Keyboard Maestro IconKeyboard Maestro

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, Program 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 Keyboard Maestro preference “Launch Engine at Login” 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 3 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 move the new version in to the Applications folder, possibly replacing the old one.

Keyboard Maestro 3 will automatically import your version 2 macros, clipboards and preferences. Your old files will be saved in the ~/Library/Preference/Keyboard Maestro/Saved Version 2 folder in case you decide not to upgrade to version 3 for any reason.

If you have not done so already, you should consider turning on the Keyboard Maestro preference “Launch Engine at Login” 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 a new single user license of Keyboard Maestro for US$36 by choosing Purchase Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu or you can purchase multiple licenses from http://purchase.stairways.com/. We offer a 50% discount of orders of 5 licenses or more.

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 register Keyboard Maestro?

If you purchase Keyboard Maestro from within Keyboard Maestro by choosing Purchase Keyboard Maestro from the Keyboard Maestro menu, it will automatically be registered.

Regardless of how you purchase Keyboard Maestro you will immediately 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 Kagi (click the Track Order link) or 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 3 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 or Kagi).

How do I get started?

The easiest way to get started is to 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 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.

See also the Tips section.

How do I create a new Macro?

To create a Macro, launch Keyboard Maestro, select the Macros window pane and click the + button. Give the Macro a name, select at least one action and at least one trigger and click the Save button. 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 Clipboard -> 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 date format.

See a movie showing hot to create a macro to insert the current date.

How do I configure the program switcher?

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

So to configure the Program Switcher, launch Keyboard Maestro, switch to the Macros pane, find the Switcher Group, and in it the Program Switcher macro. Double click the macro, and then double click the Program Switcher action. You can then configure the various Program Switcher parameters, such as style and icon size.

How do I uninstall Keyboard Maestro?

Launch Keyboard Maestro and ensure the “Launch Engine at Login” preference 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 Keyboard Maestro 2?

Launch Keyboard Maestro and ensure the “Launch Engine at Login” preference 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.

Open the ~/Library/Preference folder and the folder ~/Library/Preference/Keyboard Maestro/Saved Version 2 folder, move the files from the later folder into the former folder. Trash the ~/Library/Preference/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.

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