How to Auto Press or Hold a Key on Windows (Free Way First)

At a glance

How to use Autosofted Auto Keyboard Presser (the free way)

Autosofted Auto Keyboard Presser works like a small tape recorder for keys: you record what you press, then it plays that back with a fixed gap between presses. The whole how-to fits on the screen below.

The window as shown on Autosofted's page, with 1.8 in its title bar: Start/Stop and Play hotkeys, the recorded actions, Time between presses, and Repeat times or continuously. The download is version 1.9.

1. Pick a Start/Stop Hotkey and click Set. Autosofted's video uses F1.
2. Pick a Play Hotkey and click Set. The video uses F2.
3. Press your Start/Stop hotkey to start recording.
4. Press the keys you want repeated. Each one appears in the action list.
5. Press your Start/Stop hotkey again to stop recording.
6. Press your Play hotkey to play the keys back. A short countdown runs first (three seconds in the video), so click into the window that should get the keys.

Repeat a key at an interval

Auto Keyboard Presser repeats a key once you record that key by itself and set Time between presses in milliseconds (1,000 ms is one second). Then choose Repeat a number of times, or Repeat continuously. Autosofted's page says it goes as low as 10 ms, but its older tutorial video says nothing under 200 ms is allowed, so check the low end in your own copy before you rely on it.

Hold a key down

Auto Keyboard Presser captures held keys: hold the key while you record, and the list shows it with its duration, like the "e held down for 1.25" entry in the screenshot. For Ctrl, Alt, Shift and the Windows keys, Edit Script also has hold codes such as {SHIFTDOWN} and {SHIFTUP}.

Press a key combination

Auto Keyboard Presser records combinations as you press them, and the screenshot shows Ctrl+a and Ctrl+c as single actions.

Type text repeatedly

Auto Keyboard Presser has no text box, so type your text during recording and set a repeat. For a key the recorder misses, record any placeholder letter, open Edit Script, replace the letter with a code such as {ENTER}, {TAB}, {ESC} or {F5}, and click Apply Changes.

Stop it with a hotkey

Auto Keyboard Presser stops playback when you press the Play hotkey again. The Start/Stop hotkey is for recording. If the hotkey lists come up blank, type the key into the empty box and click Set.

Download Auto Keyboard Presser

How to auto press a key with Macro Recorder Standard

Macro Recorder Standard is built around a list of actions that runs from top to bottom. You can record that list, or build it by hand, which suits key pressing better: highlight the action you want the new one to appear under, then add from the Record and Edit tab or press the action's letter while the Macro Recorder window has focus. All the recipes below are short lists like that. Repeat and Wait need Standard or higher, and the free download lets you try them with license notices before you pay.

The Text/key menu on the Record and Edit tab, with each action's shortcut letter. This is the Enterprise edition, so the AI text entry doesn't apply to Standard.

Repeat a key at a set interval

1. Click into the target program, or add a Window focus action as the first line. Macro Recorder doesn't switch focus by itself.
2. Add Key press (K). Leave the option on Press & release, pick the key, and leave Count at 1.
3. In the Label column, give that action a short name, such as tap. "Start", "End" and "Next" are reserved.
4. Add Wait (W) and enter the gap in milliseconds: 1,000 is a second, 60,000 a minute. Tick Randomize if you want it to vary between a minimum and a maximum.
5. Add a Repeat action. Set Label to tap, choose seconds, repetitions, Until a time or Infinite, and leave Go to on Next.
6. Press Play.

The Insert key press dialog. Count 3 here means three presses in a row with no Wait between them, which suits something like tabbing across three fields.

The Repeat dialog. "Until last data list item" only applies to macros that use a data list.

Hold a key down

Macro Recorder Standard simulates a long press by repeating the key-down event, which is the method in Bartels Media's short video on the Macro Recorder page. The trap is the Count field: don't use it here, because Count presses and releases the key each time, which isn't a hold.

1. Add a Window focus action for the target program.
2. Add Key press, set the option to Key down, pick the key and leave Count alone.
3. Give that action a label, such as down.
4. Add Repeat, set Label to down, enter the time to hold (the video uses three seconds), and leave Go to on Next.
5. Add another Key press with the same key, set to Key up, to release it.

For a key that only needs to stay down while something else happens, such as clicking with Shift held, put those actions between the Key down and Key up lines. The manual has the separate events for this reason.

Press a key combination

Macro Recorder Standard has a dedicated Hotkey action (H) for shortcuts. Press the combination in the dialog, and Macro Recorder writes it into the macro as individual key-down and key-up events. To repeat it, put a label on the first of those events, then add Wait and Repeat exactly as in the interval recipe.

