System-wide Hotkeys

A hotkey, also known as a keyboard shortcut, is a key or combination of keys that you can press to trigger an action - usually the running of a command or launching of a program. Opus lets you create several types of hotkeys.

• Toolbar and menu buttons can have a hotkey associated with them. Pressing that key in a Lister will activate the button's function.
• Folders listed in your Favorites can have hotkeys attached to them. Pressing that key in a Lister will read the favorite folder.
• You can create hotkeys that aren't attached to a button or a toolbar or any other item - they are "pure" hotkeys, that exist in their own right.

True hotkeys are created through the Hotkeys page of the Customize dialog. You will find that you can create two types of hotkeys this way:

• Local hotkeys (the default) can only be used when a Lister window is active.
• Global, or system-wide hotkeys, work anywhere in the system - as long as Opus is running in the background.

One use for system-wide hotkeys is as shortcuts for launching programs - for example, you could reassign Ctrl+Shift+W to launch Microsoft Word.
 

Because system-wide hotkeys are trapped by Opus no matter which program you are using, you do have to be careful when choosing which keys to use. For example, you could certainly create a system-wide hotkey that activates whenever you press the Space key, but then you wouldn't ever be able to type a space! For that reason, we generally recommend using multiple-key combinations for system-wide hotkeys. Opus even allows you to reassign the Windows-key hotkeys that Explorer normally reserves for itself. For example, you could remap Windows+E to specifically open an Opus Lister even if Explorer Replacement mode is turned off.

See the Hotkeys page in the Customize section for more information about creating hotkeys.