7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Elgato Stream Deck (2022)

Even better, the software includes a Hotkey Switch function that alternates between the two shortcuts. Press it once, it will send one command, press it again and it will send another, alternating between them. This can be a useful way to build complex transitions, such as running one script when you start working and another when you’re done.

2. Enable Mac Shortcuts

Apple’s own scripting tool, Shortcuts, is also powerful and built right into MacOS. That can be a huge boon in itself, but an unofficial plug-in that lets you activate Shortcuts right from a button on your Stream Deck.

This integration was made by GitHub user Sentinelelite and is not affiliated with Apple, which is worth noting. However, you can find the code here. In my testing, it worked pretty well, launching some of the existing Shortcuts I have without the shortcut being used or taking up space on my status bar.

3. Connect to IFTTT

IFTTT is another powerful automation tool that can act as a binder between multiple services. You can use it to send your Instagram posts to Twitter no ugly links, add yours sleep tracking to Google Calendaror put videos you like on YouTube to a Spotify playlist. And thanks to it Webhooks integrationyou can activate any number of applets (as the service calls them) just by visiting a link.

This makes it Easily integrates with your Stream Deck. Under the System in-app subheading, you’ll find an action called Website. Here you can enter any URL. When you press the button to which you specified this action, the web page launches. In this case, it will trigger an IFTTT widget. For example, you can use this to control your smart home lights, switch your phone to Do Not Disturb mode, or anything else IFTTT can do.

4. Control your zoom calls

The last thing you want during a Zoom call is to fumble for the mute button. This Unofficial plug-in can help solve that problem by providing you with dedicated buttons to mute the microphone or video, start or stop recording, and even leave the meeting.

If you’re running a meeting, there are also options to mute everyone in the Zoom call at once, or ask everyone to unmute themselves. These shortcuts work even when the Zoom window is out of focus, so you can keep your spreadsheet open or keep being distracted by Twitter without losing the ability to quickly unmute yourself when your boss call you.

5. Chat Easier in Discord

One of the add-ons specifically built by Elgato, This Discord plugin gives you quick control over a few core chat app features. You can mute the microphone or deafen the headset. There are also options to quickly switch to a preset text or voice channel. In the former case, pressing the button automatically connects your headset and microphone to the voice chat.

However, perhaps the most convenient options in this plug-in are the Push to Talk and Push to Mute buttons. These allow you to temporarily speak or mute when you press and hold one of the Stream Deck buttons. Having a physical button to reach—no matter what window is open—so I can speak up in a conversation I’m muted when I need to is what makes me appreciate having the extra hardware on my desk his job.

6. Manage your music

Most keyboards these days have some sort of media button to play, pause, or skip tracks in your music app, but they’re usually pretty basic. Some Stream Deck integrations are much more extensible. For example, the Unofficial Spotify plug-in covers the basics but also allows you to remove songs from your playlist, change playback device, add likes to songs, switch to shuffle, etc.

Elgato itself also provides plug-ins for Spotify and apple music, though curiously only on a Mac. Both have more basic functionality, but at least they let you toggle shuffle and, on Apple Music, tap Favorites on songs you like.

7. Track your working hours

If you’re a freelancer, have a strict line between work and life, or are just curious about how much time you actually spend staring at spreadsheets, a time tracker Good is a useful tool. A free tool to do this, Togglyes an unofficial Stream Deck plug-in makes it easy to start and stop your tracker.

To set it up, you need to enter an API key, which you can get from Toggl’s options page. Once set up, you can press the button to start tracking your period. You can even create multiple buttons to track different tasks and send them to different Toggl workspaces. At the time of this writing, you still need to use the Toggle mobile or web app to stop the stopwatch (pressing the button again will only start a new timer entry), but this is still a convenient way to quickly start the clock without being distracted from what you are doing.