Why such a strange name? Author License Setup What can Clavier+ do Create a keyboard shortcut Conditions applied to the shortcuts Actions of a text shortcut Printing the shortcuts list Configuration files Command line options Known issues Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Shortcuts examples
Clavier simply is the French word for keyboard. Note the incredible originality of this name, and the amount of creativity deployed to find it!
Save time by checking out the FAQ before sending me an email: it answers most of the questions I receive.
Clavier+ is released under the GPLv3 license. This gives you the right to use, copy, distribute the software, for any use (personal or commercial), all that without having to pay anything.
There is no warranty for this program, I’m not responsible of any damage due to its use.
The full source code of Clavier+ is available here:
https://github.com/guilryder/clavier-plus
Clavier+ is available in multiple versions:
To install Clavier+ manually, without the setup program:
To uninstall Clavier+ after a manual installation:
Clavier allows associating an action to any keyboard shortcut. Those actions can be:
The keyboard shortcuts can use (almost) any key of the keyboard. The Windows key, located around the spacebar, can be used along with Ctrl, Alt and Shift. As programs rarely use this key, many simple keyboard shortcuts are available to you: Win + Ctrl + A, Win + ., etc.
Clavier+ can modify the behavior of special keys like ` or F11. Thus a keyboard shortcut of one single key can be associated to a frequently used action.
If necessary, the action of a keyboard shortcut can depend of the active program. This allows adding shortcuts to a specific program.
Likewise, the action of a keyboard shortcut can depend of the state of the toggle keys, i.e. the keys having small lights in the keyboard: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock. For example, this allows writing special characters instead of digits when the caps lock mode is set.
Launch Clavier+. A small keyboard icon appears in the taskbar notification area next to the system clock. It indicates that Clavier+ is running and keyboard shortcuts are active. Click the icon to display the configuration window. You can resize the window if you find it too small. The upper area contains a few example shortcuts.
To create a new keyboard shortcut, click the Add button (shaped like a + symbol), and choose a keyboard shortcut action:
You can also drag and drop a file or a program into the Clavier+ configuration window to create a shortcut for it.
A dialog box appears for you to specify the keyboard shortcut. Type it in the dedicated area: its text name should be written in the textbox. Then, click the OK button.
If necessary, modify the shortcut action in the lower part of the configuration window. If the shortcut should write text, for example an E-mail address, check that the Write text option is checked, and then enter your text in the large text area. Each time you type the keyboard shortcut, Clavier+ will write the specified text. You can use the arrow menu to perform special actions beyond typing text: simulate a keystroke, launch a program, etc.
If the shortcut should launch a program or display a website, check the corresponding option. Write the path of your program or the URL of your website in the area below. You can use the small button on the right to look for the program to launch. You can check what your shortcut does by clicking the Test button. If necessary, click the Advanced settings button to specify the initial directory or the initial window size of the program (maximized, windowed, minimized).
Important: you need to close the Clavier+ configuration window before testing your shortcuts. The shortcuts remain disabled while the window is visible.
You can set conditions to the triggering of a shortcut. If all conditions at met, Clavier+ executes the action of the shortcut. If one or more conditions are not met, Clavier+ lets Windows or the active program execute the original action of the shortcut, if any. This allows associating multiple actions to the same shortcut.
Warning! If you associate multiple actions to the same shortcut, make sure to avoid ambiguities by giving the shortcuts mutually exclusive conditions. Otherwise, an error message will appear when you close the window. For example, if you want to associate Ctrl + X to Notepad when Num Lock is off and to the Calculator otherwise, you must give the condition “Num Lock: must be on” to the second shortcut. This is because “Num Lock: no condition” can be ambiguous with other shortcuts, such as Ctrl + X with the condition “Caps Lock: must be on”.
Important: shortcuts with conditions have some known issues.
You can restrict a shortcut to some programs. This allows giving different meanings to the same shortcut, depending of the active program. By default, shortcuts are enabled for “all programs but: none”, i.e. for all programs.
You can define two kinds of condition on the active program. The shortcut can be enabled for all programs except specific ones (exclusive criteria), or only for specific programs (inclusive criteria). Choose the condition type in the Activate for drop-down, after selecting your shortcut in the list.
To define the list of programs of the condition, click the small sight on the right (white background). Then keep the left mouse button down, and move the sight to the window of the program you want to select (for example, the window of Notepad or Windows Explorer). The name of the program is written in the text box at the left of the sight. Repeat this operation for each program to add to the list.
