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Activation Mode

Most continuous-state features in FriskyMouse can be activated in one of two ways. Activation Mode is a per-feature setting that lets you pick the behavior that fits your workflow.

Mode Behavior
Toggle Press the hotkey once to turn the feature on; press again to turn it off. This is the default.
Hold The feature is active only while the hotkey is held down. Releasing the key turns it off.

Hold mode is ideal for “press to peek” workflows during presentations and demos. For example, holding F8 to magnify a region of the screen and releasing to dismiss the lens.

Each supported feature’s settings page has an Activation Mode ComboBox next to the Activation Shortcut field. Switching it takes effect immediately, no restart required.

Feature Activation Mode
Spotlight Yes
Screen Dimming Yes
Mouse Trail Yes
Magnifier Yes
Live Zoom Yes
Static Zoom No. Static Zoom captures a snapshot for annotation; releasing the key would discard your drawings.
Ripple Effects No. Ripples fire on each click, so there is no “active” state to hold.
  • Auto-repeat is debounced. Holding a key fires only one activation, even though Windows generates repeated key-down events while the key is held.
  • Only the trigger key controls deactivation. If your shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+F8, releasing Shift while still holding F8 does not deactivate the feature. Only releasing F8 does.
  • The master toggle stays in sync. While you hold the hotkey, the feature’s main On/Off switch on its settings page visibly flips on; on release, it flips off.
  • Hold: Magnifier (zoom into a detail mid-sentence), Spotlight (briefly emphasize the cursor area), Screen Dimming (focus the audience for a few seconds).
  • Toggle: Mouse Trail and Live Zoom when you want the effect on for the whole demo, not just brief moments.

Activation Mode is saved per profile. Switching profiles restores each feature’s mode along with its other settings. Profiles created before this setting existed default to Toggle.