Text Expansion
Type a hotkey and instantly insert paragraphs of text. Supports dynamic variables like {clipboard} and {cursor} positioning.
Create custom hotkeys for anything — expand text, launch apps, run macros, manage your clipboard. Stop repeating yourself and let ShortKey do the work.
ShortKey gives you a complete automation toolkit — from simple text snippets to complex multi-step macros — all triggered by your custom hotkeys.
Type a hotkey and instantly insert paragraphs of text. Supports dynamic variables like {clipboard} and {cursor} positioning.
Open any application instantly with a custom hotkey. Pass command-line arguments, target specific profiles or open in admin mode.
Jump to any website, dashboard, or web app instantly. Perfect for frequently visited tools, Jira boards, GitHub repos, and more.
Record and replay complex automation sequences. Mouse clicks, key presses, delays, scripts and more — all in one replayable macro.
Auto-track 200 clipboard entries with text and image support. Create named clipboard slots to paste frequently-used content with a single key.
Open any folder in Windows Explorer with a hotkey. Jump straight to your projects, downloads, or frequently used directories instantly.
No complex configuration. ShortKey gets out of your way and just works — trigger your first shortcut in under 60 seconds.
Click New Shortcut and choose your action type — text expansion, app, URL, macro, or clipboard slot. Name it and fill in the details.
Press any key combination — Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Win — to register it as your global trigger. Conflict detection prevents accidental overwrites.
From anywhere on Windows, press your hotkey. ShortKey fires instantly — no window focus required, no interruption to your flow.
Map any key combo to instantly type paragraphs, email templates, code snippets or form responses — complete with dynamic variables for clipboard content and cursor positioning.
{clipboard} variable inserts current clipboard content
{cursor} marker to auto-position the cursor after paste
Record and replay sequences of mouse clicks, keystrokes, delays, and scripts. Build complex automations with 8 step types — and trigger them all with a single hotkey.
ShortKey automatically tracks the last 200 clipboard entries — text and images. Create named clipboard slots to paste frequently-used content with a single hotkey.
"I've tried every hotkey manager on Windows. ShortKey is the only one that does everything in one place. The text expansion variables alone save me an hour a day."
"The macro automation is insane. I wrote a 6-step deploy macro and now my entire release process is one keypress. Paid for itself in the first day."
"As a writer I live in the clipboard. The history and pinned slots feature changed how I work — never losing a copied paragraph again. Absolutely essential."
Start free with all the core features. Upgrade to Pro when you need the full macro automation system.
All the core automation tools to get started right away. No credit card, no expiry.
Everything in Free, plus the full macro automation engine. One purchase, all future updates.
Secure payment · Instant activation · Windows 10 & 11 · Money-back guarantee
Yes — the core features (text expansion, app launcher, URL opener, folder opener, clipboard manager, profiles) are completely free with no time limit, no account required, and no ads. The only paid feature is the macro automation engine which requires a Pro license.
ShortKey is a Windows-only application, built on .NET 8 with deep Windows API integration for global hotkeys, clipboard monitoring, and system tray support. It requires Windows 10 or Windows 11.
ShortKey includes automatic conflict detection and will warn you if a hotkey is already in use. You can also set per-shortcut process targeting — so a shortcut only fires when a specific application is in focus, preventing accidental triggers elsewhere.
No. All your shortcuts, macros, and clipboard history are stored locally in %APPDATA%\ShortKey\. The only network request ShortKey makes is for license validation (Pro users only). Your data never leaves your machine.
Pro licenses are per-machine. The license is tied to a hardware ID generated from your system's MAC address, username, and OS version. If you need to transfer to a new machine, contact support for assistance.
ShortKey has built-in export and import functionality. Go to Settings → Export Shortcuts to save your entire configuration as a JSON file. You can then import it on any Windows machine running ShortKey.
Join 500+ power users who've taken back hours of their week. Download ShortKey and trigger your first shortcut in under 60 seconds.
Windows 10 & 11 · <30MB · No account required