Questions
Custom hot corners on a Mac that run any shortcut or app
macOS Hot Corners give each of the four corners one action from a fixed list: Mission Control, Application Windows, Desktop, Notification Center, Launchpad (called Apps on macOS Tahoe), Quick Note, the screen saver, display sleep, and Lock Screen. They cannot press a keyboard shortcut, open an app you choose, or run a Siri Shortcut, and they only exist at the four corners. Most guides stop there and point to BetterTouchTool, which is paid.
InputConfig's screen regions are the free way past that. Draw a rectangle anywhere on any display, a corner, an edge, or a strip, and when the pointer goes in it runs whatever you bound: a key combination, a macro, Open App, Open URL, a Siri Shortcut, or a system function such as Lock Screen. My hands do not work that well, and a flick of the pointer into a corner is easier for me than a three-key shortcut. That is why screen regions are in the app.
Steps
- Add a Screen Region row.
- Draw the area on a display.
- Choose the output and activate.
Draw a region
- In InputConfig, add a row with the input type Screen Region and open Screen regions.
- Pick the display, or every display, and draw the area: a corner, an edge, or a strip.
- Choose the output: a key combination, a macro, Open App, a Siri Shortcut, a system function.
- Activate. The region works with no controller connected.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Examples
- A corner that locks the screen.
- A corner that opens Mail, or any other app, with Open App.
- The right edge of the second monitor that switches to the next Space.
- A corner that runs a Siri Shortcut, such as starting a timer.
The built-in Cursor Regions preset is a ready example.
How it behaves
A region acts like a button: pressed when the pointer enters, released when it leaves. Add turbo if you want it to repeat while the pointer stays. A region can belong to one display or to all of them, and displays are recognised by their hardware, so a region survives unplugging a monitor. It does not replace the native Hot Corners; turn a native corner off in System Settings if both would fire.
Other apps
BetterTouchTool runs actions from corners and edges among a great deal else, trackpad gestures and window snapping included, and it is paid. SuperCorners is a smaller app made only for corners and zones at the middle of each edge, with its code on GitHub. If corners are all you want, either is a fair choice. InputConfig is free and open source (MIT) on the Mac App Store, draws a region of any size in any place rather than at fixed spots, and the same preset can also hold controller, MIDI, keyboard, mouse, and Tap the Mac rows, so one app covers the corners and everything else you press. The full comparison of mappers is in the best controller mapper for Mac.
Before you switch
Three things to know. InputConfig has to be running with the preset that holds your regions active, so turn on Launch at login in Settings, General, and hide the Dock icon if you would rather it lived only in the menu bar. One preset runs at a time, so if you switch to a game preset, add the same regions to it or the corners go quiet. And working out where the pointer is needs no permission at all; the app checks it 60 times a second, and only while a preset with regions is running. Pressing the shortcut uses the one Accessibility permission macOS asks for when you first activate a preset. Control Option Command period stops everything at any time.
What the built-in Hot Corners already do
Check the built-in feature first; it needs nothing extra. Open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, scroll down, and click Hot Corners. Each corner has a menu: Mission Control, Application Windows, Desktop, Notification Center, Launchpad or Apps, Quick Note, Start Screen Saver, Disable Screen Saver, Put Display to Sleep, Lock Screen, or a dash for nothing. The bottom-right corner is set to Quick Note out of the box, which is why a note sometimes appears when the pointer drifts there.
Hold Command, Shift, Option, or Control while you pick an action and that corner only fires while the same keys are held. That is the built-in cure for corners that fire by accident. If one of these actions is all you want, use the built-in feature. If a corner has stopped responding, see Hot Corners not working on a Mac.
Different corners per app and per display
Screen regions belong to a preset, up to sixteen of them, and a preset can switch itself on when its app comes to the front (turn on automatic switching in Settings, Advanced). So the top-right corner can open Spotlight on the desktop and press a different shortcut in your editing app. See auto-switch.
A region belongs to every display or to one of them. An every-display region sits in the same place on each screen, scaled to that screen's shape, and a region for the external monitor stays silent on the laptop screen. Displays are recognised by their hardware, so a region survives unplugging and plugging back in. One thing applies to any hot corner, built-in or not: if a corner touches another display in your arrangement, the pointer slides across instead of stopping there, so put that region on an outside edge or make it a strip instead of a corner.
Stop a corner firing by accident
A region fires the moment the pointer enters it, so its size matters. Keep corners small and away from paths the pointer travels all day, such as the menu bar and the Dock. For a corner you only want on purpose, open the row's Options, go to Second control, press Scan, and press a key such as Right Option. The region now fires only while that key is held: the same idea as the built-in modifier trick, but for any action. If a built-in Hot Corner and a region share a corner, both fire, so set the built-in one to the dash.
Questions
Can Hot Corners run a keyboard shortcut on a Mac?
Not on their own. macOS offers a fixed list of actions. A screen region in InputConfig can run any shortcut, macro, or Siri Shortcut.
Does it work on a second monitor?
Yes. A region can belong to one display or to every display.
Does it fire over and over while the pointer sits there?
No. It fires once on entry, like a button press. Turn on turbo for repeats.
Can a hot corner open an app on a Mac?
Not a built-in one: the list has no Open App. A screen region in InputConfig can open any app with Open App, or a web page or app link with Open URL.
Does it need a controller?
No. A region reads the pointer, whatever moves it: a mouse, the trackpad, a controller stick, or the macOS Head Pointer. A preset with only screen regions runs with nothing connected.
Does it work on a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac?
Yes, on any Mac with macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Screen regions do not depend on a sensor the way Tap the Mac does.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.