WIndows 10 custom hotkey to change language

Question

I am working with OS X and Windows 10 systems. As a good solution I use Alt instead of the Command button on OS X and got used to pressing Alt+Space for changing language.

Now I want to implement something similar on Windows, but it has strict rules for these hotkeys.

How can I change default buttons to Ctrl+Space or Alt+Space on Windows 10?

Answer 1

It looks like natively you're out of luck. Taking a look at the registry, it appears Windows relies on modifier keys only (Ctrl, Alt, Shift), it doesn't look like there's support for other keys. Have you looked at this 3rd party tool though:

AutoIt task automator

You can find more details about this here: Hotkey to switch input language in Windows 7

Answer 2

As an alternative to AutoIt, there is AutoHotkey.

First, you can do one-liner (save it as *.ahk to your startup folder, which is opened fastest way as Win+R, Shell:Startup, Enter):

^Space::#Space

Basically, it sends Win+Space when you press Ctrl+Space. Similarly with Alt+Space:

!Space::#Space

If you add following to start of script, it will only take ~100-200kb of RAM. Otherwise, around 3 MB.

#NoEnv
#NoTrayIcon
;save a bit on memory if Windows 5 or newer - MilesAhead
DllCall("psapi.dll\EmptyWorkingSet", "Int", -1, "Int")

Alternatively, there is scripts for this which sends "switch layout" message instead of relying on sending Win+Space. It also should be running in background. In current variant, it switches layout when Right Control is tapped, but it's easily modified in two lines starting with $~RControl.

All credits to wOxxOm.

;http://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/24666-keyboard-layout-switcher/

;save a bit on memory if Windows 5 or newer - MilesAhead
DllCall("psapi.dll\EmptyWorkingSet", "Int", -1, "Int")

$~RControl::LangSwitch(1)
$~RControl up::LangSwitch(2)

LangSwitch( iKeyDownUp=0 )
{
    static tickLast
    IfEqual,iKeyDownUp,1
    {   tickLast=%A_TickCount%
        return
    }
    IfEqual,iKeyDownUp,2
        If( A_TickCount-tickLast>200 )
            return

    HKL:=DllCall("GetKeyboardLayout", "uint",GetThreadOfWindow(), "uint")

    HKLnum:=DllCall("GetKeyboardLayoutList","uint",0,"uint",0)
    VarSetCapacity( HKLlist, HKLnum*4, 0 )
    DllCall("GetKeyboardLayoutList","uint",HKLnum,"uint",&HKLlist)
    loop,%HKLnum%
    {   if( NumGet( HKLlist, (A_Index-1)*4 ) = HKL )
        {   HKL:=NumGet( HKLlist, mod(A_Index,HKLnum)*4 )
            break
        }
    }
    ControlGetFocus,ctl,A
    SendMessage,0x50,0,HKL,%ctl%,A ;WM_INPUTLANGCHANGEREQUEST

    ;show traytip
    LOCALE_SENGLANGUAGE=0x1001
    LOCALE_SENGCOUNTRY=0x1002
    VarSetCapacity( sKbd, 260, 0 )
    VarSetCapacity( sCountry, 260, 0 )
    DllCall("GetLocaleInfo","uint",HKL>>16,"uint",LOCALE_SENGLANGUAGE, "str",sKbd, "uint",260)
    DllCall("GetLocaleInfo","uint",HKL & 0xFFFF,"uint",LOCALE_SENGCOUNTRY, "str",sCountry, "uint",260)
    traytip,%sKbd%,%sCountry%
    SetTimer,REMOVE_TOOLTIP,500 ;0.5 second
    return
REMOVE_TOOLTIP:
    SetTimer,REMOVE_TOOLTIP,off
    traytip
    return
}

;returns first thread for the <processID>
;sets optional <List> to pipe | separated thread list for the <processID>
GetProcessThreadOrList( processID, byRef list="" )
{
    ;THREADENTRY32 {
    THREADENTRY32_dwSize=0 ; DWORD
    THREADENTRY32_cntUsage = 4  ;DWORD
    THREADENTRY32_th32ThreadID = 8  ;DWORD
    THREADENTRY32_th32OwnerProcessID = 12   ;DWORD
    THREADENTRY32_tpBasePri = 16    ;LONG
    THREADENTRY32_tpDeltaPri = 20   ;LONG
    THREADENTRY32_dwFlags = 24  ;DWORD
    THREADENTRY32_SIZEOF = 28

    TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD=4

    hProcessSnap := DllCall("CreateToolhelp32Snapshot","uint",TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD, "uint",0)
    ifEqual,hProcessSnap,-1, return

    VarSetCapacity( thE, THREADENTRY32_SIZEOF, 0 )
    NumPut( THREADENTRY32_SIZEOF, thE )

    ret=-1

    if( DllCall("Thread32First","uint",hProcessSnap, "uint",&thE ))
        loop
        {
            if( NumGet( thE ) >= THREADENTRY32_th32OwnerProcessID + 4)
                if( NumGet( thE, THREADENTRY32_th32OwnerProcessID ) = processID )
                {   th := NumGet( thE, THREADENTRY32_th32ThreadID )
                    IfEqual,ret,-1
                        ret:=th
                    list .=  th "|"
                }
            NumPut( THREADENTRY32_SIZEOF, thE )
            if( DllCall("Thread32Next","uint",hProcessSnap, "uint",&thE )=0)
                break
        }

    DllCall("CloseHandle","uint",hProcessSnap)
    StringTrimRight,list,list,1
    return ret
}

; Returns thread owning specified window handle
; default = Active window
GetThreadOfWindow( hWnd=0 )
{
    IfEqual,hWnd,0
        hWnd:=WinExist("A")
    DllCall("GetWindowThreadProcessId", "uint",hWnd, "uintp",id)
    GetProcessThreadOrList(  id, threads )
    IfEqual,threads,
        return 0
    CB:=RegisterCallback("GetThreadOfWindowCallBack","Fast")
    lRet=0
    lParam:=hWnd
    loop,parse,threads,|
    {   NumPut( hWnd, lParam )
        DllCall("EnumThreadWindows", "uint",A_LoopField, "uint",CB, "uint",&lParam)
        if( NumGet( lParam )=true )
        {   lRet:=A_LoopField
            break
        }
    }
    DllCall("GlobalFree", "uint", CB)
    return lRet
}

GetThreadOfWindowCallBack( hWnd, lParam )
{
    IfNotEqual,hWnd,% NumGet( 0+lParam )
        return true
    NumPut( true, 0+lParam )
    return 0
}