AHK News 2025-07-24 ✅ Why Checklists Matter MORE Than the Task Itself! (AutoHotkey Tips)

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

Ever notice how even the most experienced pilots still go through a checklist before takeoff? I mean, these folks have thousands of hours in the air, yet they don’t just wing it (pun totally intended ). Nope—they sit there, side by side, reading out loud each step like it’s their first flight. And you know what? That’s exactly what I want from them.

Sure, if something crazy happens mid-flight, I hope they’ve got mad skills like Captain Sully. But for every other moment? I want structure. Routine. Predictability. Not creativity. Not improvisation.

And it’s the same thing when I release our AutoHotkey scripts.

We’ve all been there—rushing to start a project, forgetting a step (or three), and then spending more time troubleshooting than doing the actual work. That’s why I use a launch checklist for my scripts. Just like pilots, we need that mental “pre-flight” to make sure everything’s ready to go.

To make your AutoHotkey flights (a.k.a. script launches) smooth and uneventful, I shared our time-tested 41 point AutoHotkey Pre-Release checklist
BTW- if you have your own checklist, you might use our Checklist tool to keep track of your tasks.

Trust me—once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without 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

itWorked


VS Code Extensions for AHK v1 and v2

In this AHK Hero Extract, Isaias walks through some of the best VS Code extensions for both AutoHotkey v1 and v2.

AutoHotkey v2 has been the official version for over 2 years now so I hope you are not still using it to developing new projects with it (especially since it is deprecated and not expecting any updates).

Remember, we have 3 hours of calls a week in the AHK Hero club!

VSCode extensions for AutoHotkey v1 and v2
VSCode extensions for AutoHotkey v1 and v2


Quickly Record Your Desktop

Being able to join on Zoom and “share your screen” is pretty-much the norm these days however, sometimes, the other person isn’t available or you don’t have access to the Internet.

That’s where simply recording your desktop is a great alternative❗

Our ffmpeg driven tool, Quick Desktop Record, makes that super-simple!   Check it out in this video.

Easily Record your Primary Desktop with this great AHK V2 Script
Easily Record your Primary Desktop with this great AHK V2 Script


Ever wonder why your script is slow❓

During an AHK hero call Dale, a long-term AHK hero member, asked about figuring out why a given script is slow.

We walk through some of the simple ways to identify these problems in this video

Troubleshooting a Slow Script – AHK Hero Extract
Troubleshooting a Slow Script - AHK Hero Extract


Improving People’s Lives: Story #57

Steve, an AHK Hero Member, asked about using Excel to compare rows between files.

Specifically he wanted to identify any rows that are in one file but not in another.

They have highly educated people doing this manually and he knew there was a better way…

I created a simple tool that streamlines the process.  This will greatly reduce human mistakes, take a fraction of the time, and let them focus on analyzing instead of doing the “grunt work”


What we’re reading


AI / Chat GPT-3 News / Usage


⚡️Productivity tips:  Zoom

  • Alt+F1 – Switch to Speaker view
  • Alt+F2 – Switch to Gallery view

A spot of Humor:  I’m not the Assman!

Cosmo Kramer – The ASSMAN (Seinfeld)
Cosmo Kramer - The ASSMAN (Seinfeld)


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #94

This week’s episode was shorter than usual.  We had 168 AutoHotkey files that we worked on but the majority was client work.  I did show a cool Error Logging script that helps pushing runtime errors into your favorite AI tool.  You can check out the video here.


Client’s say…

I’m astonished at what we’ve done! — 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 439 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
  • Finish Suspender Class
  • Update to Clipster– wait for clipboard format
    • Need to fix the file copy and RTF
  • Debug configuration – Switching between scripts in VS Code
  • Hotkey Loop & msgbox issue
  • Making a non-Editable field, editable
  • Aggregating Time (hours, minutes, seconds)

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

  • Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe; We can create it for you! — Joe Glines
  • Hire people that are over-performing in crappy jobs — 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, Denilson and staff


P.S. If you’re overwhelmed going through your checklist, reply to this email and we’ll plan a call to see how we can help!

AHK News 2025-07-17 Epic AutoHotkey training for FREE!

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy,

A few week’s back, during a Friday AHK Hero call, we showed clients how they can “pause“ any executable.  I then extracted the video which you can see here.

