Why you cannot put Kanata in the Autostart folder

To start Kanata automatically with Windows, the Autostart folder is the obvious first choice — but it has a limitation. Kanata (LLHook version) only becomes active after login. While placing a shortcut in the Autostart folder works for most applications, it will not work for Kanata when you need to run it with administrator rights — which is required for Kanata to function in Terminal windows or other programs that run elevated.

Using Task Scheduler to automatically start Kanata at login

  1. Save the Kanata executable in a folder where you keep your portable applications. A convenient location for most Windows users is something like C:\portableApps\Kanata\kanata_windows_gui_winIOv2_x64.exe.

  2. Store your Kanata .kbd config files in the same folder. If you use only one config file, naming it kanata.kbd is most convenient, as Kanata will find it automatically. You can also use multiple config files with freely chosen names. I use three: two for different keyboard layouts, and a third empty config file that effectively disables Kanata — useful for quick debugging or when someone else needs to use your PC with the default layout.

  3. Open Task Scheduler and create a new task by clicking Create Task under Actions on the right-hand side:

    Create Task

  4. Under General, apply the following settings:

    General tab

  5. Under Triggers, create a new trigger:

    Triggers tab

and fill in the following details:

Trigger settings

Why add a startup delay? A delay ensures Kanata does not launch before all required Windows components have loaded. Starting too early can cause Kanata to malfunction — for example, some key remaps may not respond, or the taskbar icon may not appear. Both issues are resolved with a sufficient delay. Experiment with different values to find what works for your system. On my ARM64 laptop a 30-second delay is enough, while my x86 machine needs 45 seconds. Windows appears to reach a ready state faster on ARM64.

  1. Under Actions, create a new action:
    New action

and configure the path and parameters to match your setup:

Action parameters

Here are the parameters I use as an example:

  • Program: C:\portableApps\Kanata\kanata_windows_gui_winIOv2_x64.exe
  • Arguments: -c kanata.kbd -c anymak-end.kbd -c kanata-zero.kbd
  • Start in: C:\portableApps\Kanata

The -c parameter specifies which config file to load. You can omit it if you only use a single kanata.kbd config file.

The file kanata-zero.kbd deactivates all remapped keys:

#|
kanata config to deactivate all kanata commands (switch off basically)
|#

;; ======================================= Setup ======================================

(defcfg
  process-unmapped-keys yes
  concurrent-tap-hold yes
)

(defsrc)
(deflayer base)

  1. On the Settings tab, apply the following options:

    Settings

  2. Save the task. You can test it immediately by right-clicking and selecting Run. On the next login, the task will start Kanata automatically. Note that the login screen uses the default Windows keyboard layout — Kanata is not active there.