ENGAGE
  • The ENGAGE Platform
  • Getting started
    • Installing ENGAGE
      • Installing ENGAGE on a Meta Quest
      • Installing ENGAGE on Microsoft Windows
      • Installing ENGAGE on macOS
      • Installing ENGAGE on Android phones and tablets, iPhones, and iPads
      • Installing ENGAGE on other devices
    • Creating an account
      • Account types
      • Creating an account in the web manager
      • Creating an account in the ENGAGE app
      • Single sign-on (SSO)
    • Creating your avatar
    • The menu screen
    • Starting your first Session
    • Basic controls
      • Keyboard shortcuts
      • Logitech MX Ink
    • Your safety
    • Help with log-in issues
    • Exploring ENGAGE
  • Video tutorials
    • Beginner
    • Intermediate
    • Advanced
  • ENGAGE LINK
    • Accessing ENGAGE LINK
    • ENGAGE LINK plazas
    • Joining other people in LINK
    • Getting assistance in ENGAGE LINK
    • Creating a metaworld
  • Avatars
    • Editing your avatar
    • Creating a new avatar
    • Using My Face
      • Changing My Face skin tone
    • Setting your height
    • Capturing a profile photo
    • Full-body and basic avatars
    • VR tracking modes
    • Realigning your avatar in VR
  • Sessions
    • Joining a Session
      • Joining a listed Session
      • Joining with a Session ID
      • Joining through an invitation
      • Joining through a quick link
      • Requesting to join a connection
    • Creating a Session
      • Creating a private Session
      • Creating a public Session
      • Creating an Enterprise Group Session
      • Creating an unlisted Session
      • Session capacity
    • Inviting others to your Session
    • Leaving a Session
    • Finding a Session ID
    • Persistent and commercial Sessions
      • Creating a persistent or commercial Session
      • Joining a persistent or commercial Session
      • Setting the location for a persistent or commercial Session
    • LITE user limits
  • Essential features
    • Accessing your menu
      • Using hand controllers to interact with your menu
    • Connections
      • Accepting or rejecting an invitation to connect
      • Inviting someone to connect
      • Cancelling an invitation to connect
      • Removing a connection
      • Session invitations
        • Accepting a connection's request to join your Session
    • Audio settings
      • Turning your microphone on and off
      • Resetting your audio
      • Selecting your microphone input on Windows or PC VR
      • Setting the voice recognition language
    • Moving around
    • Teleporting
    • Travelling through a portal
      • Travelling through a password protected portal
    • Wrist controls
    • Using chairs
    • Gestures
      • Using gestures on a phone, tablet, or desktop device
      • Using gestures on a VR headset
    • Emojis
      • Using emojis from your menu
      • Using emojis from your wrist controls
      • Using emojis from keyboard shortcuts
    • Web browser
      • Managing web links
      • Sharing a website
      • Cloud storage connections
        • Connecting to OneDrive
        • Connecting to DropBox
        • Disconnecting a cloud connection
    • Sharing media
      • Managing video links
      • Videos
        • Playing a video
        • Controlling video playback
        • Supported video file types
      • Websites
      • Presentations and other files
        • Sharing a presentation from OneDrive
      • Computer desktop
      • The 360 video room
        • Visiting the 360 video room
        • Switching to the 360 video room from another location
        • Using the 360 video room pedestal
    • Accessing ENGAGE content
      • Controlling the playback of content
    • Using your virtual keyboard
      • Using special characters
      • Changing the language of the virtual keyboard
      • Using shortcuts on the virtual keyboard
      • Moving the virtual keyboard
    • Registering for a PLUS account
  • Advanced features
    • Changing location
    • Taking a picture with the ENGAGE camera
    • Using IFX
      • Adding IFX
      • Saving IFX
      • Web URL Image IFX
      • Session portal IFX
      • Web button IFX
    • Snapshots
      • Saving a snapshot
      • Loading a snapshot
      • Ungrouping a snapshot
    • Drawpad and whiteboards
      • Opening your Drawpad
      • Using your Drawpad
        • Anchoring your Drawpad to a physical surface
      • Adding a whiteboard IFX
      • Drawing on whiteboards on desktop devices
      • Drawing on whiteboards on VR headsets
      • Connecting your Drawpad to a whiteboard
      • Copying drawings between Drawpads and whiteboards
      • Linking whiteboards
      • Locking a whiteboard
    • 3D pen
    • Sticky notes
      • Creating a sticky note from the Notes page
      • Creating a sticky note from the wrist control
      • Creating a sticky note from a keyboard shortcut
      • Moving a sticky note
      • Locking a sticky note
      • Deleting a sticky note
    • Recordings
      • Spatial recordings
        • Creating a spatial recording
        • Loading a spatial recording
        • Controlling the playback of spatial recordings
        • Advanced playback settings
        • Editing a spatial recording
      • Video recording
        • Creating a video recording
        • Sharing a recorded video in a Session
        • Adding a video camera
    • Modifying objects
      • Finding an object bubble
      • Accessing the control menu
      • Moving an object by selecting
        • Moving by selection in VR
        • Moving by selection on a desktop device
      • Transforming an object
      • Sharing an object
      • Cloning an object
      • Locking an object
      • Deleting an object
    • The gizmo
      • Interacting with the gizmo on a desktop device
      • Interacting with the gizmo on a VR headset
    • Forms
      • Creating and managing forms in the ENGAGE app
      • Creating a form in the web manager
      • Editing settings for a form in the web manager
      • Questions
        • Adding a multiple-choice question
        • Adding a questionnaire question
        • Adding a paragraph question
        • Adding an information slide
        • Configuring which questions are enabled
        • Reordering questions
      • Testing a form
      • Delivering a form
      • Viewing results
    • Accessing files on your device
    • Mixed Reality
      • Room setup
      • Mixed reality Location Anchor
      • Hidden IFX
      • Mixed reality settings
      • Changing your menu screen environment
      • Mixed reality passthrough window
      • Turning on spatial data permission
  • Host controls
    • User search and sort options
    • Adding a co-host
    • Removing a co-host
    • Controlling permissions
      • Setting permissions for all users
      • Setting permissions for an individual user
    • Controlling microphones
      • Managing the microphones of all users
      • Managing the microphone of an individual user
    • Seating
      • Seating all users
      • Seating an individual user
    • Summoning users
      • Summoning all users
      • Summoning a single user
    • Removing or banning a user
    • Deleting IFX
      • Deleting all user IFX in a Session
      • Deleting all shared IFX in a Session
      • Deleting IFX associated with an individual user