But wait, that’s not the best part!

When I went to share the above video I tried finding a link on the AHK forum to the code we used.  Surprisingly all I could find was something similar in v1.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was other functionality that we’d want to build-into it.

So I decided to use this as a great way to teach the “right way” to develop code.  (I say that somewhat in jest)….

We outlined pseudo-code about the goals of what we would want to do then Isaias began developing the code explaining his thoughts along the way.

Not only did he teach about writing solid code, he discussed why we would want a class over function as well as other great nuggets.

It turned into an amazing educational session which the attending Hero members thoroughly enjoyed!

In fact, many people mentioned the training session was a “lead magnet” for tutoring as well as “done for you” work because Isaias is “THAT GOOD!”

Don’t believe me, don’t worry; I brought the receipts❗

You can watch the entire session here

Learning To Program in AHK v2 – Amazing lesson from an AHK Hero Extract
Learning To Program in AHK v2 - Amazing lesson from an AHK Hero Extract


Enjoy!   Trust me; you’ll thank me later!

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

robotsworking

Various ways to Inform Users with GUIs

During an AHK Hero call last week we were asked an interesting question about being able to display information where the “clock” is in the user’s system tray.

This fit really well into a topic we had planned to discuss about the various ways we can present information to a user with GUIs.  I extracted the clip here.

One way we prefer is to use our AHK v2 NotifyClass.

What are your options to Inform users: And which one should you use & When to use them
What are your options to Inform users: And which one should you use & When to use them


Finding Variables in a Complex GUI

During another AHK hero call, a hero member was asking about finding the location of a variable in the amazing FindText Function.

Isaias talked through the “right way” to do this however I also showed how, by using a word boundary with RegEx, it can also be done very quickly.

Check it out here and you tell me; Which way do YOU prefer❓

Finding Variables in a Complex GUI
Finding Variables in a Complex GUI


When did you find AutoHotkey❓

A while back I happened to find “Robotype” which was the tool I used for HotStrings before I found AutoHotkey.   I looked up when the version I had was released and it gave me a better idea when I started using AutoHotkey.

I also talk through how I was using Hotkeys way before AutoHotkey.

Check it out in this video.

How long have you been using AutoHotkey?   And what tool did it replace for you❓

How & When I started using AutoHotkey / Automation
How & When I started using AutoHotkey / Automation


Easily Unsubscribe from emails in Gmail

Gmail recently added a new service to make it easier to unsubscribe to emails.

I show just how easy it is in this video.

Googles New Manage subsriptions tool
Googles New Manage subsriptions tool


Improving People’s Lives: Story #56

This week Irfan finished merging together our client’s separate ahk scripts that Automated the French and English version of a program.

We used to have two, completely separate AutoHotkey files & git repositories.

This meant it was a lot of work to maintain because, any update we made on one, had to be made on the other.

Now, that all GOES AWAY!

And, more importantly, their customers now get to use the same ahk program regardless of the language they are using (oh, btw we also added Spanish❗)

Huge game changer for our client and their customers!


What we’re reading


AI / Chat GPT-3 News / Usage


⚡️Productivity tips:

In VS Code you can hit Ctrl+\ to Split the editor


A spot of Humor: Pretty funny!

Donald Trump on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Donald Trump on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire


What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #93

This week I walked through some cool things I did both with AI and manually with Search/Replace in MS Word.

You can check it out in this video.

93 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #93

93 What we Automated with AutoHotkey #93


Client’s say…

“You guys changed my life! Thanks man” — Marrion Mentoor


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 436 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
  • Craziest ways to control your game
  • Finish Suspender Class
  • Using MARK: comments in VScode for minimap (User interface)
  • Update to Clipster– wait for clipboard format
    • Need to fix the file copy and RTF
  • Debug configuration – Switching between scripts in VS Code
  • Making a non-Editable field, editable
  • Aggregating Time (hours, minutes, seconds)

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

  • Time is linear; Success doesn’t have to be — Joe Glines
  • If every request is a five alarm fire, it’s your house that’s gonna go up in flames — Amy Landino
  • The thing most people like least is a mirror — 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, Denilson and staff


P.S.  The AHK Hero club is an amazing value for people like you!

The first month is $1.99 so check it out!  I guarantee you’ll love it!