Automating Processes in MS Windows Using a Simple Program

Lately I was bored as I was playing around with my computer, trying to organize and optimize it. I normally work on a GNU/Linux OS but lately I had some issues with my machine so I had to switch to Windows, at least for the time being. Of course there is nothing that can make this OS as good as its Linux-based counterpart, but there are certain things that can actually make it an efficient platform to use. One such thing is the AutoHotKey program.

This nifty little program is a very basic scripting platform that allows you to create mini-programs that run on the background and which can automate several processes on a Windows computer. Things like launching the beBee site, for example, can be very handy to have a shortcut for, especially if you find yourself visiting that site whenever you take a break! This is quite faster than launching your browser and selecting bebee.com from your bookmarks, by the way. You can create a shortcut that with the push of a button, it can launch the beBee site, even if you don't have a browser open at that moment. Of course, you can do more sophisticated things than that, but this is a simple example, which doesn't take much time to implement.

What I find particularly appealing about this program is that it's very well-documented and that there are several YouTube videos with tutorials on it. Apparently, it has really caught on since it came out a few years back. Some people actually swear by it, while you can be quite creative with what you use it for. For example, someone uses it to automatically paste certain things on the Social Media and various forums, to promote his company. This pasting is also done with some built-in delays, so that the forums don't block it (if you write a lot of text quickly, in a copy-paste fashion, they tend to flag it as spamming).

The whole program is so intuitive and so well-designed to perform various automations through the scripts you develop on it, that you can pick it up in no time. I hadn't worked it in years and when I started playing with it this weekend, I was able to create a useful script within a couple of hours. The scripts you create with AutoHotKey, by the way, are easy to turn into executable files, so that you can run them on other computers, e.g. your work computer, even if you don't have admin privileges on them.

Anyway, I just thought I'd drop a line and let you all know about this cool little program, which is designed with the average computer user in mind. What processes would you automate with it?

Disclaimer. I'm not affiliated or in any way associated with the company that created this program. I just find it immensely useful, which is why I wrote this article. Also, the program is completely free, with no strings attached.