For a given keystroke, you can define any number of shortcuts with an only these programs condition as long as they refer to different programs. For a given keystroke, you can define at most one shortcut with an all programs but condition.
Shortcuts of type only these programs have precedence over all programs but shortcuts. If you create two shortcuts for the same keystroke, associate the condition “only these programs: notepad.exe” to the first one, “all programs but: none” to the second one, and if you execute the keystroke in Notepad, Clavier+ executes the first shortcut and ignores the second one.
You can configure a shortcut to trigger only for certain states of the toggle keys: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock. For example, you can create a keyboard shortcut active only in caps lock mode.
To set toggle keys conditions for a shortcut, double-click the shortcut in the list. In the Activation condition area, set a condition for each toggle key. You can require the key to be enabled, disabled, or set no condition on it.
In the Write text textbox, you can use a combination of multiple types of actions:
Write the text to type in the text area. Use Write a character in the arrow menu to insert special characters unreachable from the keyboard.
Typing text does not work with some programs. You can try to use the [|text to write|] syntax to make Clavier+ use low-level techniques when typing text (better compatibility, but slower and more limited).
Use the Simulate a Keystroke in the arrow menu to write the keystroke code. Typically, the code is the name of the keystroke between brackets, for example: [Ctrl+O].
Note that simulating a keystroke allows performing many different actions such as manipulating the clipboard (with Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V) or executing menu commands (with Alt + letter).
Use the Launch a Program command in the arrow menu, or write the command line to execute enclosed in double brackets. For example, to open a text file and move the cursor to its end:
[[notepad.exe C:\\TODO.txt]][][Ctrl+End]
This syntax allows launching several programs with the same shortcut. For example, to launch Notepad and the calculator:
[[notepad.exe]][[calc.exe]]
The command line can contain %-enclosed environment variables, like in explorer.exe %WINDIR% to open the Windows directory with the Explorer.
Clavier+ sets the %CLIPBOARD% environment variable to the text currently stored in the clipboard. For example, to open the selected URL with Internet Explorer:
[Ctrl+C][][[iexplore.exe %CLIPBOARD%]]
If your shortcut executes several actions sequentially, you may need Clavier+ to wait a little time between them to let them fully execute. To insert a pause, write a pair of brackets: []. Clavier+ will wait for 100 milliseconds, then detect the new focused window. You can also use the command [{Focus}] to specify the delay.
This last point is crucial. If you simulate a keystroke that displays a new window (for example Ctrl + O which pops out the File/Open dialog box), then write some text (for example a filename), you must indicate to Clavier+ that the text should be typed in the new window:
[Ctrl+O][]MyFile.txt[ENTER]
Do the same if you launch a program that displays a window: ask Clavier+ to detect the new active window.
[Ctrl+C][[notepad.exe]][][Ctrl+V]
This shortcut copies to the clipboard the text currently selected, launches Notepad, then pastes the copied text in it. The [] tag is crucial; it tells Clavier+ to paste to the new active window, i.e. Notepad.
The arrow menu lists the supported commands:
If not empty, delay is the number of milliseconds to wait before activating the window. It may be useful give enough time for the window to appear before trying to activate it. If delay is not specified, there is no delay.
If window name is empty, Clavier+ detects the new active window and will send the future keystrokes to it. Useful if a keystroke displays a new window in which the shortcut needs to write. Example:
[{Focus}] or [{Focus,200}]
If window name is not empty, Clavier+ activates the first window matching the given name. The name can contain * and ? wildcards. Escape commas with a backslash as if it were a special character. Example:
[{Focus,50,* - Microsoft Word}] or [{Focus,,Title\, subtitle}]
By default, the shortcut execution stops if the window is not found. To continue executing the shortcut even if the window is not found, insert an exclamation mark ! before the window title. If you want to search for a window with a title that starts with !, escape the exclamation mark with a backslash as if it were a special character. Examples:
[{Focus,0,*Internet Explorer}][Alt+F4] closes the first Internet Explorer window found. Does nothing if Internet Explorer is not running.
[{Focus,0,!Untitled*}]Test writes Test in the first window whose title starts with Untitled, or in the current window if no such window exists.
[{Focus,0,\!Warning!}] activates the first window titled !Warning!.
Note that [{Focus,100}] is equivalent to [].
If not empty, delay is the number of milliseconds to wait after launching the program. If Clavier+ finds a matching window or delay is not specified, there is no delay.
