🅰️HK Lesson #2: Versions of 🅰utoHotkey

Joe GlinesOct 19, 2026

Hello John Doe,

This is email #2 and we’re going to jump right in to understanding the different version of AutoHotkey. In this video I explain how, depending on your goals, the version of AutoHotkey that is relevant for you varies.

Which version of AutoHotkey should you be using in 2022

Back in December of 2023 AutoHotkey v2 became the “official” version of AutoHotkey and v1 (also known as AutoHotkey_L) was marked as “deprecated”. For this reason we recommend to nearly everyone that they use V2. It has a slightly higher learning curve however, after you get past the basics, it is much easier to work with and is similar to other programming languages. We don’t recommend you spend time converting old v1 scripts to v2 (they are not backwards compatible.)

If you are already familiar with AHK v1 and want to painlessly transition to AHK v2 we recommend taking a look at our AHK v1 to v2 Transition Course or get a 15% discount by clicking here.

If (and this is a big if) you plan to use AutoHotkey for very, very basic things (HotStrings & Hotkeys for instance) you might want to stick with v1 / AutoHotkey_L. Version 1 is a bit simpler to learn and you have to be less of a “geek”.

If you’d like to learn a bit more about the history of AutoHotkey Jackie Sztuk and I cover historical versions of AutoHotkey in this AHK Podcast.

If you’d rather read a book on AutoHotkey, Jack Dunning has some great v1 Intro to AutoHotkey books.

Alternatively, my Intro to AutoHotkey course is a “best seller” with over 4,837 students! Save 15% by clicking here.

You can learn more by going to my Learn AHK page. Don’t forget, all of our courses have a 30-day 200% moneyback guarantee! That means, if within the first 30 days you are not completely thrilled with the course we will refund you double what you paid for it! So you have NOTHING to lose!