The Hotkey press dialog with Ctrl-Alt-D entered.

Type text repeatedly

Macro Recorder Standard outputs whole lines with the Text action (T), so you don't need one Key press per letter.

1. Add Text and enter your text.
2. Choose Paste with clipboard or Insert key-by-key. Key-by-key has a Humanize option that adds small random delays between keystrokes.
3. Add a Key press for Enter or Tab if each line must end with one.
4. Label the Text action, then add Wait and Repeat as in the interval recipe.

The Output text dialog. The variable in the sample text needs the Enterprise edition.

Stop it with a hotkey

Macro Recorder always stops playback when you press Esc, even if you set a hotkey of your own. Clicking the tray icon stops it too, which helps if you'd rather not send Esc to the program you're automating.

To set your own, open the settings, choose Hotkeys and fill in Stop and Playback. A custom hotkey needs Shift, Alt or Ctrl with the key, such as Ctrl+Alt+F9. These work with the Macro Recorder window minimized, so it stays out of the way. They control the loaded macro: giving different macros their own hotkeys takes PhraseExpress, and the Enterprise edition of both programs to run without license notices.

The Hotkeys settings in a version 5 build, with Esc as Stop and Alt-F10 as Playback in this example.

Can the free edition of Macro Recorder do this?

The free edition of Macro Recorder can repeat keys, with limits. It's for personal use: record the keys, stop, then enter a number in Repeat on the Playback tab to loop the whole macro. Recordings keep the pauses you made, so your own timing sets the interval.

The Playback tab, with the Repeat field for looping the whole macro. This screenshot is from an older version 3.

What Macro Recorder Standard does well, and where it falls short

Download Macro RecorderBuy Macro Recorder Standard

Which should you choose?

Skip Macro Recorder Standard if you need one key repeated for personal use, because $99.95 buys far more than that job needs. Skip Auto Keyboard Presser if you can't accept a 2017 build with an unsigned download. Its $5 upgrade doesn't change either of those.

What commonly goes wrong

• The keys go to the wrong window. Bartels Media calls input focus the most common cause of problems. Use a Window focus action, or click into the program before you press Play.
• Nothing happens in one particular program. A program started as administrator ignores Macro Recorder when it runs with normal rights, and its tray icon shows a red warning. Run Macro Recorder as administrator too.
• You try to hold a key with Count. That gives you repeated tapping, not a hold.
• Playback stops early. Check the settings for aborting on a key press or mouse move: one user reported Windows notifications triggering a stop.
• Text comes out scrambled in a browser. Bartels Media blames security software, and web forms that process input can interfere as well. Test with those security functions turned off.
• A Repeat count is off by one, or a key feels stuck. We didn't test whether Repeat counts the first pass, or whether stopping between Key down and Key up releases the key. Try a short run first, and press that key once yourself if it seems stuck.

FAQs

Is Autosofted Auto Keyboard Presser really free?

Autosofted Auto Keyboard Presser is free to download, but it may not stay free. The product page says "FREE to download" and also "Just $5 to make it yours forever", and the upgrade page lists "No 30 Day Trial!" as a Full Version benefit. We didn't run it past 30 days, so treat the free copy as a possible trial.

Is Auto Keyboard Presser safe to download?

Auto Keyboard Presser's download page says "No Viruses, No surveys", but that's the vendor's word. The file isn't digitally signed, so Windows may warn before opening it. We didn't run it, so download it only from Autosofted and scan it first.

Does Auto Keyboard Presser work on Windows 11?

Autosofted doesn't say whether Auto Keyboard Presser works on Windows 11, and its last file dates from December 2017, before Windows 11 existed. Macro Recorder is the safer choice here, since Bartels Media tests it with Windows 11.

How fast can Macro Recorder press a key?

Macro Recorder takes a Wait time in milliseconds, but we found no published top speed and we didn't time it. The manual warns that Wait times must suit the slowest conditions, so if keys get lost, make the Wait longer.

Can Macro Recorder press keys while I use another program?

No. Macro Recorder controls the mouse and keyboard on a visible desktop and needs input focus in the target program, so it can't press keys in the background while you work elsewhere.

Can I use the free Macro Recorder at work?

Macro Recorder's free edition is for personal users. On a work-managed device, in a virtual machine or on a server OS it shows license notices, and any use that earns you money calls for a license after 30 days. Standard at $99.95 is the entry point for work.

Does Macro Recorder work over Remote Desktop?

Macro Recorder has to run inside the Remote Desktop session. A copy on the host computer can't control programs in the RDP window.

More tools like these are in our Automation Tools category.