{"id":771,"date":"2018-03-19T16:28:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T16:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ptfbpro.com\/automate\/?p=771"},"modified":"2018-03-19T16:30:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-19T16:30:39","slug":"app-specific-switching-in-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ptfbpro.com\/automate\/app-specific-switching-in-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"App-Specific Switching in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was recently asked if there was any way to switch to a specific app in Windows using a short key sequence. The person in question was well aware of the ALT-TAB feature in Windows, but didn’t want to have to step through the list of running programs; he just wanted a short key sequence that would take him directly to the desired program without even having to look at the screen. As it turns out, this is easy to accomplish with a bit of help from PTFB Pro:<\/p>\n

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  1. Make sure the app you want to target is currently running<\/li>\n
  2. Create an empty screen macro; just choose “Screen Macro” from the New Macro button on PTFB’s main, then immediately tap the Pause\/Break key on your keyboard to stop recording.<\/li>\n
  3. Double-click on your new macro to open it for editing, and give it a suitable name. On the Triggers page, turn OFF the “Trigger spontaneously” option and tick the hotkey trigger option, choosing a memorable hotkey that doesn’t interfere with anything else, e.g. for my favorite text editor I might use CTRL+SHIFT+T.<\/li>\n
  4. Finally, on the Editing page add a new “Switch to prog” item (it’s at the bottom of the Misc section on the left) and choose your target app from the drop-down list. Now save all your changes by pressing “OK” in the Switch To dialog and in the macro properties dialog below it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That’s all there is to it. From now on, whenever your target app is running your can summon it to the front instantly by using your chosen hotkey.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I was recently asked if there was any way to switch to a specific app in Windows using a short key sequence. The person in question was well aware of Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-automate-repetitive-tasks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t