ClickerOverride-Improved

Redirect your presentation clicker's buttons to any window without requiring that window to be in focus.

ClickerOverride-Improved is an AutoHotkey v1 script that intercepts the Page Up/Page Down (or Left/Right Arrow) key presses sent by a wireless presentation clickers/remote controls and silently forwards configurable keystrokes to a target window of your choice. The target window does not need to be active or even visible on the primary screen. This script is especially useful when you need to work on the presentation PC while someone else is presenting a slide show.

Note: A rewrite of the script for AutoHotkey v2 is in progress.

This is a fork and complete rewrite of ClickerOverride by 4000degrees, with substantially expanded functionality, a restructured GUI, and multiple operating modes.

Use Cases

ClickerOverride-Improved is most useful during high-stakes public events where you have one person presenting with a clicker device and another person (you) working on the presentation computer.

Setup Scenarios

Setup	Recommended Mode	Target Window
In-person, dual screen, with Presenter View or Pympress Presentation PC connected to an external monitor or projector. PowerPoint is full-screen presenting on the second screen with Presenter View enabled; or Pympress is full-screen presenting a PDF on the second screen. You work on the primary screen.	Mode 1 allows you to keep the Presenter View in the background out of focus while you work in other windows. Clicks are relayed to PowerPoint seamlessly.	PowerPoint: Presenter View window Pympress: any window
In-person, dual screen, without Presenter View Presentation PC connected to an external monitor or projector. PowerPoint without Presenter View or another app is full-screen presenting on the second screen.	Try Mode 1 (works with Pympress) Mode 2 for PowerPoint windowed mode and apps incompatible with Mode 1	The full-screen slide show window
In-person, dual screen, via OBS Studio Presentation PC connected to a second screen. OBS Studio (or similar) uses a windowed slide show as input and outputs it to the second screen or projector. The slide show runs in windowed mode as an OBS source.	Try Mode 1 (works with Pympress) Mode 2 for PowerPoint windowed mode and apps incompatible with Mode 1	The windowed slide show window (not OBS)
Online presentation, screen shared Presentation PC with or without a second screen. The slide show runs in windowed mode and is screen-shared directly into an online meeting (Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc.).	Try Mode 1 (works with Pympress) Mode 2 for PowerPoint windowed mode and apps incompatible with Mode 1	The windowed slide show window
Live streaming Presentation PC with or without a second screen. The slide show runs in windowed mode and is captured by OBS Studio (or similar) as a source for a live stream. You need to work on the PC without disrupting the livestream	Try Mode 1 (works with Pympress) Mode 2 for PowerPoint windowed mode and apps incompatible with Mode 1	The windowed slide show window (not OBS)

Software Scenarios

Presentation Software	Recommended Mode
PowerPoint (full-screen with Presenter View)	Mode 1. Select Presenter View as the Target Window; Presenter View works with Mode 1
PowerPoint (full-screen without Presenter View)	Mode 2. Select the PowerPoint full-screen slide show as the Target Window (doesn't work with Mode 1)
PowerPoint (windowed mode)	Mode 2. Select the PowerPoint windowed slide show as the Target Window (windowed PowerPoint slide shows don't support Presenter View)
Pympress PDF presentation	Mode 1. Pympress responds to background key messages
Any application that accepts Page Up/Down or Left/Right Arrow for navigation	Any mode, depending on whether the app must be focused

Installing

Download the script

Download the latest release of ClickerOverride-Improved from the Releases page. Under Assets, choose the file that matches how you want to run the script:

File	When to use
.exe	You do not have AutoHotkey installed and do not want to install it
.ahk	You have AutoHotkey v1.1 installed (or plan to install it)

Alternatively, you can download the raw script directly from the repository's source code.

Installing AutoHotkey v1 (if you downloaded the .ahk script)

Tip: You don't need AutoHotkey to run the .exe file from the Releases page. It already includes the AutoHotkey v1 executable.

Running the script requires AutoHotkey v1.1 (also called AutoHotkey Classic). AutoHotkey v2 is not compatible with the current version. An AutoHotkey v2 rewrite is in progress. Note that AutoHotkey is only available for Windows.

