AHK Keyboard Navigation

Introduction

AHK Keyboard Navigation (AHKeyNav, for short) is an easily customizable AutoHotKey script for Windows that features Vim-like hotkeys. Hotkeys are executed with CapsLock as a modifier. Therefore, if you want to restore the CapsLock function, you would have to create a hotkey for this purpose or simply assign another modifier. We will see more about that in a later section.

Features

AHKeyNav provides 30 hotkeys by default, however, you can add new ones afterwards. They are categorized into basic and extended commands. The difference is that extended commands require a second modifier, which is by default the Alt key.

Basic Commands

#	Combination	Function
0	CapsLock + j	Move left
1	CapsLock + l	Move right
2	CapsLock + i	Move up
3	CapsLock + k	Move down
4	CapsLock + u	Move to the start of the line
5	CapsLock + o	Move to the end of the line
6	CapsLock + c	Copy
7	CapsLock + v	Paste
8	CapsLock + x	Cut
9	CapsLock + n	Move left while selecting
10	CapsLock + m	Move right while selecting
11	CapsLock + y	Move a page up
12	CapsLock + h	Move a page down
13	CapsLock + BackSpace	Delete the next character
14	CapsLock + p	Combine the current line with the next line

Extended Commands

#	Combination	Function
0	CapsLock + Alt + j	Move left by n words (default: 1)
1	CapsLock + Alt + l	Move right by n words (default: 1)
2	CapsLock + Alt + i	Move up by n lines (default: 10)
3	CapsLock + Alt + k	Move down by n lines (default: 10)
4	CapsLock + Alt + u	Move to the start of the file
5	CapsLock + Alt + o	Move to the end of the file
6	CapsLock + Alt + c	Copy from the current character to the end of the line
7	CapsLock + Alt + v	Clone the current line in the next line
8	CapsLock + Alt + x	Cut from the current character to the end of the line
9	CapsLock + Alt + n	Move left while selecting by n words (default: 1)
10	CapsLock + Alt + m	Move right while selecting by n words (default: 1)
11	CapsLock + Alt + y	Move up while selecting
12	CapsLock + Alt + h	Move down while selecting
13	CapsLock + Alt + BackSpace	Delete the current line
14	CapsLock + Alt + p	Replace the current word with the text on clipboard

Running the script

To run the script, you must download the program AutoHotKey.

You can put the script to run every time you turn on the computer. To do this, refer to AutoHotKey's FAQ.

Modifying hotkeys

You should first look for the hotkey number in the tables above. In the config file, locate the line hotkey[number] and change its value to modify the hotkey. To change its function, open the file navigation.ahk and locate the block Hotkey[number].

You can also change the modifiers through the config file. To do this, edit the values of primaryModifier and secondaryModifier.

Creating new hotkeys

Before you can create a new hotkey, you must first set its key in the config file, e.g., hotkey16=r. Note that the number must follow the sequence.

Then, create a block of code in the navigation.ahk file within the condition #If (CheckActiveWindow()). It should follow the format:

Hotkey[number]:
    if GetKeyState(secondaryModifier, ksMode)
        ; Extended command
    else
        ; Basic command
return

Disabling the script

To suspend or restore the script, press CapsLock + Esc at any time.

You can prevent hotkeys from executing when certain programs are active. To do this, open the config file and add the line program=[window title]. For instance: program=LibreOffice Calc. Doing so will prevent hotkeys from being triggered when a LibreOffice Calc window is active.

Changing extended command variables

In the config file, you can change the extended command variables through the following lines: linesUp, linesDown, wordsLeft, wordsRight, wordsLeftSel, wordsRightSel.

For instance, if you change the value of wordsRight to 5 and then execute the hotkey CapsLock + Alt + l, the movement will be 5 words to the right.