How to generate keyboard events

Question

short summary   I am trying to create a program that will send keyboard events to the computer that for all purposes the simulated events should be treated as actual keystrokes on the keyboard   original post   I am looking for a way to generate keyboard events using python   Assume that the function receives a key that it must simulate pressing  like so   keyboardevent  a    lower case  a  keyboardevent  B    upper case  B  keyboardevent  - gt      right arrow key  def keyboardevent key        code that simulated  key  being pressed on keyboard   The above are obviously examples  but what I am looking for is a library  module  or whatever  which I can use to simulate keyboard events   note  This is different than sending characters to notepads  or inputting text into fields or such  I want the python script to simulate an actual keyboard event  the computer will think that there is really a keyboard event   Extra Note   I don t want to send keystrokes to the active window - I want the system to believe the keyboard s keys are being pressed  subtle difference  as some active-windows do not accept certain key-combinations  or if I wanted to use keyboard shortcuts for background processes through my script  they don t need to go through the active-window  So far I have looked at these things   Generate keyboard events for the frontmost application  How to generate keyboard keypress events through Python   Which were all about apple and didn t help at all   And this   Which is the easiest way to simulate keyboard and mouse on Python    Which seems like it might be what I need  but I can not find the library for it or any documentation   I have searched more places as well  but have yet to find a solution

User · Answer

I tried lib keyboard and it works good on Windows  Mac and Linux  Below line helps me switch tabs in browser  keyboard press and release  ctrl tab

User · Answer

For both python3 and python2 you can use pyautogui  pip install pyautogui   from pyautogui import press  typewrite  hotkey  press  a   typewrite  quick brown fox   hotkey  ctrl    w     It s also crossplatform with Windows  OSX  and Ubuntu LTS

User · Answer

regarding the recommended answer s code  For my bot the recommended answer did not work  This is because I m using Chrome which is requiring me to use KEYEVENTF SCANCODE in my dwFlags  To get his code to work I had to modify these code blocks  class KEYBDINPUT ctypes Structure        fields       quot wVk quot           wintypes WORD                     quot wScan quot         wintypes WORD                     quot dwFlags quot       wintypes DWORD                     quot time quot          wintypes DWORD                     quot dwExtraInfo quot   wintypes ULONG PTR        def   init   self   args    kwds           super KEYBDINPUT  self    init    args    kwds            some programs use the scan code even if KEYEVENTF SCANCODE           isn t set in dwFflags  so attempt to map the correct code           if not self dwFlags  amp  KEYEVENTF UNICODE l              self wScan   user32 MapVirtualKeyExW self wVk                                                    MAPVK VK TO VSC  0                 MAKE SURE YOU COMMENT REMOVE THIS CODE   def PressKey keyCode       input   INPUT type INPUT KEYBOARD                ki KEYBDINPUT wScan keyCode                              dwFlags KEYEVENTF SCANCODE       user32 SendInput 1  ctypes byref input   ctypes sizeof input    def ReleaseKey keyCode       input   INPUT type INPUT KEYBOARD                ki KEYBDINPUT wScan keyCode                              dwFlags KEYEVENTF SCANCODE   KEYEVENTF KEYUP       user32 SendInput 1  ctypes byref input   ctypes sizeof input    time sleep 5    sleep to open browser tab PressKey 0x26    press right arrow key time sleep 2    hold for 2 seconds ReleaseKey 0x26    release right arrow key   I hope this helps someone s headache