1. Go to autohotkey.com/download and under AutoHotkey v1.1, download the installer (.exe). Or install using your favorite package manager.
2. Run the installer and follow the prompts. The default options are fine.
3. Once installed, double-click ClickerOverride-Improved-ahk1.ahk to run it. The .ahk extension should be associated with AutoHotkey v1 automatically.

Pympress (for PDF slides)

Pympress is a feature-rich PDF presentation viewer designed for dual-screen setups, with a Presenter View similar to PowerPoint. It is a popular open-source alternative to PowerPoint for presenting PDF-based slide decks.

ClickerOverride-Improved works well with Pympress in Mode 1. Pympress responds to background key messages, so the target window does not need to be focused to receive navigation keystrokes, allowing you to seamlessly use the presentation PC without clicker clicks interfering with your work. If you are presenting PDF slides, using Pympress is recommended.

How to Use

1. Open your presentation (in PowerPoint, Pympress, etc.) and enter slide show mode.
2. Launch the script.
   1. If you downloaded the .exe file from the Releases page, just double-click it.
   2. If you downloaded the .ahk script, right-click it and select "Run" (you can also just double-click if you've associated .ahk files with AutoHotkey during installation).
3. The main configuration window will appear. You have the following options:
   1. Clicker Input - select which keys your clicker sends to the PC (Page Up/Page Down is correct for most modern clickers).
   2. Output Keystrokes - select which keys should be forwarded to the target window. Start with Page Up/Page Down; switch to Left/Right Arrow if the application does not respond.
   3. Mode - choose how the script handles window focus:
      • Mode 1 - recommended for Presenter View on a second screen and for Pympress. (default)
      • Mode 2 - recommended for windowed or full-screen slide shows where the target window must be briefly focused to receive input.
      • Mode 3 - focus the target window and stay there.
   4. Target Window - select the window that should receive the forwarded keystrokes. For Presenter View use cases, select the Presenter View window; for Pympress, select the Pympress window.
4. Click your clicker. The script intercepts the button press and forwards the configured keystroke to the selected window. You can minimise the ClickerOverride-Improved window, but it must remain running.

Tip: If you open a new application after starting the script, click Refresh Window List to reload the script so the new window appears in the list.

Features

• Configurable clicker input - works with clickers that send Page Up/Page Down (e.g. Logitech Spotlight, most modern clickers) or Left/Right Arrow (some older or alternative devices).
• Configurable output keystrokes - forward either Page Up/Down or Left/Right Arrow to the target window, independently of the input, ensuring compatibility with most software.
• Three modes - allows you to choose whether focus is switched to the target window. Works best with PowerPoint Presenter View or Pympress PDFs, where you focus doesn't need to be switched at all!
• Window selector - all open windows are listed in the GUI at startup; pick the target with a radio button.
• Modifier-key passthrough - hotkeys are registered with *, so they fire even if modifier keys happen to be held down (common with some clickers).
• Single-instance enforcement - only one copy of the script runs at a time; launching it again silently replaces the previous instance.

Improvements Over the Original

ClickerOverride-Improved is a complete rewrite of ClickerOverride by 4000degrees. The original script provided a window selector and hardcoded redirection via ControlSend. The following improvements have been made:

Configurable Input and Output

The original script assumed Page Up/Page Down input and output. ClickerOverride-Improved adds separate radio groups for clicker input (Page Up/Down or Left/Right Arrow) and output keystrokes (Page Up/Down or Left/Right Arrow), covering the full range of common clicker hardware and application requirements.

Three Focus Modes

The original script by default sent keystrokes in the background (equivalent to Mode 1 in ClickerOverride-Improved), which only works with PowerPoint Presenter Mode and Pympress. The script also offered an optional checkbox to activate the target window and stay there (equivalent to Mode 3 in Improved). ClickerOverride-Improved builds on this by allowing the user to select from three distinct modes, each suited to a different use case:

• Mode 1 - ControlSend with no focus change (ideal for PowerPoint Presenter View or Pympress).
• Mode 2 - save the currently active window, activate the target, send the key, then restore the previous window. On a fast system this happens almost seamlessly and still allows one to work on the presentation PC without interfering with the slide show too much.
• Mode 3 - activate the target and remain there.

