Tag: Context menu

How do I display the Quick Access Popup menu?

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.

2) Showing menu , , , ,

Can I display the QAP menu or launch QAP favorites from the command-line or from a batch file?

You display the QAP menu or launch QAP favorites using the QAP executable companion QAPmessenger.exe installed in the QAP application folder. This utility is used to send commands to QAP from the Windows Explorer Context menus. But you can also use it this utility to call the QAP menu or launch QAP favorites from the command line, a batch file, a Windows shortcut, etc.

Enter one of the following lines at the command prompt, in a .BAT file line or in the Target field in a Windows shortcut. Replace C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe with the current path and filename of QAPmessenger in your setup.

The first line shows the regular menu. The second line shows the same menu but will change the folder in the current Windows Explorer window (for favorites of type Folder or Special) instead of opening a new window:

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuLaunch
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuNavigate

You can also use these commands to popup a specific submenu. Enclose in double-quotes >  (greater than + space) and the name of the submenu, for example:

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuLaunch "> MySubMenu"
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuLaunch "> MySubMenu > 2nd Level"

This example shows the Alternative menu:

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuAlternative

 
The last examples shows how to launch a favorite named FavName from the command line (requires QAP v11.5.4 or more recent). In the first line, QAP will launch the favorite FavName located in the Main menu. The following lines shows how to launch favorites in a submenus.

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> FavName"
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> SubMenu > FavName"
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> Sub1 > Sub2 > FavName"

 
If you use the ampersand (&) in a submenu or favorite name to make a keyboard shortcut, make sure you reference the submenu or favorite with its name as it is entered in the Customize window (for example &&FavName).  Same thing if you use the double-ampersand to insert a real ampersand in the favorite name.

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> &FavName"
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> FavName && Co."

 

You can display the QAP dynamic menus (Recent Folders, Frequent Folders, Recent Files, Frequent Files, Current Windows, TC Directory Hotlist, DOpus Favorites, etc.) if these menus are present in the QAP menu.  In these cases, unlike previous examples, you must not enter the submenu where the dynamic menu is located. For example:

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuDynamic "Recent Folders"
"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" ShowMenuDynamic "Current Windows"

You can also launch submenus (this will display the submenu) or groups (this will launch all group items). When launching groups, do not include the «n» suffix in the group name (indicating the number of items in the group). For example:

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" LaunchFavorite "> SubMenu > GroupName"

See also how you can use a command-line to add favorites to your menu.

2) Showing menu , ,

Can I add a folder or file from its context menu by right-clicking its icon in Windows Explorer?

You can use Windows Explorer context menu (right-click menu) to add favorites of any of these three types: Folder, Document and Application. In the following example, the user right-clicked the Excel file project-budget-WBS. The context menu Add File to Quick Access Popup menu will create a favorite for this document.

Quick Access Popup will automatically detect if the selected file is a folder, a document or an application and will create a favorite of the correct type.

Explorer context menus are also available in Total Commander or Directory Opus.

Fore more details, read the page Explorer Context Menus Help.

3) Adding Favorites ,

Which QAP commands are available using Explorer Context menus?

You can use Windows Explorer context menus (right-click menus) to add favorites to your Quick Access Popup menu. You can also right-click the Desktop background to show the QAP popup menu!

Add Folder context menu in Explorer

Add Folder context menu in Explorer

Context menu in Desktop background

Context menu in Desktop background

The following eleven context menus are added to your Windows Explorer menus:

Target Trigger Menu name
Files in Explorer Right-Click Add File to Quick Access Popup menu
Files in Explorer Shift + Right-Click Add File to Quick Access Popup menu Express
Folders in Explorer Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu
Folders in Explorer Shift + Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Express
Desktop background Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup menu
Desktop background Shift + Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup Alternative menu
Explorer window background Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup menu
Explorer window background Shift + Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup Alternative menu
Explorer window background Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu
Explorer window background Shift + Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Express
Windows Shortcut icon Right-Click Add favorite and import settings from Windows shortcut

To find more about installation and enabling of Explorer context menu, read the Explorer Context Menus Help.

3) Adding Favorites

What should I know about Explorer Context menus and QAP?

In this page:

Using QAP Context menus

You can add favorites to your QAP menu with the Windows Explorer context menus. Right-click or Shift+Right-click on any file or folder to show its context menu. QAP’s command in this menu are recognizable by the QAP icon on the left. You can also right-click the Desktop background to show the QAP popup menu!