    • Assigning full-body avatars
    • Personal boundaries
    • Realigning a user's avatar
    • Locking a Session or Event
    • Restricting a Session to group members
    • User status icons
  • Events
    • Viewing the Events list
    • Event registration options
    • Joining an Event
    • Password protected Events
    • Withdrawing from an Event
  • Configuring the ENGAGE app
    • Choosing a language in the ENGAGE app
    • User preferences
    • Pausing notifications
    • Turning menu screen music on and off
    • Reporting a bug
    • Accessibility
      • Microsoft Windows
        • Using text-to-speech on PC
        • Adding hotkey controls to turn your avatar
      • Meta Quest
  • Managing your account
    • Managing your password
      • Changing your password in the ENGAGE app
      • Changing your password in the web manager
      • Resetting your password in the ENGAGE app
      • Resetting your password in the web manager
    • Managing your profile
      • Updating your profile details in the ENGAGE app
      • Updating your profile details in the web manager
      • Changing your email address
    • Managing a PLUS subscription
      • Viewing your subscription history
      • Changing your billing details
      • Viewing your payment history
      • Cancelling your PLUS subscription
    • Deleting your account
    • Reviewing your SSO status
    • Two-factor authentication
      • Reviewing your 2FA status
      • Turning on 2FA
      • Turning off 2FA
      • Retrieving your recovery codes
      • Using a recovery code to log in
  • Web manager
    • Choosing a language in the web manager
    • Managing your group membership
    • Uploading a profile image
    • Managing notes in the web manager
      • Creating notes in the web manager
      • Editing notes in the web manager
    • Media
      • Creating a web link in the web manager
      • Creating a video link in the web manager
      • Setting up a cloud storage connection in the web manager
    • Managing your cookie settings
    • Reviewing your activity log
  • Experience Editor
    • Overview
      • Accessing the Experience Editor
      • Terminology
      • Design patterns
      • FAQ
    • User interface
      • Controls
        • Controls on a desktop device
        • Controls on a VR headset
      • The editor panel
        • Interacting with the editor panel
        • Moving the editor panel on a VR headset
        • Resizing the editor
        • Timeline
        • Dope sheets
        • Curves
        • Parameter colors
        • Playhead
        • Zooming and panning
      • Keyframe interpolation modes
    • Experience management
      • Creating a new experience
      • Loading a saved experience
      • Loading an autosave
      • Saving a experience
      • Finding a experience on your device
      • Changing the length of your experience
      • Changing the location of your experience
    • Working with objects
      • Selecting objects
      • Effect options
      • Setting a custom name
      • Adjusting start and end times
      • Replacing an object
      • Recordings
      • IFX
        • Animation overrides
        • Audio IFX
        • Portals
        • IFX with colliders
        • Special function IFX
      • Triggers
        • Button trigger
        • Player body trigger
        • Interactive object trigger
      • Interactive IFX
      • Snapshots
      • Forms
    • Creating animations
      • Keyframe animation
        • Creating a keyframe animation
      • Puppet animation
        • Creating a puppet animation
    • Videos and screens
      • Shared media screens
      • Playing shared media
      • External URL screens
      • 360 screens
      • Chroma key screens
    • Playback events
      • Adding a fade transition
      • Transporting all users
      • Locking all users in place
      • Creating a loop
    • Testing your experience locally
    • Tutorials
      • Introductory: Animal race
        • Set-up
        • Start and finish lines
        • Add the animals
        • Basic animation
        • Give the wolf a head start
        • Add animation overrides
        • Add another animal
        • Smooth the flight path
      • Introductory: Presentation
        • Adding files to your lesson folder
        • Viewing the completed experience
        • Opening the experience in the Experience Editor
        • Experience overview
        • Audience management
          • Adding an IFX to seat attendees
        • Playing shared media
          • Adding an IFX to play shared media
          • Configuring the shared media IFX
        • Playing videos on IFX screens
          • External URL screens
          • Adding an IFX screen for the presentation
          • Configuring the screen for the presentation
        • Creating a video from a slide deck
        • Adding other IFX
          • Adding the ENGAGE LINK map
          • Animating the ENGAGE LINK map
        • Closing the presentation
          • Adding a color fade transition
          • Adjusting the timing of the transition
          • Adjusting the end times
        • Testing your experience
      • Intermediate: Undersea educational content
        • Record content
        • Create a new experience
        • Set the starting point
        • Add triggers
        • Create a menu loop
        • The first recording
        • Clown fish school
        • Add a jump back to the menu
        • Add the second recording
        • The orca
        • Smooth the orca's motion
        • Refine the orca's rotation
        • Add a jump back to the menu
        • Further additions
      • Intermediate: Fire extinguisher training
        • Create a new experience
        • Save your experience
        • Create the fires
          • Create the electrical fire
          • Create the paper fire
          • Create the gas pipe
          • Create the gas fire
          • Save the experience
        • Create user feedback
          • Close the Experience Editor
          • Choose an appropriate avatar
          • Start a Session
          • Create responses
          • Creating more dramatic responses
        • Add responses to the experience
          • Return to the Experience Editor
          • Save the experience with a different filename
          • Loop the experience
        • Gas fire
          • Add options for the gas fire
          • Extend objects on the timeline
          • Add the feedback recordings for the gas fire
        • Paper fire
          • Add options for the paper fire
          • Add images
          • Add the feedback recordings for the paper fire
          • Add a special effect for the CO2 option
          • Improve the explosion
        • Electrical fire
          • Add options for the electrical fire
          • Upload 3D models to Cloud File Manager
          • Load 3D models into the experience
          • Add buttons that load response recordings
          • Add special effects for water on an electrical fire
        • Add sound effects
        • Limitations and alternative approach
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On this page
  • Using the AutoHotkey script
  • Using the shortcuts in ENGAGE
  • Understanding the script
  1. Configuring the ENGAGE app
  2. Accessibility
  3. Microsoft Windows

