During installation, shortcuts are created for two types of hotkeys: popup menu hotkeys and favorite hotkeys. These hotkeys are always available, regardless of the active window. If whenever they interfere with your existing hotkeys, you will see below how to change or remove them.
Note: There are also a set of hotkeys available only in the Customize window. These hotkeys are covered in the Customize help page.
Popup menu hotkeys
By default, the QAP popup menu can be triggered by the Middle Mouse Button and the keyboard shortcut Windows + W. A second popup menu called Alternative menu is triggered by default by Shift + Middle Mouse Button or Shift + Windows + W. You can change these settings in Options dialog box, Popup Hotkeys tab.
Favorite hotkeys
Mouse or keyboard hotkeys can also be assigned to any favorite in your menu. This allow you to launch a favorite without having to open the QAP popup menu and locate your favorite.
At installation time, only some QAP feature favorites are assigned to shortcuts. They are in the My QAP Essentials menu. This menu is created at installation in the Main popup menu. It includes keyboard shortcuts for the following menu and QAP features:
Shift-Control-Q for Quick Launch
Shift-Control-U for Reopen Current Folder in Dialog Box
Shift-Control-F for Reopen a Folder
Two other QAP features shortcuts are also inserted in the Main menu during installation:
Shift-Control-C for Customize
Shift-Control-A for Add Active Folder or Web page
You can change all these shortcuts by editing each favorite separately or you can edit all of them in the Hotkeys dialog box: select Tools, Hotkeys in the Customize window menu bar. See also Can I launch my favorites with keyboard or mouse shortcuts?
QAP has various types of triggers to open two different menus. Each menu can be open with a mouse button, a keyboard hotkey or an icon.
1) Main QAP menu mouse and keyboard triggers
The default mouse trigger is the Middle Mouse Button and the default keyboard trigger is Windows+W.
These triggers show the QAP popup menu over any window (except those excluded, more info about exclusion list).
In the QAP menu, the favorite you choose is launched in a new window.
But, if the favorite is a folder and the target window where you open the QAP menu supports folder navigation (Windows Explorer, Console or other file managers), the window location is changed to the favorite folder.
Folder navigation is also available for file dialog boxes (Open, Save As, etc.) but this has to be enabled in Options window (see the Options window, General tab, first checkbox).
Using a touchpad
Most of the touchpads can be configured to emulate a click on the middle mouse button (for example, by doing a three fingers tap). Check the documentation of your touchpad. You will find more info in this How-To Geek article.
Open the Alternative menu with Shift + Middle Mouse Button or Shift + Windows + W
2) Alternative menu mouse and keyboard triggers
The default mouse trigger is Shift + Middle Mouse Button and the default keyboard trigger is Shift + Windows + W.
These triggers show the Alternative menu over any windows.
In the Alternative menu, you select the actions to apply to one of your favorites (see the list of Alternative menu features in: What are the Alternative menu features?).
Then, in the main QAP menu, select the target favorite on which the Alternative menu feature will be executed.
Clicking on the Notification zone icon
You can open the menu by clicking the QAP icon in the Notifications area (right part of the task bar). More info here.
Using Explorer Context menus
You can also show the popup menu from the Explorer context menu (right-click menu). On the Desktop, right-click anywhere except on icons and select Show Quick Access Popup menu. To use the Alternative menu, hold Shift key while you right-click the Desktop and select Show Quick Access Popup Alternative menu.
Using the Ctrl+Ctrl hotkey
You can also open the main QAP menu by pressing twice the left or right Control key. Enable this feature in the Options, Popup Hotkeys.
From the command line or a batch file
Finally, you can open the menu from the command line, a batch file (or any script) or from a file shortcut using the QAP companion executable QAPmessenger.
Alternative menu features are actions to be executed on one of the favorites in your QAP menu. After you click one of the options in the Alternative menu, the full QAP menu is displayed to let you choose on what favorite you want to execute the Alternative menu command.
You open the Alternative menu with a mouse or a keyboard triggers. The default mouse trigger is Shift + Middle Mouse Button and the default keyboard trigger is Shift + Windows + W.
These triggers show the Alternative menu over any windows.
In the Alternative menu, you select the actions to apply to one of your favorites (see the list of Alternative menu features below).
Then, in your QAP menu, select the target favorite on which the Alternative menu feature will be executed.
Alternative menu features
The Alternative menu offers the following features:
Open in new window: open the favorite in a new window instead of changing the folder in the target window (even if the menu is opened in an existing Explorer window or in a file dialog box).
Edit a Favorite: change a favorite settings directly from the QAP menu (without having to open the Customize window).
Copy a Favorite’s Path or URL: copy the file path, the URL or the content of a Snippet to the Clipboard in order to paste it in any other window.
Run as administrator: run the application with administrator access (elevated privileges).
Open the Containing Folder in the Current Window: open, in the current Explorer window, the parent folder of the selected favorite document, application or folder.
Open the Containing Folder in a New Window: open the parent folder of the selected favorite in a new window (even if the menu is opened in an existing Explorer window or in a file dialog box).
Move the selected file to a favorite folder (requires v11.5.7.1 or more recent): move the selected file(s) or folder(s) to one of the favorite folders in your QAP menu. The selected files or folders are the selected items in the active Windows Explorer, Directory Opus window or on the Desktop (not available with Total Commander at this time).
