List of Keys, Mouse Buttons, and Joystick Controls
Mouse
General buttons
LButton | Left mouse button |
RButton | Right mouse button |
MButton | Middle or wheel mouse button |
Advanced buttons
XButton1 | 4th mouse button. Typically performs the same function as Browser_Back. |
XButton2 | 5th mouse button. Typically performs the same function as Browser_Forward. |
Wheel
WheelDown | Turn the wheel downward (toward you). |
WheelUp | Turn the wheel upward (away from you). |
WheelLeft WheelRight |
[v1.0.48+]: Scroll to the left or right. Requires Windows Vista or later. These can be used as hotkeys with some (but not all) mice which have a second wheel or support tilting the wheel to either side. In some cases, software bundled with the mouse must instead be used to control this feature. Regardless of the particular mouse, Send and Click can be used to scroll horizontally in programs which support it. |
Keyboard
Note: The names of the letter and number keys are the same as that single letter or digit. For example: b is the "b" key and 5 is the "5" key.
Although any single character can be used as a key name, its meaning (scan code or virtual keycode) depends on the current keyboard layout. Additionally, some special characters may need to be escaped or enclosed in braces, depending on the context. [v1.1.27+]: The letters a-z or A-Z can be used to refer to the corresponding virtual keycodes (usually vk41-vk5A) even if they are not included in the current keyboard layout.
General keys
CapsLock | Caps lock |
Space | Space bar |
Tab | Tab key |
Enter (or Return) | Enter key |
Escape (or Esc) | Esc key |
Backspace (or BS) | Backspace |
Cursor control keys
ScrollLock | Scroll lock |
Delete (or Del) | Delete key |
Insert (or Ins) | Insert key |
Home | Home key |
End | End key |
PgUp | Page Up key |
PgDn | Page Down key |
Up | Up arrow key |
Down | Down arrow key |
Left | Left arrow key |
Right | Right arrow key |
Numpad keys
Due to system behavior, the following keys seperated by a slash are identified differently depending on whether NumLock is ON or OFF. If NumLock is OFF but Shift is pressed, the system temporarily releases Shift and acts as though NumLock is ON.
Numpad0 / NumpadIns | 0 / Insert key |
Numpad1 / NumpadEnd | 1 / End key |
Numpad2 / NumpadDown | 2 / Down arrow key |
Numpad3 / NumpadPgDn | 3 / Page Down key |
Numpad4 / NumpadLeft | 4 / Left arrow key |
Numpad5 / NumpadClear | 5 / typically does nothing |
Numpad6 / NumpadRight | 6 / Right arrow key |
Numpad7 / NumpadHome | 7 / Home key |
Numpad8 / NumpadUp | 8 / Up arrow key |
Numpad9 / NumpadPgUp | 9 / Page Up key |
NumpadDot / NumpadDel | Decimal separation / Delete key |
NumLock | Number lock |
NumpadDiv | Divide |
NumpadMult | Multiply |
NumpadAdd | Add |
NumpadSub | Subtract |
NumpadEnter | Enter key |
Function keys
F1 - F24 | The 12 or more function keys at the top of most keyboards. |
Modifier keys
LWin | Left Windows logo key. Corresponds to the <# hotkey prefix. |
RWin |
Right Windows logo key. Corresponds to the Note: Unlike Control/Alt/Shift, there is no generic/neutral "Win" key because the OS does not support it. However, hotkeys with the |
Control (or Ctrl) | Control key. As a hotkey (Control:: ) it fires upon release unless it has the tilde prefix. Corresponds to the ^ hotkey prefix. |
Alt | Alt key. As a hotkey (Alt:: ) it fires upon release unless it has the tilde prefix. Corresponds to the ! hotkey prefix. |
Shift | Shift key. As a hotkey (Shift:: ) it fires upon release unless it has the tilde prefix. Corresponds to the + hotkey prefix. |
LControl (or LCtrl) | Left Control key. Corresponds to the <^ hotkey prefix. |
RControl (or RCtrl) | Right Control key. Corresponds to the >^ hotkey prefix. |
LShift | Left Shift key. Corresponds to the <+ hotkey prefix. |
RShift | Right Shift key. Corresponds to the >+ hotkey prefix. |
LAlt | Left Alt key. Corresponds to the <! hotkey prefix. |
RAlt |
Right Alt key. Corresponds to the Note: If your keyboard layout has AltGr instead of RAlt, you can probably use it as a hotkey prefix via |
Multimedia keys
The function assigned to each of the keys listed below can be overridden by modifying the Windows registry. This table shows the default function of each key on most versions of Windows.
