How to access (or switch between) tray icons with defined shortcuts in windows? I have many running programs which I cannot reach with alt-tab because they are not in taskbar – they are in tray. How do you reach those applications without a mouse? I heard of some tricky keys combination (like ctrl+esc esc tab tab tab and then find application with arrow keys), but it's ridiculous to use such long keys combination for such simple task. Is there any utility to manage switching like TaskSwitchXP for alt+tab? Or maybe TaskSwitchXP has possibility to access applications in tray?
Windows – How to access (or switch between) tray icons with shortcut in windows?
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Related Solutions
Use Autohotkey. The scripting language is non standard and can be difficult to learn, but if all you're wanting to do is reliably launch programs, its simple. Plus you can base shortcuts off the Windows key! Use following sample script and modify it to your needs. (Lines starting with ;
are comments.)
;win + alt + e ... unload ipod
#!E::
run d:\Downloads\Apps\deveject\eject ipod.bat
return
;win + w ... launch winamp
#w::
run c:\program files (x86)\winamp\winamp.exe
return
;win + a ... launch AS400
#a::
run C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\Private\1.ws
return
;win + Shift a ... launch AS400 Printer
#+a::
run C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\Private\3.ws
return
;win + ctrl + Shift a ... launch 2nd AS400
#^+a::
run C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Client Access\Emulator\Private\2.ws
return
Save this as a .ahk file on your desktop, install autohotkey and run it.
Every time you press any key combination, AutoHotkey will scan this script. If it matches any of the key combinations that preceed a ::
, it will execute the next command. If the return statement is missing, the AHK will continue to scan the script for matches after executing your statement. The key combinations are described below.
# = Windows Key
+ = Shift
^ = Control
! = Alt
You can use these in any combination with the letters of your keyboard. One combination I find extremely useful is as follows.
; ALT Backtick ... ctrl f4
!`::
Loop, parse, RcvCtrlW, `,
{
IfWinActive %A_LoopField%
{
sendinput ^w
Return
}
}
sendinput ^{f4}
return
; win Backtick ... alt f4
#`::
sendinput !{f4}
return
This is Alt + ` and Win + `. When this script is running and I press alt + `, the script sends ctrl + F4. Win + ` becomes alt + F4.
Autohotkey is basically its own programming language. I have scripts set up that simulate "Rocker Gestures" system wide. I have GMail like shortcuts for my email. If you spend the time to learn some of its tricks, you can get nuts with it. Lifehacker has a whole bunch of useful scripts for Autohotkey. Have Fun!
You can probably get away with an Auto Hot Key Script.
However, I am not an expert... The best I can come up with is...
#Tab Up::Send {Enter}
return
However, this sends the return the moment that Windows Key and Tab is pressed and not when the Windows Key is released. I am not sure of the correct syntax... Hopefully I am along the right lines and someone can come along to fix.
Best Answer
4t Tray Minimizer Free can do this and more.
You can download it here. A free version as well as a paid version ($19.95) is available.
As for the key combination, it's Ctrl + Esc, then Tab 3 times to get to the tray. But I don't think you can switch between the apps in the tray like this, it only highlights time.