Copy the selected file to a favorite folder (requires v11.5.7.1 or more recent): copy the selected file(s) or folder(s) to one of the favorite folders in your QAP menu. See Move the selecte file above.
Alternative menu features are also available directly from the regular menu by using various keyboard modifiers when clicking a favorite in the popup menu. By default these keyboard modifiers are available:
Left Shift + Click: Open in new window.
Left Control + Click: Copy a Favorite’s Path or URL.
Left Shift + Left Control + Click: Edit a Favorite.
Right Shift + Click: Open the Containing Folder in the Current Window.
Right Control + Click: Open the Containing Folder in a New Window.
Right Shift + Right Control + Click: Run as administrator.
Move the selected file to a favorite folder and Copy the selected file to a favorite folder do not have default keyboard modifiers but you can remove modifiers from the less used features above to free them for the new ones.
Launch Alternative menu features directly from the menu
Alternative menu features are also available directly from the regular menu by using keyboard modifiers when clicking a favorite in the popup menu. These keyboards modifiers are by default :
Left Shift + Click: Open in new window.
Left Control + Click: Copy a Favorite’s Path or URL.
Left Shift + Left Control + Click: Edit a Favorite.
Right Shift + Click: Open the Containing Folder in the Current Window.
Right Control + Click: Open the Containing Folder in a New Window.
Right Shift + Right Control + Click: Run as administrator.
Note: Two Alternative menu features added in v11.5.7, Move the selected file to a favorite folder and Copy the selected file to a favorite folder, do not have default modifiers. To assign one the the modifiers to them, you must first one of the modifier by selecting None for another feature.
To continue our previous example where you want to edit a favorite, you could open the your QAP menu using the regular shortcut (by default Middle Mouse Button) and before clicking the favorite to edit, keep the Left Shift and Left Control keys pressed while clicking the favorite to edit.
The keyboard shortcuts opening the QAP menu for specific Alternative menu command and the keyboard modifiers for the Main menu can be changed in the Option, Alternative Menu Hotkeys section.
If you made changes in the modifiers dropdown list and want to return to the current modifiers, click the button Reset to saved modifiers on the bottom right of the window. If you wish to go back to the default modifiers settings, click the button Reset to default modifiers.
If you know the first letters of the favorite or a recent file/folder you want to open, save more time! Instead of opening the QAP menu and look for the favorite in one of your submenus, just open the Quick Launch box, type a few letters and press Enter or select the favorite you want to launch in the list.
Opening the Quick Launch box
If you installed QAP for the first time with version 11.6 or more recent, this feature is already included in your QAP menu. Open it under the My QAP Essentials submenu or hit the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+Q.
IMPORTANT: If, on the other hand, you upgraded QAP from a version earlier that v11.6, you have to add the feature to your QAP menu. Add a favorite of type QAP Feature and select Quick Launch under the Various Utilities section.
In both case, you can change the keyboard shortcut in the Edit favorite dialog box’s Menu Options tab. For example, you could prefer the Middle Mouse Button with the Alt or Ctrl modifier key. Finally, it is always possible to open the box from the Customize window menu bar Tools, Quick Launch menu.
Launching favorites
To launch a favorite with the Quick Launch box, simply type a few letters. Favorites and recent items with these letters in their name will be listed sorted by usage, the most frequently used first. The more letters you type the more precise is the search result.
At any time, you can launch the highlighted item by pressing Enter. By default, the first item is already selected. You can use Down/Up arrows to select another item and press Enter. You can also double-click on an item to launch it. If it is a folder or a document, QAP will open it. If it is a menu, it will display the menu.
If you have a lot of favorites in your QAP menu, to be more specific in your search, type multiple sequences separated by space. For example, type qui pop to search items having “qui” AND “pop” in their name.
Quick Launch options
There are a few Options that you can set to change the way the Quick Launch box behaves. Under Options, Customize Window, you can enable the Extended Search (search all properties). That way, you query will return more results because the search is done not only in the favorites and files name but also in all favorites properties (location, parameters, snippet content, etc.).
By default, Recent and Frequent menus are included in the Quick Launch result. This means that not only the favorites in your menu are included in the search result but also the folders or files you used recently or frequently. By default, the option Include Recent and Frequent menus items is enabled. If you prefer, you can turn this option off to exclude these folders and files.
By default the Quick Launch box shows 10 search results. You can always resize this window manually. If you prefer, you can change the default height by setting a different Number of rows of search result.
Finally, you can set the sort order of the Quick Launch box. By default, the most frequently used favorites will be shown first. This works only if your database is enabled in the Options, Database. If you prefer, you can Sort by:Favorite name or by the Menu order following the natural order of the favorites in your menu.
Using Quick Launch with the Alternative menu
The QAP Alternative menu gives access to actions that can be taken on items from your menu. Normally, you would open the Alternative menu with Shift+Middle Mouse Button and afterwards select a favorite in your QAP menu. With Alternative menu features, you can Edit a Favorite, Copy a Favorite’s Path or URL (or event a snippet content), Run as administrator for an application and Open the Containing Folder of the favorite. See What are the Alternative menu features? for more details.
You can use these commands in the Quick Launch search result. Right-click on an item to open the Alternative menu and select the action you want to take on this item.
You can also call the Alternative menu features with keyboard keys. For example, if you press the Right Shift key while you double-click on a favorite or press Enter, this will open the folder containing a favorite. You can review the Alternative menu hotkeys in Options, Alternative Menu Hotkeys.
