Questions
Is there AutoHotkey for Mac?
No. AutoHotkey's own project page describes it as a macro-creation and automation-oriented scripting utility for Windows. Nothing on a Mac is the same tool, but each thing people use it for has a Mac answer, and most of them are free. This page sorts them by job, because on a Mac the jobs belong to different tools.
I make InputConfig, a free, open-source Mac app that covers three of those jobs: hotkeys on spare keys and mouse buttons, macros, and auto clicking. It is not a scripting language, and the page says what it leaves out.
On this page: 8 sections
Steps
- Write down what each of your AutoHotkey scripts does: expand text, remap a key, run a hotkey, play a macro or click repeatedly.
- For text expansion and menu shortcuts, open System Settings, Keyboard.
- For key-to-key remaps beyond the modifier keys, use Karabiner-Elements.
- For hotkeys on spare keys or mouse buttons, macros and auto clicking, install InputConfig and add a row for each.
- Press Scan on a row, press the key or button, and choose what it sends.
Find the Mac tool for each job
| You use AutoHotkey to | On a Mac |
|---|---|
| Expand an abbreviation into text | Text Replacements, in the Keyboard section of System Settings |
| Change what a modifier key does | macOS: System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Modifier Keys |
| Turn any key into any other key | Karabiner-Elements, free and open source |
| Change the shortcut for a menu command | macOS: Keyboard Shortcuts, App Shortcuts |
| Run a chain of actions from a key combination | The Shortcuts app, where a shortcut can have its own key combination |
| Give a spare key or a mouse button a job | InputConfig: F13 to F19, the right-hand modifiers, side buttons |
| Play a timed sequence of keys and clicks | An InputConfig macro |
| Click or press a key over and over | InputConfig's repeat settings: turbo while held, or until pressed again |
AutoHotkey is one tool on Windows, and on a Mac its jobs belong to four.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Use what macOS already does
- Typing a phrase. Text Replacements expand a short abbreviation into any text you like, in most apps.
- A new shortcut for a menu command. App Shortcuts gives any menu item the key combination you want.
- Swapping modifiers. Modifier Keys changes what Caps Lock, Control, Option, Command and Globe do. Caps Lock to Escape is in that list.
- Multi-step automations. The Shortcuts app chains actions such as opening apps, resizing windows and working with files.
Key remapper for Mac goes through the three settings panes. Check System Settings first, because several AutoHotkey jobs need nothing installed on a Mac.
Add hotkeys, macros and auto clicking
- You: In InputConfig, make a preset and add a row. Press Scan, then press the key or click the mouse button. Choose the output: a key combination, a macro, Type Text, Open App, Run Siri Shortcut, or a system function.
- InputConfig: Runs the output whenever you press that input, in every app, while the preset runs. A preset with only keyboard rows needs no controller.
- Check: Activate the preset and press the key.
- Macros. A timed chain of keys, shortcuts and clicks. See how to make a macro on a Mac.
- Auto clicking. Clicks that repeat while held, or until you press again. See the auto clicker guide.
- A different set per app. One preset per app, with auto-switch.
A key that types nothing, such as F13, makes the cleanest hotkey.
What a Mac does not give you
- One scripting language for all of it. There is no single tool that covers everything an AutoHotkey script can do. Each job goes to its own tool.
- Your .ahk files. They are Windows scripts. Nothing on this page runs them, so each job is rebuilt.
- Key blocking in InputConfig. It listens to the keyboard beside macOS, so a bound key still does its normal job as well. Swapping or silencing a key is Karabiner-Elements' work.
- Recorded macros in InputConfig. A macro is built step by step and is not recorded by watching you.
InputConfig adds jobs to keys and buttons, and it does not replace a programming language.
Avoid "AutoHotkey for Mac" downloads
AutoHotkey's project builds for Windows only, so a Mac download under that name did not come from its makers. Use the settings macOS already has, and for anything added, an app from the Mac App Store or a project whose source you can read. A file offered as AutoHotkey for macOS is not from the AutoHotkey project.
The short version
- Text expansion and menu shortcuts. System Settings, Keyboard.
- Any key into any other key. Karabiner-Elements.
- Hotkeys on spare keys and buttons, macros, auto clicking. InputConfig.
Sort your scripts by job, and each one has a home on a Mac.
Questions
Is there AutoHotkey for Mac?
No. AutoHotkey's project page describes it as a scripting utility for Windows, and it has no Mac version. On a Mac its jobs are split between macOS settings, the Shortcuts app, Karabiner-Elements and a mapper such as InputConfig.
What is the Mac equivalent of AutoHotkey?
There is no single one. Text Replacements and App Shortcuts are built into macOS, Karabiner-Elements remaps keys, the Shortcuts app chains actions, and InputConfig adds hotkeys on spare keys and mouse buttons, macros and auto clicking.
How do I do text expansion on a Mac?
Use Text Replacements, in the Keyboard section of System Settings. A short abbreviation expands into any text you like, in most apps, with nothing to install.
Can I run my AutoHotkey scripts on a Mac?
No. They are Windows scripts. Rebuild each job with the Mac tool for it: a text replacement, a key remap, a shortcut, or a macro.
Can I make a hotkey that runs a macro on a Mac?
Yes. In InputConfig, bind a key such as F13, a mouse side button or a controller button to a macro: a timed chain of keys, shortcuts and clicks.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.