User · Answer

It can be done using ctypes   import ctypes from ctypes import wintypes import time  user32   ctypes WinDLL  user32   use last error True   INPUT MOUSE      0 INPUT KEYBOARD   1 INPUT HARDWARE   2  KEYEVENTF EXTENDEDKEY   0x0001 KEYEVENTF KEYUP         0x0002 KEYEVENTF UNICODE       0x0004 KEYEVENTF SCANCODE      0x0008  MAPVK VK TO VSC   0    msdn microsoft com en-us library dd375731 VK TAB    0x09 VK MENU   0x12    C struct definitions  wintypes ULONG PTR   wintypes WPARAM  class MOUSEINPUT ctypes Structure        fields       dx            wintypes LONG                     dy            wintypes LONG                     mouseData     wintypes DWORD                     dwFlags       wintypes DWORD                     time          wintypes DWORD                     dwExtraInfo   wintypes ULONG PTR    class KEYBDINPUT ctypes Structure        fields       wVk           wintypes WORD                     wScan         wintypes WORD                     dwFlags       wintypes DWORD                     time          wintypes DWORD                     dwExtraInfo   wintypes ULONG PTR        def   init   self   args    kwds           super KEYBDINPUT  self    init    args    kwds            some programs use the scan code even if KEYEVENTF SCANCODE           isn t set in dwFflags  so attempt to map the correct code          if not self dwFlags  amp  KEYEVENTF UNICODE              self wScan   user32 MapVirtualKeyExW self wVk                                                   MAPVK VK TO VSC  0   class HARDWAREINPUT ctypes Structure        fields       uMsg      wintypes DWORD                     wParamL   wintypes WORD                     wParamH   wintypes WORD    class INPUT ctypes Structure       class  INPUT ctypes Union            fields       ki   KEYBDINPUT                         mi   MOUSEINPUT                         hi   HARDWAREINPUT        anonymous       input         fields       type     wintypes DWORD                      input    INPUT    LPINPUT   ctypes POINTER INPUT   def  check count result  func  args       if result    0          raise ctypes WinError ctypes get last error        return args  user32 SendInput errcheck    check count user32 SendInput argtypes    wintypes UINT    nInputs                              LPINPUT          pInputs                              ctypes c int     cbSize    Functions  def PressKey hexKeyCode       x   INPUT type INPUT KEYBOARD                ki KEYBDINPUT wVk hexKeyCode       user32 SendInput 1  ctypes byref x   ctypes sizeof x    def ReleaseKey hexKeyCode       x   INPUT type INPUT KEYBOARD                ki KEYBDINPUT wVk hexKeyCode                              dwFlags KEYEVENTF KEYUP       user32 SendInput 1  ctypes byref x   ctypes sizeof x    def AltTab           Press Alt Tab and hold Alt key for 2 seconds     in order to see the overlay              PressKey VK MENU      Alt     PressKey VK TAB       Tab     ReleaseKey VK TAB     Tab      time sleep 2      ReleaseKey VK MENU    Alt   if   name         main         AltTab     hexKeyCode is the virtual keyboard mapping as defined by the Windows API  The list of codes is available on MSDN  Virtual-Key Codes  Windows

