Keyboard Maestro 5 IconKeyboard Maestro 5

Conduct your Mac Like a Pro!

How do I ...?

How do I install Keyboard Maestro?

To install Keyboard Maestro, simply copy it to your Mac’s Applications folder (or anywhere you like).

When you launch Keyboard Maestro it launches an invisible “Keyboard Maestro Engine” that continues to run even after you quit Keyboard Maestro. The engine is the process that enables your Macros, Application Switcher, and Clipboard Switcher to work. This means that they will continue to work after you quit Keyboard Maestro, as long as the engine is still running.

You can quit or launch the engine manually using the File menu.

You should consider turning on the “Launch Engine at Login” preference in the General preference pane to ensure all of Keyboard Maestro’s facilities are available to you as soon as you login or startup your Mac.

How do I upgrade Keyboard Maestro?

Keyboard Maestro includes an automatic upgrade mechanism, so to upgrade Keyboard Maestro once you are running version 3.0 or later, simply click the Install Update button when prompted.

To upgrade Keyboard Maestro manually, or from any version before 3.0, simply replace the Keyboard Maestro application in your Applications folder with the new one. Because the Keyboard Maestro Engine is probably running, the Finder may not let you replace the existing application with the new version, so the simplest process is to launch the new version (which quits any old engine and starts the new one), then choose Quit Engine command in the File menu and quit Keyboard Maestro. Now move the new version in to the Applications folder, possibly replacing the old one. Finally, launch Keyboard Maestro to restart the engine.

Keyboard Maestro will automatically import your version 3 or 4 macros, clipboards and preferences. Your old macros will be saved in the ~/Library/Preferences/Keyboard Maestro/Keyboard Maestro Macros Saved Version 4.plist in case you decide not to upgrade to version 5 for any reason.

If you are upgrading directly from a much older version, you will get better results by upgrading to the last of each major version in turn, ie, run 2.1.3, then 3.5, then 4.3.2, then the current version.

If you have not done so already, you should consider turning on the “Launch Engine at Login” preference in the General preference pane to ensure all of Keyboard Maestro’s facilities are available to you as soon as you login or startup your Mac.

How do I purchase Keyboard Maestro?

New customers can purchase Keyboard Maestro for US$36 by choosing Purchase Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu. Customers with five or more users should contact us for a volume discount quote.

You can look up your current or previous license status and serial numbers, and get information about discounted upgrades from http://enquiry.stairways.com/.

Thanks for supporting us and enabling us to continue work on Keyboard Maestro.

See also the Purchase section.

How do I purchase Keyboard Maestro from the Mac App Store?

We will submit Keyboard Maestro to the Mac App Store, but when or if it appears there is up to Apple and largely beyond our control. When (or if) it does, you can purchase it as normal from the Mac App Store.

See also the Purchase section.

How do I register Keyboard Maestro?

When you purchase Keyboard Maestro you will be given a serial number, and will also promptly be emailed your username (email address) and serial number in the “Thanks For Your Purchase” email. Although you can retrieve this information from us at any time in the future, it is a good idea to keep this safe.

If you do not receive your serial number promptly after purchasing, it may be that the email has not reached you, possibly due to spam filtering on your email service. In this case, try looking up your purchase at http://enquiry.stairways.com/ (although that will email you your serial number which might again be lost to over-zealous spam filters).

Once you have your username (email address) and serial number, launch Keyboard Maestro and either immediately click the Use Existing License button or choose Register Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu. Now enter the username (email address) exactly as shown and the serial number exactly as shown and click the OK button. If you have any problems, recheck that the email address and serial number you are entering is exactly as shown (the serial number’s email address does not change even if you have changed your email address with us) and also that your license matches the major version number (eg, a version 5 license will work with version 5.x of Keyboard Maestro).

How do I get started?

The first thing to do is to read the Quick Start. You may also want to subscribe to our Getting Started emails (Keyboard Maestro will ask you to subscribe).

After that, use your Mac normally and keep an eye out for things you do repetitively. Things like:

When you notice something, consider making a Macro to do it and assigning it to a Hot Key or a Macro Palette or Status Menu trigger.

