Build your first routine: one hotkey to set up your desk
6 min read · Updated
A good first routine is one hotkey that opens a few apps, waits until they're really ready, puts each window where you want it and switches to the right audio device. You build it from five blocks, and you never type a file path or a window name.
This guide builds that routine from an empty one. If you'd rather start from something finished, the Gaming Mode and Work Mode templates do much the same thing (see Getting started).
What we're building
Press Ctrl + Alt + D and KeyRoutines will:
- open Discord and your browser (or whichever apps you use)
- wait until Discord has a proper window and is responding
- put each window on the monitor and in the spot you chose
- switch sound to your headset
- tell you it's done
Pick a hotkey that you don't already use. The hotkey recorder warns you if something else has it.
Build it step by step
Create a routine and give it a hotkey
Make a new, empty routine and give it a name, like "Desk setup". Every routine starts with a trigger: add a Hotkey trigger and press the keys you want in the recorder.
A hotkey can fire on press, on release, when held for a moment, or on a double tap. Press is right for this one.
Open your apps
Add an Open app step and pick Discord from the list of installed apps. Two settings matter here:
- If it's already running: choose to reuse it, so a second press doesn't start another copy.
- Wait for: choose the window, so the step only finishes once Discord has shown a window.
Add another Open app step for your browser, or any other app you want.
Wait until it's really ready
An app's first window is often a splash screen or an updater. Add a Wait until step and choose the App is ready condition for Discord. It waits until the app's main window is a real size, not minimized or hidden, and answering Windows a few times in a row.
Give the wait a timeout, such as a minute, and choose what happens if time runs out: carry on, or stop. While it waits, the run view shows a countdown and the reason, for example "Discord is running but has no window yet".
Put the windows in place
Add an Apply layout step. The easiest way to fill it in is to arrange the windows by hand once, then capture the current layout with the picker and tick the windows you want included.
Layouts are saved as positions relative to each monitor, so they survive a resolution or scaling change. Placing windows never steals focus.
Switch the audio
Add a Set default audio device step and pick your headset. Choose both roles, everyday sound and calls, so apps like Discord follow it too.
If the headset isn't always plugged in, set the step to carry on if it fails. The rest of the routine still runs.
Say it's done
Finish with a Show notification step: "Desk ready". It's a real Windows notification, so it lands in the notification centre if you've already moved on.
Make it faster with "At the same time"
Steps run one after another, in the order you see them. Opening several apps one by one can be slow, so you can put the Open app steps in an At the same time container, with one lane per app. The routine moves on when every lane has finished. The Gaming Mode template uses this to open Discord, OBS and your game all at once.
Test before you rely on it
- Test step runs a single step on its own, so you can check one thing without running the whole routine.
- Preview run goes through the whole routine without changing anything and tells you what it would do, like "Would open Discord".
- The Problems pane points out things to fix before you save, such as a Wait until with no timeout or a hotkey that clashes with another routine.
When you're happy, save it and press your hotkey. Then open Run history to see each step's result and how long it took.
Ideas to add next
- Start with a Close app step that politely closes the apps you don't want, and ends them after a few seconds if they don't close.
- Add a second trigger, like a schedule on weekday mornings. See Triggers explained.
- With Pro, turn it into a mode that puts your audio and windows back when you're done. See Modes.