Background Hotkeys

Background Hotkeys — Send Hotkeys to Background Apps from Stream Deck

Control background applications without leaving your active window, game, or workspace.

Background Hotkeys allows you to send keystrokes and shortcuts directly to specific background applications. It executes commands silently without stealing focus, bringing windows to the front, or interrupting your full-screen activities.

Features

True Background Input: Send hotkeys directly to target windows without bringing them forward.

Multi-Action Keys: Map up to three different hotkeys to a single key using Single Press, Double Press, and Long Press.

Dial Controls: Map four different actions to a single dial on Stream Deck Plus, including Rotate Left, Rotate Right, Dial Press, and Touchstrip Tap.

Auto-Launch: Automatically launches the targeted application if it is not running when a hotkey is pressed.

Live Status: Visual indicators show whether the application is running, launching, or actively receiving commands.

Display Layouts: Choose between Detailed layout (shows assigned shortcuts) and Minimal layout (shows only the application name and status).

Setup

Add the Background Key or Background Dial action to your canvas.

Select your target application from the App dropdown.

Configure your hotkeys (supports standard keys, modifiers, and media controls).

Select your preferred display mode (Detailed or Minimal).

Coming Soon: hopefully

Bring to front option

Simulate Input mode

Close app option

Contact me for any suggestion or bug fixes!

v1.2.0.0

Background mode now works with Chrome and other Chromium/Electron apps, and with Qt apps such as Keyframe Pro. Keys are delivered without bringing the app to the front.

New for Kinovea: "Command" steps (play/pause, next/previous frame, speed, zoom and more) that work while Kinovea is in the background.

"Bring target app to front" now sends keys to the focused control, fixing apps like Kinovea.

Fixed keys being lost in Chrome in some cases.