintenance people remove the divider between our cubes because we worked so well together (otherwise we’d end up yelling over the top of them.)

Bouncing ideas off other people is incredibly helpful.  

It’s one of the things I encourage in the AHK Hero club.  Of course some people bring their ideas to the Hero meetings and we get feedback from each other.

Do you have an “idea buddy” to bounce ideas off of❓   If not, I can guarantee you’ll come out ahead if you bounce your ideas off someone else before you start to implement.

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

buttonClicking

MasterClass in Classes

Irfan is going to start taking over for Isaias on a custom client project.  To help Irfan this morning Isaias gave an amazing training on advanced concepts and strategies in Classes. 

Since there was no real specific client information I’m able to share it with you! 

🏗️ Why Your AutoHotkey Code is DOOMED to Fail (Architecture Secrets)
🏗️ Why Your AutoHotkey Code is DOOMED to Fail (Architecture Secrets)

If you’re new to Classes you should check out our Intro to Objects & Classes course (also lead by Isaias).  Don’t forget our courses come with a 200% money-back guarantee!

200% Money Back Guarantee badge with a yellow and green starburst seal for AHK courses

Alternatively, if you’d rather ask questions, the AHK Hero club is a perfect place for you.


Intro to Debugging

During an AHK Hero call Irfan led a great session on debugging.

You can check it out here.  

Want to grab our AHK script Editor (featured in the video)?   You can get it here.  Note we now have an upscale version which includes a bunch of our Debugging, Inspecting and Syntax Writing tools.

💡 Stop Debugging the Hard Way – This Method is 10x Faster | AHK Hero Extract
💡 Stop Debugging the Hard Way - This Method is 10x Faster | AHK Hero Extract


One Feature You Won’t Find in other Editors

During an AHK Hero call I had an idea that I’d wished I’d thought of years ago.

We’ve already incorporated it into AHK Script Maker but you can check out the idea here.

Why Don’t Code Editors Have This OBVIOUS Feature? 🤔 | AHK Hero Extract
Why Don't Code Editors Have This OBVIOUS Feature? 🤔 | AHK Hero Extract


PassKeys, Voice Cloning, and AI Security

Are you freaked out about AI❓

It’s definitely going to get wild here in the very-near future❗  

During one of our Hero Calls we discussed several aspects of security & AI.

Discussing Passkeys, Voice Cloning, AI and Security
Discussing Passkeys, Voice Cloning, AI and Security


Improving People’s Lives: Story #77

I’m out in Las Vegas visiting my 85-year-old father.  I’m buying various “gadgets” that will let me keep an eye on him when I’m back home in Texas. 

I wish there was a way to avoid an accident entirely however at least now I’ll have a way to be aware of the problem❗


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  

Boredom is the best productivity booster. 

Remove access to all “entertainment” (Facebook, YouTube, Tiktok, IM, etc.) and you’ll be so bored you’ll want to work❗


🤣 A spot of Humor: Priceless!

Best of Lewis & Oswald Drew Carey Show
Best of Lewis & Oswald Drew Carey Show


What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #119

In this week’s video, I walk through where we’re at with the AHK Script Maker editor (including what the premium version will cost and all the productivity tools we’re packing into it.)

 I also showcase a bunch of utility scripts like clipboard history, window management tools, and even voice commands (though they’re still giving us false positives). Lots of practical automation stuff to check out!

119 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #119
119 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #119


Clients say…

This has the potential to save more time than anything we’ve done so far — Michael N. (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 515 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 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 question isn’t who is going to let me it’s who is going to stop me — Ayn Rand
  • The secret to getting things done is to get started; The secret to getting started is to divide your task into small pieces with “quick wins“. — Joe Glines
  • If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins — Benjamin Franklin

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’m very serious about talking out your ideas with someone else.   Our AHK Hero club is only $1.99 for the first month.   Join and get some (nearly free) highly qualified feedback❓

 

AHK News 2026-01-22 Meet my new AI Assistant: Irfan 🤖

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

I’ve been collaborating with an old friend of mine named Joey.

I introduced him to AI about a year and a half ago and, over the past 6 months, he’s been diving deep into it.

During most of our calls, we touch on the never-ending new uses of AI.

A few weeks back he joined a call and I introduced him to Irfan.

Joey politely said “hello” but I could tell there was something in his tone that wasn’t quite right.

Since Joey and I are very close I straight out asked him what was up.

It turns out he thought Irfan was my “AI assistant”.

We all had a good laugh, but he had good reason to suspect it was an AI assistant.

I think in the next 6 months I’ll create one.

During our Hero calls we end up sharing more and more about how we’re using AI to work smarter, not harder.  If you’re wanting to dabble with AI, it’s a great place to get ideas and direction.