Clavier+ activates the first window that matches window name; see [{Focus}] for the syntax (exception: ! has no special meaning and does not need escaping).
If Clavier+ does not find any matching window, it executes the specified command, then waits for the specified delay (if any).
Examples:
[{FocusOrLaunch,* - Notepad,notepad.exe}] activates a Notepad window if one exists, else launches Notepad.
[{FocusOrLaunch,* - Notepad,notepad.exe,100}]Hello activates a Notepad window if one exists, else launches Notepad and waits 100 milliseconds for the blank Notepad window to appear. Either way, after that, writes Hello in Notepad.
[{FocusOrLaunch,one\,two,C:\\program.exe one\,two}] activates the window titled one,two if it exists, else executes C:\progam.exe one,two.
Examples:
[{MouseButton,L}][{MouseButton,L}] simulates a double-click with the left mouse button
[{MouseButton,RD}][{Wait,1000}][{MouseButton,RU}] keeps the right mouse button down for 1 second
If you need to write special characters \, [, ], {, } or |, you need to escape them with a backslash. For example:
This is a bracket: \[, this is a single backslash: \\
The arrow menu has an entry listing all special characters.
You need to write a backslash before special characters everywhere in the shortcut text, even in special tags such as keystroke simulation or program launching tags:
[[notepad.exe document\[1\].txt]] to open the file named document[1].txt with Notepad
In the main window of Clavier+, click on Copy list button. This stores the list of all keyboard shortcuts in the clipboard: you can paste it in the word processor of your choice to print it. If you use Microsoft Word, you can present it as an array: launch Word, copy the list with Ctrl + V, select it with Ctrl + A, and click the Insert array button.
By default, Clavier+ uses a single configuration file to store its settings: Clavier.ini, located in the same directory than Clavier+ main executable. Clavier+ doesn’t put anything in the registry except the Launch Clavier+ at Windows startup option.
You can create multiple configuration files to easily switch between multiple sets of shortcuts. You can switch between configuration files without restarting Clavier+.
The Clavier+ menu, displayed by right clicking the Clavier+ icon in the taskbar notification area, provides several configuration file management commands:
Another way to load a configuration file is to run Clavier+ with the /load or /merge command line option. This allows loading a configuration file with a keystroke, by associating a keyboard shortcut to the command line:
clavier.exe /load configuration_file.ini
If you need to add many shortcuts at once, here is the configuration file format:
Global settings First shortcut settings - (line almost empty: contains only a single dash) Second shortcut settings - ...
If a configuration file contains multiple definitions for the same shortcut, Clavier+ retains only the first definition and ignores any duplicate definitions coming after. Therefore if you want to override some of your shortcuts by copy-pasting new definitions, insert the new configuration at the beginning of the file, not at the end.
Language=English Size=width,height,maximized,hide icon Columns=width 1,width 2,width 3,width 4 Sorting=column index
Shortcut=keystroke Code=keystroke code (internally used by Clavier+) DistinguishLeftRight=0 or 1 Description=description text Text=text to type when the shortcut is done >Other line to type >Another line ... Command=program to launch when the shortcut is done Directory=startup directory Window=window mode of the program to launch Programs=programs list AllProgramsBut=programs list CapsLock=condition NumLock=condition ScrollLock=condition UsageCount=count
Note the requirement to type a > character at the beginning of each additional line for the Text= field.
Text on one side, Command, Directory, and Window on the other side are mutually exclusive: a shortcut cannot write text and execute a command line at the same time.
Clavier+ accepts the following command line options:
If Clavier+ is launched without any argument, the behavior depends on whether Clavier+ is already running. If no, launches Clavier+ silently. If yes, does not launch Clavier+ again but display the configuration window. This allows accessing Clavier+ options even if its icon is hidden.
Clavier+ cannot capture a few special keys:
Print Screen Pause F12
The special keys “Refresh browser”, “increase volume”, etc. are partially supported. Shortcuts using them can be created, and it is possible to modify their original behavior. However the action of these keys is executed when they are pressed in the Add dialog box. Moreover, as Windows does not provide a generic method to get the name of these special keys, they are named with a number (for example: #183).
Windows system shortcuts cannot be modified. As of Windows 8 it includes most Win + letter and Win + digit shortcuts. The Microsoft documentation lists them all.
By default on Windows, the Alt + Shift shortcut changes the keyboard layout. You are strongly discouraged to use shortcuts like Alt + Shift + key, because you could change the keyboard layout by mistake.
