Windows – Hotkey to switch input language in Windows 7

hotkeyskeyboard shortcutswindowswindows 7

I'm using Windows 7 and I'd like to define a custom hotkey to change between different input languages.

I know that I can change them to Ctrl+Shift, Left Alt + Shift or the grave accent, but I don't like either of these. SO is there a way to define something like Ctrl + Space to switch the input language?

Best Answer

I think Windows doesn't natively support changing these keys. Anyway, you can write an AutoIt script to listen for custom key bindings and programmatically send one of the predefined keyboard shortcuts to the system to change the keyboard layout.

;^ = Ctrl
;! = Alt
;# = WinKey (Meta)
;+ = Shift

HotKeySet("^{Space}", "change") ;Registers Control + Space

;Main loop
While 1
    Sleep(100)
WEnd

;Changes Keyboard Layout
Func change()
    Send ("{ALTDOWN}") ;Hold down Alt
    Sleep(100) ;Wait 100 milliseconds
    Send("{LSHIFT}{ALTUP}") ;Press Left-Shift and release Alt
EndFunc

Just download and install AutoIt (use this link to download and install) and create a file with an .au3 extension. Copy and paste the code above and save it. You can place this file into your Startup folder if you want it to be opened when you login.

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