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I want to start an application, e.g., the Google Chrome browser, via a keyboard shortcut. How do I assign a keyboard shortcut to an application?

Additional information

I know there are other ways to launch an application such as

  • opening Spotlight via Cmd + Space and typing "Chrome" followed by the Enter key or
  • installing Quicksilver and use it as the application launcher.

Both are cool ways, but I want it even faster—just a keyboard shortcut, accessible no matter what application has currently the focus.

What's the easiest way to accomplish that? I tried to fiddle in Preferences → Keyboard & Mouse under Keyboard Shortcuts, but I failed.

I found a couple of resources on the web suggesting to create an AppleScript script. But I don't know how that would work, and I can't imagine that it would be so complicated to achieve such a simple goal.

Peter Mortensen
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Lernkurve
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5 Answers5

5

If you do have Quicksilver loaded, you can create a keyboard trigger that will work anywhere. Create the command in the Trigger panel of the Quicksilver preference screen, and then double-click the line under the "Trigger" column to set the hotkey.

Note, if you are using Mac OS X v10.6 (Snow Leopard), you'll need the forked version in order to get it to work.

Peter Mortensen
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Peter Murray
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4

The fastest, easiest, and cheapest method:

Open Script editor, AppleScript:

tell application "Google Chrome"
    activate
end tell

Save. Use Fastscripts to assign a shortcut. (Fastscripts is free for up to 10 shortcuts.)

There are other methods not requiring Fastscripts. On Mac OS X v10.6 (Snow Leopard), you can make a service that runs the AppleScript script, and Services can be assigned keyboard shortcuts in the System Preferences…

You could also use an application like Keyboard Maestro.

Dragthing has been around for years and also can assign keyboard shortcuts to applications, I believe.

Peter Mortensen
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ghoppe
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1

I find Spotlight, Quicksilver, or Alfred to be very quick (and Alfred learns from your habits, so Chrome should pop to the top when you hit C).

If you're typically using your Mac in one location regularly (e.g., an office), you can get an external keyboard with lots of extra fancy keys. I have a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse plugged into my MacBook Pro. Using the drivers provided by Microsoft, I have the web browser button mapped to Chrome and I can get to it quickly with that one button push.

Peter Mortensen
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Doug Harris
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0

There is a nice clean open source app for this called Thor. It enabled you to assign global shortcuts to applications.

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Download the binary from the App Store here https://itunes.apple.com/app/thor/id1120999687?ls=1&mt=12. The project page is here https://github.com/gbammc/Thor.

mipmip
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0

I am using a software called Karabiner Elements to create hotkeys and shortcuts.

Before using a macOS for professional reasons, I was like six years in the Linux world (Ubuntu and NixOS). I was impressed by the APIs on the macOS! There were pretty powerful and well-designed.

Also, I went beyond just launching applications. I did some tweaks on some keybindings. In particular, to create a "Emacs everywhere" UX on my environment. You can see my configuration here.

Peter Mortensen
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Pedro Delfino
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