Adding hotkey controls to turn your avatar

PreviousUsing text-to-speech on PCNextMeta Quest

Last updated 2 days ago

The following solution uses third-party software which is not verified or endorsed by ENGAGE XR.

By default, there are no keyboard controls to turn your avatar in ENGAGE. Instead, on a desktop device, you use the mouse to change the direction in which your avatar faces. However, you can use third-party software to simulate mouse drags so that you can fully navigate in ENGAGE using only the keyboard.

With the feature, you can use the zero key to drag items in most applications. However, this is not supported for looking around in ENGAGE.

One example of third-party software that you could use is AutoHotkey (). You can use it to assign a simulated drag operation to a keyboard shortcut. The following AutoHotkey script assigns a left drag to the Shift+A shortcut, and a right-drag to the Shift+D shortcut:

#Requires AutoHotkey v2.0

+a::
{
    SendMode "Event"
    MouseClickDrag "Left", 0, 0, -200, 0, 60, "R"
}

+d::
{
    SendMode "Event"
    MouseClickDrag "Left", 0, 0, 200, 0, 60, "R"
}

AutoHotkey enables keyboard and mouse events to be executed on your computer as though you were the one that performed them. We recommend that you only use scripts that you fully understand.

Using the AutoHotkey script

  1. Open a text editor, such as Notepad.

  2. Copy the code above into a new text document, and then save it with a .ahk extension. For example engage_keyboard_turn.ahk

  3. Find the script in Windows Explorer, and then double click it to run the script. Alternatively, select the script and then press the Enter key to run it.

Using the shortcuts in ENGAGE

  • In a Session, ensure that the mouse cursor is within the ENGAGE window. Then, hold down the Shift key and press the A key to turn left or the D key to turn right.

If you hold down the A or D key first, and the press Shift, your avatar will walk sideways as normal.

Understanding the script

SendMode "Event" sets a simulation mode that creates a slow, noticeable drag event. Without it, the drag would not be recognized by ENGAGE.

Install AutoHotkey. For more information, refer to .

The script runs and an icon is added to the system tray. To stop the script, right-click the icon in the system tray, and then select Exit. For more information about how to create, run, and control scripts, refer to in the AutoHotkey documentation.

The +a:: and +d:: parts define the shortcut keys. The plus symbol indicates the Shift key. You can define any other key combination. You can replace the plus symbol with # for the Windows key, ^ for the Ctrl key, or ! for the Alt key. For more information about defining the hotkey, refer to .

MouseClickDrag is the command that simulates the mouse being dragged. It is configured to simulate the left mouse button being held, and then dragged 200 pixels left (-200) or right (200). For more information about the available parameters, refer to in the AutoHotkey documentation.

Mouse Keys
https://www.autohotkey.com/
How to Install AutoHotkey
Using the Program
Basic Hotkeys
MouseClickDrag