Clavier+ may encounter difficulties with some programs when typing text or simulating keystrokes:
Clavier+ generally supports Unicode: configuration files can contain Unicode characters (UTF-16 encoding), Clavier+ can simulate typing Unicode characters. However a few limitations apply:
EnableHexNumpad registry setting is enabled. The setting is disabled by default. Clavier+ uses only this standard Windows mechanism, not the custom Alt + X shortcut of some applications.
Clavier+ cannot intercept keystrokes conditionally. When a shortcut has a condition, Clavier+ intercepts the corresponding keystroke unconditionally, even when the condition is not met. When you press the keystroke, Clavier+ executes the shortcut action if the condition is met, else simulates the keystroke in an attempt to cancel the intercept.
This behavior introduces delays and is incompatible with certain programs that intercept keystrokes in a low-level manner. For instance, Phrase Express seems to detect twice the keystrokes of shortcuts that have a non-matching condition.
Some shortcuts do not allow fast repetition: you may have to release all special keys (Ctrl, Alt, etc.), and then press them again to repeat the shortcut. For instance, if you associate actions to Ctrl + A and Ctrl + B, to execute the two shortcuts sequentially you cannot do simply press Ctrl + A then release A and press B. You have to press Ctrl + A, release all keys, and then press Ctrl + B.
This limitation exists because Clavier+ has to release the special keys for shortcuts that simulate other shortcuts or launch programs. This avoids the shortcuts to mix and the launched programs to detect that some special keys are down. For example, if Ctrl + A is associated to [Alt+B], Clavier+ releases the Ctrl key, otherwise Ctrl + Alt + B would be simulated instead of Alt + B. For technical reasons, Clavier+ cannot determine whether the user has released or not the special keys before the end of the shortcut, indicating whether or not they should be pressed again to allow shortcut repetition. To avoid buggy keyboard behavior, Clavier+ never presses the special keys down again.
Please read the articles below or the documentation above. They answer almost all questions I receive by email. You can also browse the help forum.
Please be accurate and informative in your messages. Do not just report that “it doesn’t work”. Read this article to get the idea.
I develop Clavier+ for free in my spare time therefore I offer no phone support.
Please read the articles below or the documentation above. They answer almost all questions I receive by email. You can also browse the help forum.
I cannot help you with questions related to any software other than Clavier+, such as incompatibilities between Clavier+ and another software. It is up to you to configure Clavier+ according to your needs. I do not have the same installed software, configuration, and hardware as you do, therefore I often cannot reproduce or diagnose the issues you are facing.
Examples of questions I cannot answer:
Find a way to perform the desired action with commands that Clavier+ can execute, typically via keystrokes (examples). This is your responsibility, I cannot help you with it. Then configure a text shortcut to the desired operations.
Clavier+ is a self-service software. Since each use case is unique, it is up to you to configure it according to your needs. I will not find the right keystrokes for you. I can only help you with Clavier+ itself.
You can of course contact me to report Clavier+ bugs, ask for documentation clarification, request a new feature, etc.
The latest Clavier+ version is compatible with Windows 7 and above. The older Clavier+ versions are compatible with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista too.
Some software such as Microsoft Edge (the Windows 10 web browser) handle the keyboard in a non-standard way, preventing Clavier+ from writing text. To get around this problem, surround your text with [| and |], like shown below:
[|My text|]
If the manipulation described above does not work, browse the help forum. Do not contact me: I cannot answer questions related to incompatibilities between Clavier+ and other software.
Most of the time, no. Games access the keyboard in low-level, for various raisons: speed, cheat protection.
Some characters have a special meaning for Clavier+: \ [ ] { } |
You need to escape when with a backslash to write them. Example:
This is a bracket: \[, this is a single backslash: \\
There is no standard way to format text: the exact procedure depends on which program you want to write text in (Word, Excel, OpenOffice).
The AutoText feature of Word allows inserting any formatted text block. With other software, you can use keyboard shortcuts. For example, Ctrl + B often toggles the bold attribute. To make a word bold, one can write:
A [Ctrl+B]bold[Ctrl+B] word
Again, formatting hotkeys depend on the program you are using. Please refer to its documentation for more details.
No, Clavier+ works with Windows for PC only. I have no plans to port Clavier+ to Mac, Linux, Android, iOS/iPhone/iPad, Windows Phone, or any other system. I don’t know if these systems offer a Clavier+ equivalent. Porting Clavier+ to another system would require a full rewrite therefore a lot of work.
