How to build AHK scripts automatically on startup?

Simply add a shortcut of your script in the Windows ‘Startup’ folder.

Three ways to get there:

1– In Windows Explorer, go to %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup (for current user startup list) or %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup (for every user startup list)

or

2– Open Windows’ Run application (Windows + r) write shell:startup (current user) or shell:common startup (every user) in the edit field and click on the ‘ok’ button.

or

3– Start > Programs > Startup (old Windows versions)


In AutoHotKey you can access this folder with the Built-in Variables %A_Startup% (current user) or %A_StartupCommon% (every user)

To create the (current user) shortcut automatically from your script, use the following line:

FileCreateShortcut, %A_ScriptFullPath%, %A_Startup%\shortcutname.lnk

To do the same for all users, use this line instead:

FileCreateShortcut, %A_ScriptFullPath%, %A_StartupCommon%\shortcutname.lnk

(in the case of having a file with the same name in the folder, the file would be overwritten)


ps: Win10 blocks scripts in startup with AHK running as admin… read the comments of this post for extra info.

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