Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

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Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

QuickSwitch v1.8

This big update is aimed at changing the appearance of the Menu and it was prepared thanks to the @noticz and @eddablin! There are new Menu path sections, new customization options, and new settings tabs. The changelog only briefly describes the main changes. If you want to know the details of each change, open the drop-down list with details or click on the words highlighted in blue (hyperlinks).

I really need your feedback! If something is not working for you, please let me know. If you think that some features can be improved, write to me.


New appearance options
  • Settings > Menu tab
    • Blacklist by processes: you can add windows to the blacklist by their process names. This option is useful for turning off child windows or for windows with a changing title.
    • Delete duplicate paths: if some paths are repeated, this option will leave only one of each path. Deletion goes from top to bottom: the first duplicate path will remain, the rest starting from this position in the menu will be removed. This is useful if you do not want the pinned paths to overlap with the paths from the file managers (see below)
  • Settings > Theme tab
    • Apply dark theme: enables dark mode in Settings and Menu. If dark colors are enabled in the system or a dark system theme is selected, option will be enabled automatically. I don't recommend using Windows default dark theme. Use the BigSur or CakeOS themes from Niivu.
    • Show icons: shows icons from specified local directory. Size and directory can be changed in the input fields next to the option (the variables will be expanded). You can replace any icon in the selected directory, the main thing to remember is that the icon name must remain the same. Only ICO files are supported, you can convert any image to ICO here or here. If you want to use other extensions, see below. You can open a request to add alternative ICO files to the releases.
    • Active tab only: will only show the active tab in the active pane.
    • Locked tabs: will show all tabs, including blocked ones. If this option is turned off and the option above is turned on and the current tab is locked, nothing will show up in the Menu. Currently, this option is only supported for Total Commander and Xyplorer.
  • Enforce menu: press Ctrl+Shift+Win+0 and select the path to change the current path in the active file manager. This is useful if you want to duplicate paths between different file managers or their windows. If a non-file manager is open, the active window process will be started with the selected path as an argument. Let's reverse QuickSwitch!

    WARNING
    The Menu sends a request to open a directory in the target application which can open all the files in the directory without warning!
  • Variables in paths: added support for variables in all path input fields: environment variables; built-in AutoHotkey variables; declared QuickSwitch variables. Enclose the variables in percent signs %.
Menu sections

In addition to the paths from the file managers, you can add additional paths to the Menu on Settings > Theme tab. The details of each section are described here. If you want to improve the logic of the sections or add a new one, please let me know.
  • Pinned paths: select the key / mouse button in Settings > App > Pin path... and left click on any path. Now it is pinned and it will be stored in the configuration. You will see this path on every restart.

    If you turn this option off, the paths will no longer be displayed. If you turn it on, all pinned paths will be displayed again. If you want to delete all pinned paths, check Settings > Reset > Delete pinned paths and press Enter.
  • Clipboard paths: copy one or more paths and they will appear in the Menu. They will disappear only when you open the file dialog from another application.
    This option works in the background and analyzes the clipboard for the presence of a path when changing it. If several paths separated by line breaks (multi-line text) have been copied, they will be added to the Menu individually.Background analysis is temporarily disabled when requesting paths from other file managers.
  • Favorite paths: select a directory (the variables will be expanded) with shortcuts to the files or directories and they will appear in the Menu. You can customize how they are displayed in the Menu.

    Create a shortcut to any directory or file in it (in this case the directory it is in will be used). Open the shortcut's "properties" and click on the "shortcut" tab.

    The "target" field is the main path you will see. You can change the displayed path and give it any name you want in the "comment" field. This field takes precedence over displaying the full or short path (Settings > Short path). All fields support environment variables.

    You can click on "change icon" button and put the path to any resource that contains icons (ICO, DLL and so on). The selected icon will be shown in the menu. The default icons (just after shortcut creation) are not shown after the shortcut is created and will be replaced with the "Favorite.ico" icon from the "Icons" folder.
    structure.png
    structure.png (186.91 KiB) Viewed 8160 times
    recusrsive favorites.png
    recusrsive favorites.png (113.74 KiB) Viewed 8160 times
These options work well with Flow Launcher: it allows you to search for files using Everything, copy their paths and drag them to other windows.


Better hotkeys: Settings > App
  • Mouse buttons support: now you can choose mouse buttons and their keyboard modifiers.
  • All hotkeys and mouse buttons can be completely disabled. Press Space to clear input field or select the appropriate option on the Reset tab.
  • You can even select special keys, like CapsLock, Space, Win and so on in drop-down list after pressing mouse button. There are few keys, so there is no separate list for them.
    The standard special keys functionality will be disabled while the file dialog is in focus . Changing the focus (opening settings or any other window) enables normal key operation.