User · Answer

I had this same problem and made my own library for it that uses ctypes   quot  quot  quot   lt  --- CTRL by  object Object  ---  gt  Only works on windows  Some characters only work with a US standard keyboard  Some parts may also only work in python 32-bit   quot  quot  quot    --- Setup ---  from ctypes import   from time import sleep user32   windll user32 kernel32   windll kernel32 delay   0 01                                          ---KEYBOARD CONTROL SECTION---                                           --- Key Code Variables ---  class key          cancel   0x03         backspace   0x08         tab   0x09         enter   0x0D         shift   0x10         ctrl   0x11         alt   0x12         capslock   0x14         esc   0x1B         space   0x20         pgup   0x21         pgdown   0x22         end   0x23         home   0x24         leftarrow   0x26         uparrow   0x26         rightarrow   0x27         downarrow   0x28         select   0x29         print   0x2A         execute   0x2B         printscreen   0x2C         insert   0x2D         delete   0x2E         help   0x2F         num0   0x30         num1   0x31         num2   0x32         num3   0x33         num4   0x34         num5   0x35         num6   0x36         num7   0x37         num8   0x38         num9   0x39         a   0x41         b   0x42         c   0x43         d   0x44         e   0x45         f   0x46         g   0x47         h   0x48         i   0x49         j   0x4A         k   0x4B         l   0x4C         m   0x4D         n   0x4E         o   0x4F         p   0x50         q   0x51         r   0x52         s   0x53         t   0x54         u   0x55         v   0x56         w   0x57         x   0x58         y   0x59         z   0x5A         leftwin   0x5B         rightwin   0x5C         apps   0x5D         sleep   0x5F         numpad0   0x60         numpad1   0x61         numpad3   0x63         numpad4   0x64         numpad5   0x65         numpad6   0x66         numpad7   0x67         numpad8   0x68         numpad9   0x69         multiply   0x6A         add   0x6B         seperator   0x6C         subtract   0x6D         decimal   0x6E         divide   0x6F         F1   0x70         F2   0x71         F3   0x72         F4   0x73         F5   0x74         F6   0x75         F7   0x76         F8   0x77         F9   0x78         F10   0x79         F11   0x7A         F12   0x7B         F13   0x7C         F14   0x7D         F15   0x7E         F16   0x7F         F17   0x80         F19   0x82         F20   0x83         F21   0x84         F22   0x85         F23   0x86         F24   0x87         numlock   0x90         scrolllock   0x91         leftshift   0xA0         rightshift   0xA1         leftctrl   0xA2         rightctrl   0xA3         leftmenu   0xA4         rightmenu   0xA5         browserback   0xA6         browserforward   0xA7         browserrefresh   0xA8         browserstop   0xA9         browserfavories   0xAB         browserhome   0xAC         volumemute   0xAD         volumedown   0xAE         volumeup   0xAF         nexttrack   0xB0         prevoustrack   0xB1         stopmedia   0xB2         playpause   0xB3         launchmail   0xB4         selectmedia   0xB5         launchapp1   0xB6         launchapp2   0xB7         semicolon   0xBA         equals   0xBB         comma   0xBC         dash   0xBD         period   0xBE         slash   0xBF         accent   0xC0         openingsquarebracket   0xDB         backslash   0xDC         closingsquarebracket   0xDD         quote   0xDE         play   0xFA         zoom   0xFB         PA1   0xFD         clear   0xFE   --- Keyboard Control Functions ---     Category variables letters    quot qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmQWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM quot  shiftsymbols    quot         amp      QWERTYUIOP   ASDFGHJKL   quot ZXCVBNM lt  gt   quot     Presses and releases the key def press key           user32 keybd event key  0  0  0          sleep delay          user32 keybd event key  0  2  0          sleep delay     Holds a key def hold key           user32 keybd event key  0  0  0          sleep delay     Releases a key def release key           user32 keybd event key  0  2  0          sleep delay     Types out a string def typestr sentence           for letter in sentence                  shift   letter in shiftsymbols                 fixedletter    quot space quot                  if letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot accent quot                  elif letter     quot 1 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num1 quot                  elif letter     quot 2 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num2 quot                  elif letter     quot 3 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num3 quot                  elif letter     quot 4 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num4 quot                  elif letter     quot 5 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num5 quot                  elif letter     quot 6 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num6 quot                  elif letter     quot 7 quot  or letter     quot  amp  quot                           fixedletter    quot num7 quot                  elif letter     quot 8 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num8 quot                  elif letter     quot 9 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num9 quot                  elif letter     quot 0 quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot num0 quot                  elif letter     quot - quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot dash quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot equals quot                  elif letter in letters                          fixedletter   letter lower                   elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot openingsquarebracket quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot closingsquarebracket quot                  elif letter     quot    quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter     quot backslash quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot semicolon quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot  quot                           fixedletter    quot quote quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot  lt  quot                           fixedletter    quot comma quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot  gt  quot                           fixedletter    quot period quot                  elif letter     quot   quot  or letter     quot   quot                           fixedletter    quot slash quot                  elif letter     quot  n quot                           fixedletter    quot enter quot                  keytopress   eval  quot key  quot    str fixedletter                   if shift                          hold key shift                          press keytopress                          release key shift                  else                          press keytopress    --- Mouse Variables ---                           class mouse          left    0x0002  0x0004          right    0x0008  0x00010          middle    0x00020  0x00040    --- Mouse Control Functions ---     Moves mouse to a position def move x  y           user32 SetCursorPos x  y     Presses and releases mouse def click button           user32 mouse event button 0   0  0  0  0          sleep delay          user32 mouse event button 1   0  0  0  0          sleep delay     Holds a mouse button def holdclick button           user32 mouse event button 0   0  0  0  0          sleep delay     Releases a mouse button def releaseclick button           user32 mouse event button 1           sleep delay

User · Answer

Every platform is going to have a different approach to being able to generate keyboard events  This is because they each need to make use of system libraries  and system extensions   For a cross platform solution  you would need to take each of these solutions and wrap then into a platform check to perform the proper approach   For windows  you might be able to use the pywin32 extension  win32api keybd event     win32api keybd event      keybd event bVk  bScan  dwFlags  dwExtraInfo       Simulate a keyboard event      Parameters      bVk   BYTE  - Virtual-key code   bScan   BYTE  - Hardware scan code   dwFlags 0   DWORD - Flags specifying various function options   dwExtraInfo 0   DWORD  - Additional data associated with keystroke   You will need to investigate pywin32 for how to properly use it  as I have never used it

User · Answer

Windows only  You can either use Ironpython or a library that allows cPython to access the  NET frameworks on Windows  Then use the sendkeys class of  NET or the more general send to simulate a keystroke    OS X only  Use PyObjC then use use CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent call   Full disclosure  I have only done this on OS X with Python  but I have used  NET sendkeys  with C   and that works great

User · Answer

def keyboardevent             keyboard press and release  a            keyboard press and release  shift   b                 keyboardevent

