Keyboard Maestro
Conduct your Mac Like a Pro!
Keyboard Maestro
Conduct your Mac Like a Pro!
Keyboard Maestro is a general purpose macro utility. Think of it as a way to take any repetitious task, no matter what it is, and automate it. You can do so without being a programmer; in part due to it’s wonderful user interface, and in part due to it’s ability to record your actions on the fly.
At the very least, watch their video tutorial on creating a complex macro for saving clippings of text. That should get your computing juices flowing so you can estimate some of the other areas in which Keyboard Maestro will save you time.
I use Keyboard Maestro hundreds of times per day, if not thousands on a heavy computing use day. Eventually it just becomes part of you; you forget it is there, and muscle memory kicks in. You will slam a few keys around, things will happen, and your life will be easier.
To top it all off, technical support is in my top three of all time list.
Of the two applications, I would say Keyboard Maestro streamlines the process of macro creation a little better; plus unlike QuicKeys, Maestro does not have to be running in order to work.
you’re going to see a significant increase in your computer workflow once you get the hang of creating shortcuts and automations. You indeed become a maestro of your computer—playing it rather than it playing you.
Die Möglichkeiten erscheinen sehr weitreichend – wobei es wohl wie so oft bei Programmen dieser Art etwas Einstiegszeit erfordern wird. Einerseits um die individuellen relevanten Funktionen zu erkennen und andererseits um diese dann mit passenden (und hirnkompatiblen) Macros abzubilden. Sei es nun inkl. Applescript, Shellscript, Growl-Support oder sonstigem PiPaPo.
Ist diese Hürde mal gemeistert wird man Keyboard Maestro wohl nicht mehr missen wollen. In meinem Fall greife ich bis dato nur auf einige Bereiche zurück – so wird die z.b die Clipboard-Funktion noch komplett ignoriert, der App-Window-Switcher kommt hingegen schon aktiv zum Einsatz.
Keyboard Maestro is a great utility for anyone that spends a lot of time working with text on their Mac. Whether you might be thinking of using it to help you quickly answer repetitive email, create blog posts or just to map certain mouse-based actions to a keyboard shortcut, it’s definitely worth checking out.
I’ve tried a number of similar utilities, but in terms of extendability and scope, Keyboard Maestro seems to take the cake. At $36, it’s not cheap for a utility, but considering the time it’ll help you save I think it’s a fair price. I’d recommend you try it out and see how well it could fit into your daily workflows.
People sometimes ask me whether I have any — for lack of a better term — secret weapon software to recommend. Utility apps like, say, LaunchBar or Quicksilver (on that one, I’ve been in the LaunchBar camp for a few years). The sort of apps Batman would keep in his utility belt if his utility belt were a metaphor-stretched Macintosh.
Keyboard Maestro is such an app. It’s several utilities in one: a powerful macro program, a clipboard history manager, a hot key manager, a keyboard switcher, and more. Version 4 is a great update, including a complete overhaul of my very favorite Keyboard Maestro feature, the clipboard history, and an all-new Automator-esque UI for the macro editor. Keyboard Maestro is copiously documented and comes from one of the longest-standing and most-respected indie Mac developers, Peter Lewis’s Stairways Software.
I recommend it highly.
It has an application switcher which can do much more than the standard command-Tab that you get with Mac OS X, and this is something I like, you can switch to an application and the hide all of the others, great for concentrating the mind.
If you do use your Mac for work, or even for pleasure, and you find yourself often doing repetitive jobs and processes, then this application can assist you to make those actions run with a few keyboard clicks and save you hours which you can spend far more productively.
Among other features, Keyboard Maestro lets you record macros — sequences of key presses, mouse clicks, etc. — and then invoke them with hotkey shortcuts. It’s also a terrific scripting utility. The change list for version 3.0 is long, but my favorite aspects are the re-organized user interface (simpler by far) and improved scripting support (including support for Unix shell scripts). Keyboard Maestro also now has its own built-in web server, which allows you to execute Keyboard Maestro macros on your Mac remotely.
The whole thing is exquisitely documented, and introductory examples abound.
I have to tell you [Keyboard Maestro] is handy. Keyboard Maestro puts speed at your fingertips. Tired of doing the same things over and over? Just create a new shortcut by choosing your own key combinations to do those things you do most. It even comes preinstalled with some already generated ones.
this is a fabulous timesaver
go and grab this little gem
The application switcher has
some very nice features
I was able to easily create some menu-activating
macros that save me time each day.
There's also a separate window switcher …
-- this alone makes it worth the asking price for me
an attractive package.
Keyboard Maestro’s versatility
and power set it apart from
those I have tried before.
Keyboard Maestro also sports
the application, window and
clipboard switchers
This is definitely a program that is great for the keyboard macro facility.
Keyboard Maestro is everything QuicKeys should have been but isn’t.
It has all the features I’ve been missing.
Of all the macro utilities I’ve used in the past 10 or 15 years,
this one is the easiest to use.