Browser_Back | Back |
Browser_Forward | Forward |
Browser_Refresh | Refresh |
Browser_Stop | Stop |
Browser_Search | Search |
Browser_Favorites | Favorites |
Browser_Home | Homepage |
Volume_Mute | Mute the volume |
Volume_Down | Lower the volume |
Volume_Up | Increase the volume |
Media_Next | Next Track |
Media_Prev | Previous Track |
Media_Stop | Stop |
Media_Play_Pause | Play/Pause |
Launch_Mail | Launch default e-mail program |
Launch_Media | Launch default media player |
Launch_App1 | Launch My Computer |
Launch_App2 | Launch Calculator |
Special keys
AppsKey | Menu key. This is the key that invokes the right-click context menu. |
PrintScreen | Print screen |
CtrlBreak | |
Pause | Pause key |
Break | Break key. Since this is synonymous with Pause, use ^CtrlBreak in hotkeys instead of ^Pause or ^Break . |
Help | Help key. This probably doesn't exist on most keyboards. It's usually not the same as F1. |
Sleep | Sleep key. Note that the sleep key on some keyboards might not work with this. |
SCnnn | Specify for nnn the scan code of a key. Recognizes unusual keys not mentioned above. See Special Keys for details. |
VKnn | Specify for nn the hexadecimal virtual key code of a key. This rarely-used method also prevents certain types of hotkeys from requiring the keyboard hook. For example, the following hotkey does not use the keyboard hook, but as a side-effect it is triggered by pressing either Home or NumpadHome: ^VK24::MsgBox You pressed Home or NumpadHome while holding down Control. Known limitation: VK hotkeys that are forced to use the keyboard hook, such as Warning: Only Send, GetKeyName, GetKeyVK and GetKeySC support combining VKnn and SCnnn. [v1.1.27+]: The presence of an invalid suffix prevents VKnn from being recognized. For example, |
Joystick
Joy1 through Joy32: The buttons of the joystick. To help determine the button numbers for your joystick, use this test script. Note that hotkey prefix symbols such as ^ (control) and + (shift) are not supported (though GetKeyState can be used as a substitute). Also note that the pressing of joystick buttons always "passes through" to the active window if that window is designed to detect the pressing of joystick buttons.
Although the following Joystick control names cannot be used as hotkeys, they can be used with GetKeyState:
JoyX, JoyY, and JoyZ: The X (horizontal), Y (vertical), and Z (altitude/depth) axes of the joystick.
JoyR: The rudder or 4th axis of the joystick.
JoyU and JoyV: The 5th and 6th axes of the joystick.
JoyPOV: The point-of-view (hat) control.
JoyName: The name of the joystick or its driver.
JoyButtons: The number of buttons supported by the joystick (not always accurate).
JoyAxes: The number of axes supported by the joystick.
JoyInfo: Provides a string consisting of zero or more of the following letters to indicate the joystick's capabilities: Z (has Z axis), R (has R axis), U (has U axis), V (has V axis), P (has POV control), D (the POV control has a limited number of discrete/distinct settings), C (the POV control is continuous/fine). Example string: ZRUVPD
Multiple Joysticks: If the computer has more than one joystick and you want to use one beyond the first, include the joystick number (max 16) in front of the control name. For example, 2joy1 is the second joystick's first button.
Note: If you have trouble getting a script to recognize your joystick, one person reported needing to specify a joystick number other than 1 even though only a single joystick was present. It is unclear how this situation arises or whether it is normal, but experimenting with the joystick number in the joystick test script can help determine if this applies to your system.
See Also:
Joystick remapping: methods of sending keystrokes and mouse clicks with a joystick.
Joystick-To-Mouse script: using a joystick as a mouse.
Hand-held Remote Controls
Respond to signals from hand-held remote controls via the WinLIRC client script.
Special Keys
If your keyboard or mouse has a key not listed above, you might still be able to make it a hotkey by using the following steps:
- Ensure that at least one script is running that is using the keyboard hook. You can tell if a script has the keyboard hook by opening its main window and selecting "View->Key history" from the menu bar.
- Double-click that script's tray icon to open its main window.
- Press one of the "mystery keys" on your keyboard.
- Select the menu item "View->Key history"
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Somewhere near the bottom are the key-down and key-up events for your key. NOTE: Some keys do not generate events and thus will not be visible here. If this is the case, you cannot directly make that particular key a hotkey because your keyboard driver or hardware handles it at a level too low for AutoHotkey to access. For possible solutions, see further below.
- If your key is detectable, make a note of the 3-digit hexadecimal value in the second column of the list (e.g. 159).
- To define this key as a hotkey, follow this example:
SC159:: ; Replace 159 with your key's value. MsgBox, %A_ThisHotKey% was pressed. return
Reverse direction: To remap some other key to become a "mystery key", follow this example:
; Replace 159 with the value discovered above. Replace FF (if needed) with the ; key's virtual key, which can be discovered in the first column of the Key History screen. #c::Send {vkFFsc159}
Alternate solutions: If your key or mouse button is not detectable by the Key History screen, one of the following might help:
-
Reconfigure the software that came with your mouse or keyboard (sometimes accessible in the Control Panel or Start Menu) to have the "mystery key" send some other keystroke. Such a keystroke can then be defined as a hotkey in a script. For example, if you configure a mystery key to send Control+F1, you can then indirectly make that key as a hotkey by using
^F1::
in a script. -
Try AHKHID. You can also try searching the forum for a keywords like
RawInput*
,USB HID
orAHKHID
. -
The following is a last resort and generally should be attempted only in desperation. This is because the chance of success is low and it may cause unwanted side-effects that are difficult to undo:
Disable or remove any extra software that came with your keyboard or mouse or change its driver to a more standard one such as the one built into the OS. This assumes there is such a driver for your particular keyboard or mouse and that you can live without the features provided by its custom driver and software.