User · Answer

For Python2 7 windows32  I installed only pywin32-223  And I wrote simple python s code   import win32api import time import win32con    simulate the pressing-DOWN  ARROW key  of 200 times  for i in range 200      time sleep 0 5     win32api keybd event 0x28  0 0 0     time sleep  05     win32api keybd event 0x28 0  win32con KEYEVENTF KEYUP  0    It can be checked if you run the code and immediately go to the notepad window  where the text already exists  and place the cursor on the top line

User · Answer

user648852 s idea at least for me works great for OS X  here is the code to do it      usr bin env python  import time from Quartz CoreGraphics import CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent from Quartz CoreGraphics import CGEventPost    Python releases things automatically  using CFRelease will result in a scary error  from Quartz CoreGraphics import CFRelease  from Quartz CoreGraphics import kCGHIDEventTap    From http   stackoverflow com questions 281133 controlling-the-mouse-from-python-in-os-x   and from https   developer apple com library mac documentation Carbon Reference QuartzEventServicesRef index html   apple ref c func CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent   def KeyDown k       keyCode  shiftKey   toKeyCode k       time sleep 0 0001       if shiftKey          CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  True           time sleep 0 0001       CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  True       time sleep 0 0001       if shiftKey          CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  False           time sleep 0 0001   def KeyUp k       keyCode  shiftKey   toKeyCode k       time sleep 0 0001       CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  False       time sleep 0 0001   def KeyPress k       keyCode  shiftKey   toKeyCode k       time sleep 0 0001       if shiftKey          CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  True           time sleep 0 0001       CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  True       time sleep 0 0001       CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  False       time sleep 0 0001       if shiftKey          CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  False           time sleep 0 0001       From http   stackoverflow com questions 3202629 where-can-i-find-a-list-of-mac-virtual-key-codes  def toKeyCode c       shiftKey   False       Letter     if c isalpha            if not c islower                shiftKey   True             c   c lower        if c in shiftChars          shiftKey   True         c   shiftChars c      if c in keyCodeMap          keyCode   keyCodeMap c      else          keyCode   ord c      return keyCode  shiftKey  shiftChars                             1             2             3             4             5             6         amp     7             8             9             0             -                                                                                               lt               gt                          keyCodeMap          a                    0x00       s                    0x01       d                    0x02       f                    0x03       h                    0x04       g                    0x05       z                    0x06       x                    0x07       c                    0x08       v                    0x09       b                    0x0B       q                    0x0C       w                    0x0D       e                    0x0E       r                    0x0F       y                    0x10       t                    0x11       1                    0x12       2                    0x13       3                    0x14       4                    0x15       6                    0x16       5                    0x17                            0x18       9                    0x19       7                    0x1A       -                    0x1B       8                    0x1C       0                    0x1D                            0x1E       o                    0x1F       u                    0x20                            0x21       i                    0x22       p                    0x23       l                    0x25       j                    0x26                            0x27       k                    0x28                            0x29                            0x2A                            0x2B                            0x2C       n                    0x2D       m                    0x2E                            0x2F                            0x32       k                    0x41       k                    0x43       k                    0x45       kclear               0x47       k                    0x4B       k n                  0x4C       k-                   0x4E       k                    0x51       k0                   0x52       k1                   0x53       k2                   0x54       k3                   0x55       k4                   0x56       k5                   0x57       k6                   0x58       k7                   0x59       k8                   0x5B       k9                   0x5C         keycodes for keys that are independent of keyboard layout       n                   0x24        t                   0x30                            0x31       del                  0x33       delete               0x33       esc                  0x35       escape               0x35       cmd                  0x37       command              0x37       shift                0x38       caps lock            0x39       option               0x3A       ctrl                 0x3B       control              0x3B       right shift          0x3C       rshift               0x3C       right option         0x3D       roption              0x3D       right control        0x3E       rcontrol             0x3E       fun                  0x3F       function             0x3F       f17                  0x40       volume up            0x48       volume down          0x49       mute                 0x4A       f18                  0x4F       f19                  0x50       f20                  0x5A       f5                   0x60       f6                   0x61       f7                   0x62       f3                   0x63       f8                   0x64       f9                   0x65       f11                  0x67       f13                  0x69       f16                  0x6A       f14                  0x6B       f10                  0x6D       f12                  0x6F       f15                  0x71       help                 0x72       home                 0x73       pgup                 0x74       page up              0x74       forward delete       0x75       f4                   0x76       end                  0x77       f2                   0x78       page down            0x79       pgdn                 0x79       f1                   0x7A       left                 0x7B       right                0x7C       down                 0x7D       up                   0x7E

