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I have setup a new Mac with iTerm and the hotkey window shortcut (MacOS Catalina).

It all works well, except that the hotkey window does not take the focus when it opens. I mean that I can type commands rightaway, but the active application does not change.

E.g. if I am in Firefox and hit the shortcut, then the Firefox menus are still active.

The problem with that is that my IDE (Intellij) does not register that the focus changed to another app, and does not save file changes or refresh files from disk, which makes programming very difficult.

I know it used to work on my former machine. I suspect I need to configure iTerm correctly.

Here is how the hotkey shortcut is configured:

enter image description here

Matthieu Napoli
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1 Answers1

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This one had me too. Just untick "Floating window" and restart iTerm2.

Full directions:

  • MENU: iterm2
  • MENU ITEM: Preferences...
  • TAB: Profiles
  • LIST ITEM: [Your Hotkey Profile Name]
  • TAB: Keys
  • BUTTON: Configure Hotkey Window
  • CHECKBOX: Floating Window <= UNCHECK THIS

enter image description here

Mike Stop Continues
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    Thanks! I did have to check an extra checkbox in "Advanced": "The hotkey window floats above other windows", else the hotkey window wasn't visible. – Matthieu Napoli Dec 26 '19 at 20:35
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    thank you guys Mike and @MatthieuNapoli, you saved my day, was trying to figure out that long time – Yaroslav Boichuk Feb 03 '22 at 08:27
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    i dont see that as a solution because then you lose the terminal when you click on other displays. – dtc Dec 18 '22 at 01:17
  • @dtc I believe you're looking for "Pin hotkey window." It's pictured in the screenshot above. – Mike Stop Continues Dec 19 '22 at 10:06
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    Big thanks for providing this simple fix! It saved me a lot of hassle trying to find other workarounds. – flashjpr Jul 22 '23 at 12:42
  • @MikeStopContinues But Pin Hotkey window does not keep the window on top, it goes behind other open windows, not sure how to fix that – GuySoft Aug 14 '23 at 09:15