Questions
An auto key presser for Mac
To most games, holding a key on a Mac is one long press, and key repeat in Keyboard settings only helps where an app reads repeated characters, such as a text field. InputConfig presses a key for you over and over, at the gap you set, or holds it down until you say stop. It is free and open source on the Mac App Store.
Repeat a key
- Install InputConfig and allow Accessibility access.
- Add a row, press Scan, and press the control that starts it: a spare mouse button, a controller button, a MIDI pad, or a key that types nothing.
- Set the output to Keyboard Key and pick the key. A combination such as Command R works too.
- In Options, choose Repeats while held to press the key only while you hold the control, or Repeats until pressed again to start it with one press and stop it with the next.
- Set Every in milliseconds. 50 ms is twenty presses a second; 1000 ms is one.
- Close the editor and activate the preset.
Vary by up to adds a random plus or minus to each gap, and Stop after ends the run after a number of presses. Keys go to whichever app is in front, the way a real keyboard's do.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Hold a key down instead
Some jobs want a key held, not repeated: auto-run with W, a held Shift, a mouse button held for a long drag. Choose Toggles on and off. One press holds the output down, the next press lets it go. The built-in Toggle Mode preset shows four examples.
Press a key a set number of times
The Repeat field under the press menu fires the output several times from one press, with a wait you set between them. Three presses of Down with 80 ms between them is one button that moves three rows in a list.
Type a phrase over and over
Set the output to Type Text and write the phrase. On a normal row, each press types it once. With Repeats until pressed again, it types the phrase at every gap until you press again.
Which key should start it
InputConfig listens to the keyboard alongside macOS; it cannot take a key away. The key you bind as the trigger still types, so pick one that does nothing else: F13 to F19 on an extended keyboard, Right Option on a MacBook if you do not type accented letters with it, a mouse side button, a controller button, or a MIDI pad. It also cannot stop a key from repeating on its own; macOS key repeat is set in Keyboard settings.
Stopping it
Press the trigger again, or use the emergency stop, Control Option Command period, which lets go of every key the app is holding. Some games treat repeated or automated keys as cheating, so check their rules first.
Questions
Is there a free auto key presser for Mac?
Yes. InputConfig is free and open source on the Mac App Store, with no account and nothing to unlock.
Can it spam the space bar?
Yes. Put Space on a row with Repeats while held. The built-in Macros and Turbo preset fires Space twelve times a second from RB.
Can it hold W down for auto-run?
Yes. Put W on a row with Toggles on and off: one press holds it, the next releases it.
Does it work on a MacBook?
Yes, on any Mac with macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.