    For example , you will not be able to open the Start menu if you have selected the Win key in the settings. It will open the QuickSwitch menu.

Improved Menu settings and debug UI
  • Improved button alignment.
  • Now all UIs closes after pressing the Esc button.
  • The dark theme applies to all elements.
  • Added the Reset tab to partially delete config sections, reset internal variables and completely delete the config.

Refactored building system
  • The version number has been removed from the name of the release .exe and .ahk. After extracting new update, old files will be replaced with new ones. Configuration (settings) will never be replaced or deleted.
  • The application building system has been changed to a more versatile. It automatically selects the Autohotkey interpreter and Ahk2Exe from your system. The building script is independent of changes in the source code, so you can configure it once and run it after each update.
    The script can be configured to build / archive any file, including your own scripts and projects.

Fixed
  • Empty paths from Total Commander.
  • Repeated attempts to create user command for Total Commander in usercmd.ini. Now, if the user command already exists and QuickSwitch fails to retrieve the list of tabs, an error is displayed.
  • Repeated warnings about file overwriting after enabling (Always) Auto Switch.
  • Impossibility to change the path in the file dialog after the warning about file overwriting.
  • Rare freeze of Ctrl or Alt keys after the Menu display.
  • Saved options were reset after incorrect input. Some options were mistakenly overwritten after exiting the settings.
  • Logging has been reduced (antivirus issue #108.
  • Waiting time for rendering the file dialog has been increased (immediate close #77.
Clipboard.png
Clipboard.png (76.57 KiB) Viewed 8160 times

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

QuickSwitch need your help!

This project is written on the old version of Autohotkey 1.1 and needs to be ported to v2. I started porting in March and I can't finish it yet due to the need to convert everything to v2 and thoroughly test the results. If you would like to help develop the project in order to add new file managers to it, improve the design of settings and reduce bugs related to menu display, please write to me! This port will help attract new users, developers, and expand the capabilities of QuickSwitch.

Данный проект написан на старой версии Autohotkey 1.1 и нуждается в портировании на 2.0+. Я начал портирование в марте и пока что не могу закончить из-за необходимости конвертировать все на v2 и тщательно протестировать получившиеся результаты. Если вы хотите помочь развить проект, чтобы добавить в него новые файловые менеджеры, улучшить дизайн настроек и уменьшить баги, связанные с отображением меню, пожалуйста напишите мне! Этот порт поможет привлечь новых пользователей, разработчиков и расширить возможности QuickSwitch.


Contacts
Discord: @toyu.s
VK: vk.com/toyu_s
Mail: rafaello@getgoogleoff.me
ArtStation: artstation.com/ToYu

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

QuickSwitch is now distributed as open ZIP archives. If you have had problems with antiviruses or administrator privileges, download the updated archives.

The building script now only uses two dependencies: Autohotkey and 7-zip. Install them (offcial links provided here) and the script will automatically find their installation path.

Fixed
  • When the “active tab” option was enabled, Windows 11 Explorer only displayed the first tab.
  • The application may not have shown problems with path requests or path changes in the file dialog (admin permission error).
  • Autostart was disabled (can be disabled manually).

FoxWMulder
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Sep 2023 03:33

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by FoxWMulder »

hello. version 1.8. if turn on "always auto switch" when the save dialog opens, the "Save" button is automatically clicked. However, the folder path does not change automatically. It works as expected in version 1.7. And in version 1.7, the focus is not transferred to the input where the file name is. Therefore, I remain on version 1.4 :(
Another request is the ability to change the location of the pop-up menu.

Otherwise, it's a very convenient item. Thanks.

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

FoxWMulder wrote: 11 Aug 2025 18:46 if turn on "always auto switch" when the save dialog opens, the "Save" button is automatically clicked.
I can confirm that the problem is still present. I have made corrections: the delay before file dialog appears has been increased but is only activated when the dialog is first opened. Please download the updated archives. You can join the discussion on this issue and provide feedback here.

Fixed
  • Missing variables errors
  • Settings appeared in the center if the dialog was in the left corner of the screen.
  • The QuickSwitch restart key did not work in the selected IDE/application.
  • Explorer in Win11 only displayed the first tab when the “active tab only” option was enabled.

