LaunchOnFly

Launch Desktop applications, open files, folders, websites, send e-mails, and do even more much faster, and easier by using key combinations, or quickly accessible, and easily configurable menu.

Get LaunchOnFly 2.2 for Windows 11 and 10 from Microsoft Store, it’s FREE:

… or download version 2.2 for manual install or UPDATE on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7

Launch program files (“exe”, “com”, “bat”)
Open files, folders
Open special folders (“Desktop”, “Documents”, “This PC”, …)
Open websites, send e-mails
Perform special actions (“Empty Recycle Bin”, “Restart”, “Shut down”, …)
Open LaunchOnFly menu by pressing a predefined key combination
Open LaunchOnFly menu by touching any screen corner or border of your choice with mouse cursor
Open LaunchOnFly menu by clicking mouse wheel or middle button
Open LaunchOnFly menu by pressing Control, or Shift key + clicking right mouse button
Open LaunchOnFly menu by left-clicking LaunchOnFly system tray icon (near clock)
Open LaunchOnFly menu by starting LaunchOnFly application, when LaunchOnFly is already started
Launch a program, open a file, folder or anything else with only one click of a mouse button or by using predefined key combination
Hide shortcuts from the menu, and open those shortcuts only by using a hotkey
Organize your menu the way you want – add separators between menu items, create folders, or even split menu into multiple columns
Back up, and restore your menu to/from file

Version history:

2.2

New feature: Added support for Windows 11 and published LaunchOnFly in Microsoft Store
Change: Removed “Update” functionality to publish LaunchOnFly in Microsoft Store

2.1

New feature: When display DPI changes, LaunchOnFly menu is now reloaded automatically to correctly display menu items, and system tray icon
Bugfix: Removed outdated “help.chm”, and “lftutorial.exe” files, and Start menu shortcuts

2.0 (LaunchOnFly is now freeware)

New feature: It is now possible to specify, that a key (Control or Shift) must be pressed to open LaunchOnFly menu with a click of a mouse wheel or middle button
New feature: It is now possible to specify to not open LaunchOnFly menu with a click of a mouse wheel or middle button, if a key (Control or Shift) is pressed
New feature: It is now possible to open LaunchOnFly menu by pressing Control, or Shift key + clicking right mouse button
New feature: It is now possible to open LaunchOnFly menu at a specific location on the screen, when menu is opened by pressing a predefined key combination
New feature: It is now possible to open LaunchOnFly menu at the center of the screen, when menu is opened by pressing a predefined key combination
New feature: It is now possible to open LaunchOnFly menu by starting LaunchOnFly application, when LaunchOnFly is already started
New feature: An option to run program as an administrator
New feature: Added “Sleep” special action
New feature: Added “Close menu” special action
New feature: Specify for a folder, or special folder to open it “Normal”, “Minimized”, or “Maximized”
New feature: It is now possible to edit menu items by pressing F2 key in Settings window
Change: It is now possible to use text “[clipboard]” anywhere in program shortcut’s parameter and as many times as necessary – all will be replaced with text from clipboard
Change: New LaunchOnFly logo
Change: LaunchOnFly menu theme is now more in line with Windows 10
Change: Columns in LaunchOnFly menu are now the same width, and grey line between columns is now removed
Change: Updated shortcut and submenu icons in Settings window to match Windows 10
Change: All special actions now have an icon, and are now categorized
Change: Existing folder is now pre-selected, when browsing for a “Folder” of “Open Folder” shortcut, or for a “Directory” of “Launch program” shortcut
Change: Focus is now set back to menu editor in Settings after menu operations
Change: “The operating system denied access to the specified file!” error is no longer displayed as user may have responded with “No” to a User Account Control (UAC) prompt
Change: Removed “Modems Properties” special action as it is no longer supported since Windows 7 (it is still possible to access it by using “Phone and Modem” special action)
Change: Updated LaunchOnFly setup application
Change: LaunchOnFly is now supported on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7
Change: 6 small changes
Bugfix: BAT files are now added as “Launch Program” shortcuts, when “Sent to” LaunchOnFly
Bugfix: Fixed issue with Windows application shortcuts reported as directory shortcuts
Bugfix: Fixed issue with Windows application shortcut file x64 Program file paths reported as for x86
Bugfix: It is now possible to open files without an “Open” action defined for it’s file type
Bugfix: Environmental variables (such as “%windir%”) specified in paths are now expanded
Bugfix: Fixed key shortcuts functionality in LaunchOnFly menu- it is now possible to select a menu item by the first letter of its name
Bugfix: Fixed issue with middle-click, and right-click propagation (click-through) to original window, when opening LaunchOnFly menu
Bugfix: ‘Show/hide desktop icons’ special action now works on Windows 7, 8, 10
Bugfix: ‘Show/hide the taskbar’ special action now works on Windows 7, 8, 10
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly menu no longer loads slower, if there are shortcuts present pointing to a network location, or a removable drive
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly menu no longer loads slower, if there is a an “Empty Recycle Bin” shortcut present and recycle bin contains large amount of items
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly menu no longer loads slower, if there is a Recycle Bin shortcut present
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly menu is now closed immediately after selecting either “Edit…”, “Delete…”, “Open all items”, or “Settings…” in its context menu
Bugfix: It is no longer possible to open a context menu for LaunchOnFly menu’s context menu itself
Bugfix: Special folders are now listed in correct order
Bugfix: 2 small LaunchOnFly menu loading performance improvements
Bugfix: 10 small bugfixes

