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javascriptelectronkeyboard-shortcuts

How to make an event listener work when you are on a different application

I was using electronjs to create an app with event listener and one of the function was that when the “a” key is pressed on your keyboard, something happens. However when I am on a different app, this listener doesn’t work.

The code for the eventlistener is:

document.addEventListener('keydown', (event) => {
  //function
}
Solution

  • You need to register a globalShortcut, just remember to unregister it when the app is going to quit.

    Here's documentation for the keys & modifiers you can use: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/api/accelerator

    const { app, globalShortcut } = require('electron')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  // Register a 'A' shortcut listener.
  const ret = globalShortcut.register('A', () => {
    console.log('A is pressed')
  })

  if (!ret) {
    console.log('registration failed')
  }

  // Check whether a shortcut is registered.
  console.log(globalShortcut.isRegistered('A'))
})

app.on('will-quit', () => {
  // Unregister a shortcut.
  globalShortcut.unregister('A')

  // Unregister all shortcuts.
  globalShortcut.unregisterAll()
})