Add Hotkeys to Open With Items

Last week, we talked about editing options in DEVONthink: What happens when you double-click a file (and why) as well as the hotkey to open a file in the system default application. But there are also times when you want to open a document in an application other than the system default.

In DEVONthink, the Open With menu is found when you right-click a document. You can also reach it under the Data menu … which means you can add a keyboard shortcut for it of your own.

1. Open System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts.
2. Add your installed edition of DEVONthink, if it’s not there already.
3. Type in the exact name of the application as shown in the Open With menu.
4. Press the hotkey combination you’d like to use, bearing in mind that you don’t want to conflict with any already in place. In my example, I have added TextWrangler with a hotkey of ⌃⌥C.
5. Go back to DEVONthink and test your new hotkey.

If the document you have selected doesn’t support the application you are trying to launch, this may change the selection. Also, if you are trying to add the default application, you’ll need to enter ‘(default)’ after the application name in step 3 (however, this hotkey wouldn’t work if the application wasn’t the default, and you would just use ⇧⌘O per last week’s tip).