Dynamic Hotkey Switching

Rather than registering a fixed hotkey pair, the script registers all four candidate hotkeys at startup and uses the Hotkey command to enable or disable each pair in real time when the user changes the Clicker Input selection. This prevents double-firing if both input types were somehow active.

Bug Fixes

Several bugs present in the modified version of the original script have been corrected:

• Missing commas in WinGetTitle calls (AHK v1 requires comma-separated command/parameter syntax).
• Multi-statement global declarations that prevented GetSelectedWindowId() from returning a value.
• Missing explicit string concatenation (. operator) in WinActivate and ControlSend expression-mode calls.

Improved ControlSend Call

The original script passed ahk_parent as the control parameter to ControlSend. ClickerOverride-Improved leaves the control parameter empty, which directs the keystroke to the window's focused or default control - more reliable across a wider range of applications.

Structured and Commented Code

The rewrite is fully commented with section headers, parameter descriptions, and per-mode behavior documentation, making the script easier to read, modify, and maintain.

Screenshots

ClickerOverride-Improved's GUI

PowerPoint target windows

Pympress target windows

FAQ

Does this work with all clickers / presentation remotes? It should. ClickerOverride-Improved works at the Windows keyboard hook level. As long as your clicker registers as a keyboard device (which virtually all presentation clickers do), no additional setup is needed. I've tested extensively with a Logitech Wireless Presenter R400.

Does the target window need to be visible on screen? In Mode 1, the target window can be hidden behind other windows - that's the beauty of it! In Mode 2, it is briefly activated and then immediately de-focused; it must be open but does not need to be visible beforehand.

Does this work with Keynote or Google Slides? Keynote is macOS only; ClickerOverride-Improved is Windows only. For Google Slides running in a browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox), try Mode 2 with the browser window as the target and Page Up/Down as the output keystroke. Results may vary with Mode 1 depending on whether the browser allows background ControlSend.

Why does my clicker stop working after I alt-tab? In Mode 1, this should not happen. In Mode 2 or 3, if the previously active window is no longer available, the script may fail to restore focus correctly. Click Refresh Window List and re-select your target window to reset the script state.

Is the .exe safe to run? The .exe is compiled from the .ahk source in this repository using the AutoHotkey v1 compiler. If you are worried about the .exe, you are more than welcome to download the .ahk source file, review it and run it yourself with AutoHotkey. The executable is released for convenience.

Does this require administrator privileges? Not in most cases. If the target application (e.g. PowerPoint) is running elevated (as administrator), you will need to run ClickerOverride-Improved as administrator as well, otherwise Windows will block keyboard hook injection into elevated processes.

Will this interfere with my normal Page Up/Down keys? Yes - while the script is running, Page Up and Page Down (or Left/Right Arrow, depending on your Clicker Input selection) are intercepted globally. Minimizing the script window does not stop interception; you must exit the script to restore normal key behavior. Be careful, as pressing Page Up/Page Down (or Left/Right Arrow) on your keyboard while the script is running will always be forwarded to your slide show window.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
Clicker clicks do nothing	Wrong Clicker Input selected	Switch between Page Up/Down and Left/Right Arrow
Slides advance on the wrong screen or window	Wrong Target Window selected	Click Refresh Window List, re-select the correct window
Slides do not advance in PowerPoint full-screen	In PowerPoint, Mode 1 only works with Presenter View	Switch Target Window to the PowerPoint Presenter View window; or switch to Mode 2
My regular keyboard's Page Up/Down stopped working	Script is intercepting those keys globally	This is expected; exit the script when not presenting
Script launches but no GUI appears	A previous instance is likely still running	Check the system tray; the previous instance will be replaced automatically
PowerPoint Presenter View window does not appear in the list	Presenter View was opened after the script launched	Click Refresh Window List
.exe blocked by Windows or antivirus	Compiled AHK executables are sometimes flagged as false positives	Run from the .ahk source instead, or add an exclusion in your antivirus

AI Assistance Disclaimer

This script and its documentation were developed largely by directing AI coding agents. While the code has been reviewed and tested by the repository author, you are encouraged to read and understand the script before running it, and to review any modifications carefully before use. The repository author assumes no liability for unintended behavior.

Copyright and License

ClickerOverride-Improved is a fork of ClickerOverride by 4000degrees.

ClickerOverride-Improved is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Keywords

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