Try to be consistent with your Hot Keys, for example you might have a set of applications you open, using a function key for each, and a set of documents you open, using a Control-Function Key combination for each of them, and a bunch of snippets of text your type, using Control-Letter for each of them (the letter could be a mnemonic to help you remember which one is which). Consider putting a sticker on your keyboard across the top of your function keys to help you remember which ones do which function. Remember that you can use the number pad keys as well.

Also, keep in mind common command keys and system defined hot keys and try to avoid conflicting with them.

See also the Tips section.

How do I create a new Macro?

To create a Macro, launch Keyboard Maestro and click the + button under the Macros list. Give the Macro a name, add one or more triggers, and one or more actions. The Macro is immediately active.

An easy way to generate macro actions is to turn on recording and proceed to show Keyboard Maestro what you want to do. Then turn recording back off and look through the actions — chances are you will want to delete or adjust some of the recorded actions to make a robust macro, but this will be much quicker than creating each macro manually.

How do I Insert Styled/Colored Text or Images?

You can insert plain text using the Text -> Insert Text action. If you want to insert styled text or images you can do so using a Named Clipboard. Here is how to create a Macro to insert styled text when you press a Hot Key (the same method would work for an image with minor changes).

Now whenever you trigger the macro you just created, your styled text or image will be pasted in.

How do I Insert the Current Date?

You can create an action Clipboard -> Insert Text which includes tokens. There are some basic date format tokens, or you can use any ICU data format.

How do I configure the application switcher?

The Application Switcher (and all the switchers) are activated by macro actions. By default, Keyboard Maestro creates a “Switcher Group” Macro Group, and in there creates six macros. Each macro has a hot key trigger and a matching action which activates the appropriate switcher.

So to configure the Application Switcher, launch Keyboard Maestro, select the Switcher Group, and double click the Activate Application Switcher macro. You can then configure the various Application Switcher parameters, such as style and icon size by configuring the Application Switcher action. You can also configure the hot key used to activate the switcher, or disable the switcher.

How do I uninstall Keyboard Maestro?

Launch Keyboard Maestro and ensure the “Launch Engine at Login” preference in the General preference pane is turned off. Then choose Quit Engine from the File menu to quit the engine, and then choose Quit Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu to quit the application. You can then trash the Keyboard Maestro application from your Applications folder.

How do I revert to a previous version of Keyboard Maestro?

Launch Keyboard Maestro and ensure the “Launch Engine at Login” preference in the General preference pane is turned off. Then choose Quit Engine from the File menu to quit the engine, and then choose Quit Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu to quit the application. You can then trash the Keyboard Maestro application from your Applications folder.

For version 2, open the ~/Library/Preferences folder and the folder ~/Library/Preferences/Keyboard Maestro/Saved Version 2 folder. Move the files from the latter folder into the former folder. Trash the ~/Library/Preferences/Keyboard Maestro folder. Download Keyboard Maestro 2.1.3, if necessary, from http://files.stairways.com/keyboardmaestro/keyboardmaestro-213.dmg. Move Keyboard Maestro 2 to the Applications folder and launch it. Turn on the “Launch Engine at Login” preference if desired.

For version 3, open the ~/Library/Preferences/Keyboard Maestro folder. Trash the Keyboard Maestro Macros.plist and replace it with the Keyboard Maestro Macros Saved Version 3.plist. Download Keyboard Maestro 3.5, if necessary, from http://files.stairways.com/keyboardmaestro/keyboardmaestro-35.zip. Move Keyboard Maestro 3 to the Applications folder and launch it. Turn on the “Launch Engine at Login” preference if desired.

For version 4, open the ~/Library/Preferences/Keyboard Maestro folder. Trash the Keyboard Maestro Macros.plist and replace it with the Keyboard Maestro Macros Saved Version 4.plist. Download Keyboard Maestro 4.3.2, if necessary, from http://files.stairways.com/keyboardmaestro/keyboardmaestro-432.zip. Move Keyboard Maestro 4 to the Applications folder and launch it. Turn on the “Launch Engine at Login” preference if desired.

Continue on to Macro Groups

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