How to Add Hot Corners to Windows 10 or 11
In Apple's macOS , there is what is known as Hot Corners , which is a feature that takes advantage of the four corners of the screen to quickly start performing actions specified by the user by simply moving the mouse pointer to each corner. For example, the device can be muted by simply moving the pointer to the upper right corner of the screen, or the browser can be launched by moving the pointer to the upper left corner, and so on in each corner of the screen. The feature seems simple, but it plays an influential role in improving productivity while working on the computer, so it has also been copied in Linux distributions built on the GNOME environment. On the other hand, Windows does not have a similar feature, but it can be added to the system, whether Windows 10 or 11, through the tools that we review in the following lines.
A free tool called HotCorners can be used to get the hot corners feature just like it does on Mac OS, where you can assign an action to be executed in each of the four corners of the screen, whether it is selecting a specific program to run, shutting down the computer, logging out of Windows, going to the desktop, opening the Task Manager, etc. The user can easily set these commands independently for each corner. The program is open source and free of course, but it is programmed in Java, so you must make sure to install the Java for Windows version for it to work without problems.
After running HotCorners on your device, whether it is running Windows 10 or Windows 11, the program will automatically set itself to work when Windows starts so that you do not lose the hot corners function after restarting the computer. A miniature icon of the program will appear next to the clock on the taskbar, right-click on it and choose "Open" to open the settings interface as shown in the attached image above. Through this interface, you can activate all corners of the screen or just a specific corner through the On/Off activation buttons, and then start assigning actions for each corner of the screen!
After clicking on the Choose Action menu, a pop-up menu will appear with 10 actions that can be set to execute when the mouse pointer is directed to the selected corner. For example, you can set the program to launch Google Chrome when you move the pointer to the upper right corner of the screen, by choosing “Custom App” and specifying the Google Chrome executable file. You can also configure it to open the task manager, mute the sound, or display all open windows...etc.
The available actions are really useful, in addition, the user can also adjust the sensitivity (the time of executing the action) when pointing the cursor to the corner, for example, the execution of the action can be delayed by 5 seconds from the time the cursor is pointed to the corner, so that there is no confusion when dragging the cursor to one of the corners of the screen by accident.
Anyway, when you're done, hit the "Reload" button and press the Minimize button or the minus sign (-) at the top to hide the program window and it will keep running in the background to monitor your mouse cursor movements, once the cursor reaches the corner of the screen the action specified for it is executed immediately.
Another free program that you can rely on to bring the Hot Corners feature to your Windows system. The way HotCornersWin works is very simple, once you install and launch it, its mini icon will appear in the taskbar, double-click on it to open the settings window where you can specify the action that will be performed when you hover your mouse over each of the four corners of your computer screen.
You can choose to open the Start menu, view tasks, switch between virtual desktops, show/hide the desktop, open File Explorer, lock windows, take a screenshot, open Calculator, etc. Besides, you can create custom actions by clicking on “Custom Actions”. This allows you to create actions to open programs, files, folders, or websites by hovering your mouse over a corner of the screen.
Other settings allow you to delay the duration of the action, define the corner range and define the behavior of the application when the user is working with multiple monitors. Furthermore, HotCornersWin will work even when applications are running in full-screen mode by default. To disable this feature, simply uncheck the option “Turn off if a fullscreen app is opened”. And that’s it, you’ve got one of the best macOS features in Windows with HotCorners.
Another way to add Hot Corners to Windows 11 is to use the completely free Charmy app . This app has a Windows 11-style design that blends into the interface as if it were part of the system itself. Once launched, the program will automatically set itself to launch when Windows starts so that you don’t lose the Hot Corners functionality after restarting your computer. A small icon for the program will also appear next to the clock on the taskbar, double-click on it to open the setup interface.
Through this interface, you can activate all corners of the screen or just a specific corner by selecting the available actions in each of the four available lists that simulate each corner of the screen! Here we would like to add a simple note, which is that the program does not provide a large number of actions at the present time, as it is not possible to assign an action to run an application or make a modification to Windows settings quickly, but the available actions are still useful and will help you deal with Windows in a smooth and faster way than usual. It is worth noting that Charmy supports multiple screens, meaning that different actions can be assigned to the corners of each screen separately. In addition to providing the feature of delaying the execution of the action so that it does not conflict with your normal use of the computer.