Add Folder context menu in Explorer

Add Folder context menu in Explorer

Context menu in Desktop background

Context menu in Desktop background

  • Context menus are automatically added when you install and removed when you uninstall QAP using standard Windows procedure (see Easy one-step installation).
  • At any time, you can remove or re-install the context menus using the Enable Explorer Context Menus checkbox found in Options dialog box, Popup Menus tab.
  • Users who prefered portable installation (see Portable installation) can setup context menus manually by following the instruction below.

The following eleven context menus are added to your Windows Explorer menus:

Target Trigger Menu name Action
Files in Explorer Right-Click Add File to Quick Access Popup menu Open the Add Document or Add Application dialog box ready with the selected file
Files in Explorer Shift + Right-Click Add File to Quick Access Popup menu Express Add the selected document or application at the top of the main QAP menu, no question asked
Folders in Explorer Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Open the Add Folder dialog box ready with the selected folder
Folders in Explorer Shift + Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Express Add the selected folder at the top of the main QAP menu, no question asked
Desktop background Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup menu Open the QAP popup menu
Desktop background Shift + Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup Alternative menu Open the QAP Alternative popup menu
Explorer window background Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup menu Open the QAP popup menu
Explorer window background Shift + Right-Click Show Quick Access Popup Alternative menu Open the QAP Alternative popup menu
Explorer window background Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Open the Add Folder dialog box ready with the current folder
Explorer window background Shift + Right-Click Add Folder to Quick Access Popup menu Express Add the current folder at the top of the main QAP menu, no question asked
Windows Shortcut icon Right-Click Import Windows shortcut to Quick Access Popup menu Open the Add Folder dialog box ready with settings imported from the shortcut: working directory and parameters (for application favorites), window state (for folder favorites) and icon settings (for any type of favorites)
Setting up Context menus manually (for portable installation users)

You can install or remove Windows Explorer context menu entries in the Windows Registry using a batch file created by Doğan Çelik (thank you, Doğan!):

1) Unzip the file ManageContextMenu.bat from the QAP zip file and save it in the same folder where you unzipped the files QAPmessenger.exe and QuickAccessPopup.ico.

2) You will need administrator privileges to execute this command. To run this batch file as administrator, in Windows Explorer, right-click its icon and select Run as administrator.

3) In the menu, select 1) Install… to create the registry keys or 2) Uninstall… to remove them.

Context menus and server installation (for sysadmin)

When installed with in setup mode, QAP always enable its Explorer Context Menus. There are two exceptions: context menus will *not* be enabled if “ExplorerContextMenus=0” in either of the quickaccesspopup.ini file in current user’s appdata folder or common appdata folder. More about installation on a server: Are administrator rights required to install QAP?

Calling QAP from the command line

See also how you can use a command-line to display the QAP menu to your menu and how you can use a command-line to display the QAP menu to your menu.

3) Adding Favorites , ,

Can I add favorites from the command-line or a batch?

You do it with the QAP executable companion QAPmessenger.exe installed in the QAP application folder. This utility is used to send commands to QAP from the Windows Explorer Context menus. But you can also use it this utility to add QAP favorites from the command line, a batch file, a Windows shortcut, etc.

Enter one of the following lines at the command prompt, in a .BAT file line or in the Target field in a Windows shortcut. Replace C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe with the current path and filename of QAPmessenger in your setup.

The two first lines add folders and the other ones add files. The ones with “Express” add favorites with default values without showing the dialog box (be cautious if you use them in a batch loop).

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" AddFolder "C:\FolderPath"

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" AddFolderXpress "C:\FolderPath"

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" AddFile "C:\Folder\FilePath.ext"

"C:\Program Files\Quick Access Popup\QAPmessenger.exe" AddFileXpress "C:\Folder\FilePath.ext"

See also how you can use a command-line to display the QAP menu to your menu.

3) Adding Favorites , ,

Why are QAP context menus not working in some windows?

In some setup, the QAP context menus may work well in Windows Explorer windows but not in a custom file manager.  Or the opposite.

This is generally because some applications are running with different access privileges.

For example, if your file manager is running with administrator permissions while QAPmessenger.exe (that app transmitting commands from context menus to QAP) is running with standard permissions, messages sent from the context menu could not be received by QAP. Maybe you should run your file manager with regular permission or, on the opposite, launch QAPmessenger.exe with elevated privileges.

The opposite could also be true: if QAP runs in admin mode and Windows Explorer (or your custom file manager) in standard mode, context menus in Explorer could not launch QAP commands because QAP has higher permissions than Explorer. Context menu can only call apps having privileges equal or lower than Windows Explorer has.

Please read more about Why is the middle mouse button not working over some windows?.

To find more about installation and enabling of Explorer context menu, read the Explorer Context Menus Help.

B) Issues , , ,