Clavier+ is completely insecure: do not use it to enter passwords or sensitive information. Instead, use a password manager such as KeePass.
The shortcuts list and the configuration file of Clavier+ would indeed expose the passwords in clear text, a critical security flaw.
Clavier+ does not offer to password-protect the shortcuts list: handling shortcuts securely would be very difficult and too restrictive to the other features.
Click the plus shaped button, choose Write Text, press the numpad period key, then click the OK button. Write a comma in the Write text area.
In Windows Explorer, create a Windows shortcut to the special folder: press the right mouse button on the special folder, drag the mouse to another folder (for example C:\), release the button and choose Create shortcut here in the popup menu.
Then, in Clavier+, create a Launch a program keyboard shortcut that executes the Windows shortcut you have just created. You have to write the full path manually, and to append the .lnk extension. For example: C:\My computer.lnk if you have created a shortcut named My computer in the folder C:\.
Some special folders can be opened without the need for a shortcut. For instance, ::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d} opens My computer. The CLSIDs marked as supported by Run in this list are also available.
Create a Windows shortcut configured with the desired options (example). Then configure Clavier+ to execute that shortcut file as explained above.
You can also use command-line tools (example).
In the shortcut command line, insert explorer /e, before the folder path; make sure to write a comma after /e. For example: explorer /e, C:\
Launch Clavier+ then quit it. Double-click on the Clavier.ini file located in the same directory than Clavier+. In the second line, that begins with Size=, replace the last zero with the digit one. For example: Size=923,501,0,0 should become Size=923,501,0,1.
As Clavier+ icon will no more be visible, you will have to launch Clavier+ twice to display its configuration window (once to launch it, once to display the window).
Three solutions:
In the arrow menu, choose the command Simulate a Keystroke.
Simulating the key Context Menu allows to display this menu. With the command Simulate a Keystroke in the arrow menu, we can learn that the code of this key is #93. Thus, writing [#93] allows to display the context menu. To display the context menu at the position of the mouse cursor, simulate a right-click with: [{MouseButton,R}]
There are three keys related to sound volume:
To simulate those keys and change the volume with your keyboard, create a shortcut with Clavier+ in text mode, then write the key code in the Write text area, between brackets.
You can use the program VolumeManager to adjust the volume finely.
There are four keys related to music players:
These keys work even if the music player in not the active application. To use them, create a shortcut with Clavier+ in text mode, then write the key code in the Write text area, between brackets.
There are several keys related to Internet browsers:
These keys work only if the Internet browser is active.
Create a shortcut to Clavier.exe in the Startup folder:
The solution is to enclose the path of the two programs in double brackets, in the Write text area. For example, to launch notepad and the calculator:
[[notepad.exe]][[calc.exe]]
You need to create a shortcut of type Write text and use the [{MouseButton,code}] special command. For example, to simulate a left click: [{MouseButton,L}]. For a double-click, execute two left clicks: [{MouseButton,L}][{MouseButton,L}]. For a right click, use the R code: [{MouseButton,R}].
For a drag-and-drop: [{MouseButton,LD}][{Wait,300}][{MouseMoveBy,200,100}][{Wait,1}][{MouseButton,LU}]
Use [{KeysDown}] to combine clics with special keys, for example to simulate Ctrl + Shift + wheel click: [{KeysDown,Ctrl + Shift}][{MouseButton,M}]
You can create a VBScript program and ask Clavier+ to execute it. The generic procedure is the following: launch Notepad, write the text of your script, save it with the .VBS file extension, then associate a shortcut to it with Clavier+.
An example: write the current date in the active program.
set shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
shell.SendKeys Date()If you want to write the date in another format, you can use the VBScript date functions.
To keep your Clavier+ shortcuts after upgrading or reformatting your computer, transfer the Clavier.ini configuration file, located in Clavier+ directory.
Alternative procedure if you cannot locate the Clavier.ini file:
Clavier+ saves its configuration in a file named Clavier.ini. If it cannot do that, Clavier+ displays an error message Unable to save the settings and your changes are lost when you exit Clavier+. It is often a permissions issue: Clavier+ needs write permissions for the configuration file. To solve the issue, install Clavier+ in a directory where you have write permissions.
Read the article above if Clavier+ displays the Unable to save the settings error message.
If your shortcuts have suddenly disappeared without any error message, several users have reported the issue in the last few years but I have been unable to diagnose or reproduce it.