Quicksilver 
, the app launcher and all-round productivity-enhancing wonder app, is full of surprises.
Just when you think you are getting on top of it, some little thing comes along to remind you how little you know of its mysterious wonderfulness.
A few days ago I read something on the Quicksilver forum that was completely new to me. Simple. Smart. But utterly unknown to me.
If you hold a keystroke down for a few seconds it actually launches the selected app without the need to hit the Enter key. How about that?
Just hold down the “m” key and Mail launches:
Wonderful. Quicksilver is a like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
I didn’t know this either! Seems like a really handy tip, thanks.
And it works with all kind of stuff too – URLs, documents, everything. Just with documents you have to hold button a little longer.
This method even works where you have to type multiple letters to get the app to open . . . just hold down the last letter necessary to bring the app into QS focus and that app will also open without hitting enter.
This method also works for opening multiple apps at once with the comma trick. If you don’t use the comma trick, you should. Simply type the letters necessary to get the first app into focus, then hit comma and proceed to type the letters necessary to get the second app into focus and repeat as necessary until you have all the apps you need. Then either hit enter, or exercise some forethought and the knowledge from the “eliminate enter” tip and simply continue holding down the last letter of the last app and they all launch at once.
Make Quicksilver Quicker Without the Enter Key…
Tim Gaden has discovered a great Quicksilver tip on the Quicksilver forums.
Rather than hitting the enter key, you can hold down the last letter you typed to launch whatever is selected. If you wanted to open Mail, you could do so by pressing and holdi…
Great find! I didn’t know that one.
wow, it really works! :-)
I found that it works with the last letter you type, as others wrote, but I didn’t though to use the comma tricks (I use it only to select multiple file, not to launch applications). So, thanks all!
Pietro
Hmmm… I really do need to install it. I’ve had my MacBook (first Apple system for me) for a couple of weeks now, and have resisted adding any bells and whistles so far until I know OSX a little more.
I seems to me that hitting the Enter key NOW is faster then holding a key for a few seconds while doing nothing else. But that’s just me being a wise-ass.
Clever indeed. But what keystroke should I hold down when I am typing in text to send into kGTD? ;-)
EGADS! what CAN’T the app do? Just when you think you know all there is to know, you uncover a treat like this.
this. app. rocks.