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

heroAttend

Updating your VS code preferences

If you’re a VS code user you should check out this video where Isaias walks through configuring it.

VS code is the “Ferrari” of editors.   It’s incredibly powerful but is also complicated.

VS code preferences for extensions with AHK v2
VS code preferences for extensions with AHK v2

If you’re wanting to learn how to use it, you should check out our Intro to VS Code course.


Want a simple, yet powerful, editor❓

If you’re wanting a solid editor that is easy to use but has powerful features you should check out our AHK Script maker.  We’re almost out of beta but it is pretty stable and packed full of great features!

You can get an idea of what it can do in this video

AHK Script Maker Updates
AHK Script Maker Updates


Why YOU Should Automate

I fed NotebookLM a story I wrote a while back to help people realize the benefits of automating.

It created this amazing video for me.   If you/ someone you know don’t see the reasons why they should automate I highly recommend you check it out / share it with them.

🚀 Reclaim Your Time with AI! How Automation Transforms Productivity 💡
🚀 Reclaim Your Time with AI! How Automation Transforms Productivity 💡


Help your Brother (printer) out

During an AHK Hero call Connie asked for some help automating the printer software.

Even if you don’t have a Brother printer, you should check this video out because we discuss various ways to automate programs with AutoHotkey

🛠️ AutoHotkey Masters Crack Brother Printer Code
🛠️ AutoHotkey Masters Crack Brother Printer Code


Improving People’s Lives: Story #76

I showed a friend of mine that is losing his vision our AI OCR tool and how, by making a minor change to the prompt, it can be used to show AI anything from your screen.

I have this video on how that works.

Adapting OCR for flexiblility
Adapting OCR for flexiblility


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  In Outlook

  • Ctrl+Q – Mark as Read
  • Ctrl+U – Mark as Unread

🤣 A spot of Humor:  Pickup Lines doomed to fail

The Pick Up Lines of Ryan Stiles
The Pick Up Lines of Ryan Stiles


What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #118

This week I got some serious AI help cleaning up my video extraction tool—turned a messy FFmpeg command into something way more elegant that actually notifies me when it’s done processing.

In this week’s video I walk you through the improvements to my AHK Script Maker (including a sweet jump-to-line feature), show off some utility tools like Clipster and my hotkey lookup system, and share my plans for integrating premium tools right into the editor.

If you’re into making your workflow smoother with AutoHotkey, you’ll want to check this one out!


Clients say…

I appreciate all the work you guys are doing for me! I look forward to it and it keeps me excited about my work – otherwise I would likely get bored or burned out or both. — Todd H. (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 512 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:

  • Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
  • AHK Script Maker: Adding Tools and Fixed bugs
  • Hide a Hard drive with DriveToggler
  • No Day or Nights in Canada❓
  • How I run Android apps on Windows
  • 5 Git commandsthat feel like Magic
  • Comparing strings, case sensitivity, how to handle when in map, etc.

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

  • The first minute of action is worth more than a year of perfect planning — James Cleary
  • What people think of you is irrelevant. But how you leave this world matters. Even if it’s all futile in the end, play your part as well as you can. Real courage is fear, in action. Play your hand — John Carlton
  • Being born in poverty isn’t a sin; staying in poverty might be — 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. The intro was a true story and I fully believe I’ll have an AI assistant to help keep track of things (and work on projects for me).   Have you tried creating a personal AI assistant yet?  If so, what were your thoughts❓

How to easily change your default AutoHotkey editor with AHKEditSwap!

default AutoHotkey editor AHK EditSwapWe all have our favorite default AutoHotkey editor / AutoHotkey IDE to edit in however sometimes you want to switch editors.  Not all editors make this easy!  AHK Studio has a built in way to set it as the default editor (in the omni search type default editor), however you can’t easily switch it back to what was default before it.   SciTE4AutoHotkey will ask at first-run if you want it o be the default editor however after that you’re on your own.  It doesn’t matter if you’re using Visual Studio, Notepadd++, or Notepad as your default AutoHotkey editor.  This just keeps track of your registry settings and allows you to, easily, swap them without actually monkeying with your registry!

AHKEditSwap is an AutoHotkey script that will keep track of your editors and make it easy revert back to previous editors.  If you’re wanting to try out a different AutoHotkey IDE, use Edit Swap to easily customize your default AutoHotkey editor.  Or, if you’re working on someone else’s computer, use AHKEditSwap to easily change back and forth so you can use your favorite AHK IDE and so can the default user!

You can download AHKEditSwap here

How to change your default AutoHotkey editor with AHKEditSwap!