User · Answer

macOS  Here is the more complete version of  Phylliida answer in form of class with code example      usr bin python   Script simulating keyboard events in macOS    See  https   stackoverflow com q 13564851 55075  import sys import time from Quartz CoreGraphics import CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent from Quartz CoreGraphics import CGEventPost from Quartz CoreGraphics import kCGHIDEventTap  from Quartz CoreGraphics import CFRelease   Python releases things automatically   class Keyboard        shiftChars                                     1                 2                 3                 4                 5                 6             amp     7                 8                 9                 0                 -                                                                                                                           lt                   gt                                      keyCodeMap              a                 0x00           s                 0x01           d                 0x02           f                 0x03           h                 0x04           g                 0x05           z                 0x06           x                 0x07           c                 0x08           v                 0x09           b                 0x0B           q                 0x0C           w                 0x0D           e                 0x0E           r                 0x0F           y                 0x10           t                 0x11           1                 0x12           2                 0x13           3                 0x14           4                 0x15           6                 0x16           5                 0x17                             0x18           9                 0x19           7                 0x1A           -                 0x1B           8                 0x1C           0                 0x1D                             0x1E           o                 0x1F           u                 0x20                             0x21           i                 0x22           p                 0x23           l                 0x25           j                 0x26                             0x27           k                 0x28                             0x29                             0x2A                             0x2B                             0x2C           n                 0x2D           m                 0x2E                             0x2F                             0x32           k                 0x41           k                 0x43           k                 0x45           kclear            0x47           k                 0x4B           k n               0x4C           k-                0x4E           k                 0x51           k0                0x52           k1                0x53           k2                0x54           k3                0x55           k4                0x56           k5                0x57           k6                0x58           k7                0x59           k8                0x5B           k9                0x5C             keycodes for keys that are independent of keyboard layout           n                0x24            t                0x30                             0x31           del               0x33           delete            0x33           esc               0x35           escape            0x35           cmd               0x37           command           0x37           shift             0x38           caps lock         0x39           option            0x3A           ctrl              0x3B           control           0x3B           right shift       0x3C           rshift            0x3C           right option      0x3D           roption           0x3D           right control     0x3E           rcontrol          0x3E           fun               0x3F           function          0x3F           f17               0x40           volume up         0x48           volume down       0x49           mute              0x4A           f18               0x4F           f19               0x50           f20               0x5A           f5                0x60           f6                0x61           f7                0x62           f3                0x63           f8                0x64           f9                0x65           f11               0x67           f13               0x69           f16               0x6A           f14               0x6B           f10               0x6D           f12               0x6F           f15               0x71           help              0x72           home              0x73           pgup              0x74           page up           0x74           forward delete    0x75           f4                0x76           end               0x77           f2                0x78           page down         0x79           pgdn              0x79           f1                0x7A           left              0x7B           right             0x7C           down              0x7D           up                0x7E              See  https   stackoverflow com q 3202629 55075     def toKeyCode self  c           shiftKey   False           Letter         if c isalpha                if not c islower                    shiftKey   True                 c   c lower           if c in Keyboard shiftChars              shiftKey   True             c   Keyboard shiftChars c          if c in Keyboard keyCodeMap              keyCode   Keyboard keyCodeMap c          else              keyCode   ord c          return keyCode  shiftKey      def KeyDown self  k           keyCode  shiftKey   self toKeyCode k           time sleep 0 0001           if shiftKey              CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  True               time sleep 0 0001           CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  True           time sleep 0 0001           if shiftKey              CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  False               time sleep 0 0001       def KeyUp self  k           keyCode  shiftKey   self toKeyCode k           time sleep 0 0001           CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  False           time sleep 0 0001       def KeyPress self  k           keyCode  shiftKey   self toKeyCode k           time sleep 0 0001           if shiftKey              CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  True               time sleep 0 0001           CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  True           time sleep 0 0001           CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  keyCode  False           time sleep 0 0001           if shiftKey              CGEventPost kCGHIDEventTap  CGEventCreateKeyboardEvent None  0x38  False               time sleep 0 0001       def Type self  text           for key in text              self KeyDown key              self KeyUp key    Here is the demo code using above class     DEMO if   name         main         keyboard   Keyboard       if sys platform     darwin           keyboard Type  Hello World        elif sys platform     win32           print  Error  Platform not supported      which will simulate typing Hello World  text on the current window   You can run above code as a shell script  Check the link to the keyboard py file

[python] How to generate keyboard events?

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