1.52

New feature: You can now hide individual shortcuts and submenus (in case you want shortcuts to be available only using hotkeys)
Change: Updated icons in Settings window
Change: Misc. user interface changes
Bugfix: When ALT key was used in combination with any other key to open LaunchOnFly menu, it didn’t show up properly
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly sometimes didn’t correctly import shortcuts created by Microsoft Windows Installer
Bugfix: Fixed bugs related to importing new shortcuts and editing items right from LaunchOnFly menu
Bugfix: Misc. bugfixes

1.51

Bugfix: Settings window did not always come to front after sending an item to LaunchOnFly
Bugfix: Error occured while sending an item to LaunchOnFly with Settings window opened and Menu tab not selected
Bugfix: Couldn’t uninstall LaunchOnFly if it was running and upgraded from versions prior to 1.5
Bugfix: Menu saving is now more reliable

1.5 (LaunchOnFly is now shareware)

New feature: Hotkeys for menu items
New feature: You can now send multiple items at once to LaunchOnFly
New feature: You can now drag and drop files and folders directly onto the Settings window without using the Send to menu
New feature: Added special action “Switch User/Lock Workstation”
Change: Improved icon handling while importing shortcuts
Change: Miscellaneous user interface changes
Change: Help is now available
Change: Improved QuickStart Guide
Change: Improved uninstaller

1.32

New feature: Windows Vista support
Bugfix: Fixed issues with limited accounts
Bugfix: Fixed a bug related to Column separators

1.31

New feature: Column separators
Bugfix: Fixed issues with operating systems older than Windows XP
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly menu didn’t close after selecting Open all items

1.3

New feature: Menu item drag and drop support in Settings window
New feature: You can now expand or collapse all submenus in Settings window by one click of a button
New feature: You can now use a text in clipboard as a parameter for program by using text “[clipboard]”
Change: More actions in right-click menu for items in main menu (Edit, Delete, Open all items, Settings)
Change: Settings window is now resizable
Change: Some user interface changes in Settings window
Change: When specifying a program or file for a new shortcut, file extension is now automatically removed

1.21

New feature: LaunchOnFly now automatically checks for updates
Change: Menu highlight color is now a bit lighter
Change: Small changes in Configuration window
Bugfix: Finally made key shortcuts (&) in menu to work

1.2

New feature: You can now open menu by clicking mouse wheel or middle button
New feature: You can now configure LaunchOnFly by right-clicking your shortcuts in menu
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly didn’t handle URLs properly
Bugfix: LaunchOnFly didn’t install properly on some operating systems
Bugfix: Uninstall sometimes didn’t work correctly

1.1

New feature: Added menu backup and restore functionality
New feature: Added special action: Show/Hide Desktop
Change: Enlarged configuration window
Bugfix: Fixed a bug when menu didn’t close when you clicked somewhere outside it
Bugfix: Fixed a bug in uninstall