Create Global Hotkeys

This tip might be my favorite, but its also quite complicated. Let’s say that you are transcribing an audio recording. Every few seconds, you need to press pause, so you can type what you just heard. Then you need to type, go back, and press play. A lot of time can be wasted bringing your mouse back and forth from Windows Media Player (WMP) to Microsoft Word. There are a few well known suggestions. For example, simply download and use Winamp (see PC TIP, “Windows Media Player Alternatives”) instead of WMP. With that player, you can customize global hotkeys for play and pause. But if you prefer sticking with WMP, there is finally a solution that is relatively quick, albeit complex.

First, download and install AutoHotkey (http://www.autohotkey.com/download/). You will now be creating a script which will basically have the same function as a global hotkey. So, open a folder, like My Documents, where you want to keep the script. Right-click inside the folder, select New, and then select AutoHotkey Scipt. Rename the file to WMP.ahk (Don’t forget the “.ahk” because it will not create that automatically, unlike “.doc”). Then right-click WMP.ahk and select Edit Script. Erase the words that are currently in the file once it opens. Then paste the following text into the file:

^space::PostMessage, 0x111, 18808, 0, ,Windows Media Player ; Play/Pause Track

Close the file. Now, just double-click WMP.ahk and you should see a new icon in the System Tray. That means that the script is running. Open up WMP and minimize it, so it is visible on the Taskbar, but it is not in “mini-player mode.” Then, whenever you want to press pause and play without switching to WMP, just type Ctrl-Space (that is, hold down the Ctrl button and Space bar at the same time. Press them again, and WMP will resume playing, etc.). To exit the script, right click its tray icon, and select Exit.

Check out http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm to learn other ways for using this fine tool.