Keystroke Paster

A Windows Forms application that sends text as keystrokes to any active window, useful for pasting into VM Consoles, remote consoles, and applications where traditional paste doesn't work.

Features

• ✅ Simple GUI with text input box
• ✅ Global hotkey trigger (default: Ctrl+F1)
• ✅ Second hotkey types the clipboard directly (default: Ctrl+F2)
• ✅ Configurable keystroke delay, remembered between launches
• ✅ System tray minimization
• ✅ Always-on-top window
• ✅ Status indicator (Waiting/Typing/Done)
• ✅ Handles special characters, newlines, tabs, spaces
• ✅ Small single executable (~50KB)

Usage

There are two ways to send text, each with its own hotkey.

Text box (Ctrl+F1)

Use this when the text needs formatting - multi-line commands, scripts, anything you want to review or edit before it gets typed.

1. Launch the application - The window stays on top of other windows
2. Paste your text - Copy any text (commands, passwords, code, etc.) into the text box
3. Switch to target window - Click into the VMware console, terminal, or any target application
4. Press the hotkey - Default is Ctrl+F1 (configurable in settings)
5. Watch it type - The status will show "Typing..." and then "Done!"

Clipboard (Ctrl+F2)

Use this for quick one-offs. Copy anything, click into the target window, and press Ctrl+F2 - it types whatever is on the clipboard without touching the text box, so there is no need to paste it in first. The text box keeps its contents either way, so a command you use often can stay parked there while you fire off clipboard text.

If the clipboard is empty or holds something that isn't text (an image, a file), the status line says so and nothing is typed.

Settings

Click the ⚙ gear icon to configure:

• Text box hotkey: Choose modifier (Ctrl, Alt, Shift) + Function key (F1-F12)
• Clipboard hotkey: Same choices; must differ from the text box hotkey
• Keystroke Delay: Time between each keystroke in milliseconds
  • 0ms = Fastest (may not work on slow systems)
  • 10ms = Default (good balance)
  • 50ms+ = Safer for slow/remote systems

Settings are saved when you click OK and restored on the next launch. They live in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\KeystrokePaster, so the app stays a single portable exe with no config file beside it. Delete that key to get the defaults back (Ctrl+F1, Ctrl+F2, 10ms).

If a stored hotkey isn't a combination the settings dialog can produce - say the key was hand-edited - the app ignores the stored pair and falls back to the defaults rather than starting up with no working hotkeys.

System Tray

• Minimize the window to hide it in the system tray (near the clock)
• Double-click the tray icon to restore the window
• Right-click the tray icon for menu options

Building

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2017 or later
• .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later

Build Steps

1. Open KeystrokePaster.sln in Visual Studio
2. Set build configuration to Release
3. Build > Build Solution (Ctrl+Shift+B)
4. Find the executable at: bin\Release\KeystrokePaster.exe

Command Line Build

# Using MSBuild
msbuild KeystrokePaster.csproj /p:Configuration=Release

# Or using dotnet (if you have .NET SDK)
dotnet build -c Release

Single EXE Output

The Release build produces a single portable executable with no dependencies (requires .NET Framework 4.7.2 installed on target system, which is included in Windows 10 1803+).

Technical Details

• Framework: .NET Framework 4.7.2
• UI: Windows Forms
• Keyboard Input: SendInput API (Unicode support)
• Global Hotkey: RegisterHotKey API
• Special Characters: Full Unicode support including newlines, tabs, symbols

Use Cases

• Pasting passwords into VMware ESX or VCSA/VirtualBox consoles
• Sending commands to remote desktop sessions
• Entering text into legacy applications
• Bypassing clipboard restrictions
• Automating repetitive text entry

Troubleshooting

Hotkey doesn't work:

• Make sure the hotkey isn't already used by another application
• Try changing the hotkey in settings
• Check that a second copy of Keystroke Paster isn't already running - the first one to start owns the hotkey, and the second will report that it can't register it

Text types too fast:

• Increase the keystroke delay in settings (try 20-50ms)

Special characters don't work:

• This should work for all Unicode characters
• If issues persist, try increasing the delay

Application doesn't minimize to tray:

• Click the minimize button (not close)
• Closing the window minimizes to tray by default

ScreenConnect / ConnectWise Control Compatibility

This tool works in ScreenConnect backstage and remote sessions. The single EXE can be transferred and run without installation.

License

See LICENSE.