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

QuickSwitch βeta 1.8.3: changelog since release

Features
Total Commander speed up
  • Increased the speed of receiving and analyzing tabs
  • Increased the speed of creating the user-defined command required for QuickSwitch (in usercmd.ini).
  • Reduced disk load.
File dialogs speed up
  • Increased the speed of determining the type of file dialog and Menu display.
  • Reduced the number of menu appearances in incorrect applications (false-positives). To do this, the old SysListView dialog was deleted.
Change AutoSwitch target
  • You can choose which path AutoSwitch should switch to: pinned, favorite, ... (see details about the special paths here). You can enable Always AutoSwitch option and select "PinnedPaths" as the target. Then AutoSwitch will always open the pinned path.
Menu display speed up after:
  • pressing main hotkey (Ctrl+Q by default);
  • selecting any item or option (path, AutoSwitch, ...);
  • performing AutoSwitch.

Other features
  • After enabling ShortPath > Show short path... option, 1st letter in the will be underlined. Press this letter on your keyboard to activate this path in the menu (see more about keys here). For example: S̲ystem32\Resources – press S to activate this path.
  • Open "Menu settings" and press Debug button to see all controls of the active window. Press Export to save this data to the readable file.

Fixed bugs
  • After turning on (always) AutoSwitch, the menu appeared twice.
  • After disabling the option Theme > File manager paths > (Show) locked tabs, the active Total Commander tab was displayed.
  • The inability to unpin a path (see pinned paths).
Fixed annoyances
  • After enabling "AutoSwitch" option, the file dialog may have closed (#77).
  • The Menu might not close and stay above all windows after pressing Esc or clicking anywhere (#88, #94).
  • The Menu sometimes didn't appear when the file dialog was opened.

FoxWMulder
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Sep 2023 03:33

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by FoxWMulder »

I tried 1.8.4
I don't understand two things, I'm comparing it with version 1.4.:
1) Why if turn on "always auto switch" when the save dialog opens, the "Save" button is automatically clicked?
2) At the same time, if earlier the path in the address bar of the dialog box changed depending on which folder is open in XYplorer, now it does not work. Why?

Maybe I didn't understand how to configure it to work this way?

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

FoxWMulder wrote: 27 Nov 2025 02:07 Why if turn on "always auto switch" when the save dialog opens, the "Save" button is automatically clicked?
Sounds like a bug. In which application did you open Save As file dialog?

FoxWMulder
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Sep 2023 03:33

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by FoxWMulder »

Raf wrote: 28 Nov 2025 12:37In which application did you open Save As file dialog?
Vivaldi Browser

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

FoxWMulder wrote: 27 Nov 2025 02:07 Why if turn on "always auto switch" when the save dialog opens, the "Save" button is automatically clicked?
Should be fixed in version 1.8.5, please try it. Always AutoSwitch option should enable AutoSwitch for all file dialogs. You can disable/enable AutoSwitch in specific file dialogs if you want: open File Dialog, open Menu and select AutoSwitch item. It will enable/disable AutoSwitch for current File Dialog and Always AutoSwitch option wouldn't affect it.

FoxWMulder
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Sep 2023 03:33

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by FoxWMulder »

I tried version 1.8.5
With no changes. In all programs, if AutoSwitch is enabled, the "save" button is pressed automatically a second after opening the dialog box. I guess that's the case. I have a modified file save dialog. Below are screenshots of my version and the stock version. Pay attention to the left side of the save dialog. I haven't looked at the source code, but I assume the program is based on the elements in the dialog box. From their class handle etc. And since I have a modified dialog, the logic of the program breaks down.

Windows 11

I have this dialog:
https://jumpshare.com/embed/Ygx6YqQy62o9cISWAS7j

It stock windows dialog:
https://jumpshare.com/embed/VVkLvc5CJzYYrG4JEnMh

Raf
Posts: 132
Joined: 31 Jul 2024 15:34

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by Raf »

FoxWMulder wrote: 01 Dec 2025 00:02 I have a modified file save dialog.
Interesting. Please disable AutoSwitch (or set AutoSwitch param in the QuickSwitch.INI to 0 or remove [Dialogs] section), open modified file dialog, open the Menu, then Menu settings. Press Debug button at the top of the settings and then press Export button.

In your QuickSwitch directory .csv file will appear. Find it and attach here please. Or press Add files here and paste path to the .csv in the appeared dialog near the filename field (it's already in the clipboard) then press Open.

FoxWMulder
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Sep 2023 03:33

Re: Updated QuickSwitch [AutoHotkey]

Post by FoxWMulder »

done
Attachments
vivaldi.exe___#32770___Save As.csv
(7.23 KiB) Not downloaded yet

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