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Install and set up Press Hotkeys

Setup takes a few steps: move the app to Applications, grant the required macOS permissions, choose a keyboard-layout shortcut, and enable the Windows-style commands you want to use.

1. Install the app

  1. Download PressHotkeys-latest.dmg.
  2. Open the DMG.
  3. Drag PressHotkeys.app into Applications.
  4. After copying, launch the app from Applications, not from the open disk image.

2. First launch

Open Press Hotkeys from Applications. The app appears in the menu bar. Use that menu to open settings, browse the shortcut catalog, and control launch-at-login behavior.

3. macOS permissions

  • Input Monitoring lets the app detect the global shortcuts you enable.
  • Accessibility lets the app send the matching macOS commands and control windows.

Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, find both sections, and enable Press Hotkeys. If a permission is already enabled but shortcuts do not work, turn it off, turn it on again, and restart the app.

4. Set up layout switching

  1. Click the Press Hotkeys icon in the menu bar.
  2. Open Settings.
  3. Click the shortcut recording button.
  4. Hold the keys you want to use, such as Alt+Shift or Ctrl+Shift.
  5. Release the keys and test layout switching in any text field.

5. Windows-style commands

Open the hotkey catalog and enable the scenarios you need. Reliable text and app commands can be used immediately. Window and system shortcuts are best enabled one by one so you can check for conflicts in the apps you use.

6. System conflicts

If macOS handles a shortcut before Press Hotkeys can use it, open Input source conflicts in the app. It helps you find the built-in input-source shortcuts, usually Ctrl+Space and Ctrl+Option+Space, and free the keys for your setup.

7. If a shortcut does not work

First check that the app is running from Applications and that Input Monitoring and Accessibility are enabled. Then turn the affected scenario off and on again, and test it in another app. Some editors, IDEs, terminals, virtual machines, and remote desktop clients keep their own keyboard mappings.

For a useful support report, include:

  • your macOS version and Mac model, including Intel or Apple Silicon;
  • which permissions are enabled;
  • the exact shortcut and selected action;
  • the app where the issue happens;
  • a short description of the expected and actual behavior.