It is easier to use than QuicKeys, has more features and costs less than half as much.
Keyboard Maestro could very well change your computing life.
superbly easy
It’s a beautiful piece of software which, like the much more expensive Quickeys,
automates many repetitive tasks on your Macintosh.
a brilliant new interface and a powerful rewritten engine
A helpful demonstration is well worth a look for anyone who uses a Mac daily.
If all you do with your Mac is
send a few emails you probably
don't need this software. If
you do more than that though,
it’s a must have.
I find Keyboard Maestro powerful and easy to use.
Keyboard Maestro handles all the boring and repetitive tasks for me.
Keyboard Maestro makes my Mac OS X life easy.
execute multiple actions
automate almost anything
Thank You for your excellent program that I use every day. I do not want to live without it!
It is one of the most useful programs in the world! I can’t imagine how people can live without Insert Text macros and Clipboard History... Typing the same text over and over again, No Thanks!
I recommend it on my own website and hope more people will understand how much it helps out in the daily work on a computer...
It is at the top of my recommendations!
Keyboard Maestro is the single strongest productivity enhancer on Mac OS X. Keyboard Maestro allows us to program any repetitive task sequence in a matter of minutes. We’ve tried AppleScript and Automator but for sophisticated tasks they take hours of tinkering to get them to do just what we want. With Keyboard Maestro, if you can write the steps down, your macro is already done. Our programming team moving over from Windows was thrilled to be able to set some essential keyboard shortcuts to what they are used to to get off to a fast start on Mac.
Personally I use it to make keyboard shortcuts work the same across multiple applications and to make Apple Mail accept Eudora keyboard shortcuts. I also have hot keys for filing mail. The first software I bought when the office switched from Windows to Mac was a site license for Keyboard Maestro.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful product. The program says it has saved me about 42 minutes so far, but trust me...the frustration it has saved goes well beyond 42 minutes of time!
It’s really nice to know that there are people like you out there, creating really solid software that solves specific problems, at a value price. The wonderful customer service is an added bonus!
I’ve been using Keyboard Maestro since August of 2008, when Leopard broke Key Xing. Of course, Key Xing was just a launcher, and Keyboard Maestro is so much more. I keep finding new ways to use it, and at this point I’d be lost without it.
Great upgrade! Love the new interface...
Keyboard Maestro was already one of my favorite utilities, and now I like it even better.
Years ago I was a QuicKeys fan, but when I ran into problems with it after moving to OS X, I stopped using it. Recently, I wanted to start using macros again to speed up and automate my work flow, so I decided to take another look at macro creating programs. After comparing the features and ease of use of Keyboard Maestro 3.5 and QuicKeys 4.0.2, I felt that Keyboard Maestro won hands down. The interface of Keyboard Maestro is so intuitive, I was making complex macros right “out of the box.”
Keyboard Maestro is a powerful, polished piece of software at a great price. Plus, it’s fun to use! What more could you ask? Highly recommended.
Thanks for a great product! I use it all day, every day, and I'm working on expanding my use of it since it has always performed flawlessly and has saved me time every day.
How many products can you say that about!?
Thank you for making Keyboard Maestro. Quite frankly: without it, I would have probably switched back to Windows.
I just purchased the software, and I am very happy with it. I ran through the trial period and found myself finding countless ways to harness the power of smart keyboard shortcuts. It is the perfect product for my large data entry project! When my trial came to an end, I knew that I’d have to purchase it; I’d feel crippled without it!
Thanks for offering this software at a reasonable price and for giving users time to work through a trial without limiting its features.
Thanks to Keyboard Maestro, my worries about developing repetitive stress injuries in my wrist and elbow are gone. As a bonus, I’m getting my work done more quickly, too!
I am only writing to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
>A few weeks ago, I saw mention of Keyboard Maestro in a short article about managing email through automated processes. I use Entourage but found it lacking in many keyboard shortcuts and customizations. I downloaded your program and purchased it 5 minutes later - able to easily create two Macros that I have been looking for since my switch in those 5 minutes. Since my purchase, I find new ways to use Keyboard Maestro every day. I love it so much I recommended it to a colleague and we now have a running competition to see who has “saved” the most time according to our Keyboard Maestro program.
Keyboard Maestro 3 saved the day by letting me disable some of the more critical control keys and then 3.2 let me create a “not Terminal” group to house my favorite launch macros.
Keyboard Maestro has become an indispensable utility. It is a brilliant bit of programming and an absolute bargain, to boot.
Keyboard Maestro is the first thing I put on each new Mac I buy. Can’t imagine my Mac life without it!
I love Keyboard Maestro. Combined with the SafeType keyboard it makes for an ergonomic dream.
I would like to compliment your on your software. Not only is it very intuitive and it was not necessary for me to read much of the manual, but you have many nice features that other much, much, much more expensive macro programs (I am referring to QuicKeys) do not have, or you have to do some pretty extensive programming to get close to the same thing.
Keyboard Maestro is simple, clean, and very straightforward.
