BTT is the input layer for everything — gestures, window snapping, Touch Bar, Stream Deck, and named triggers that Keyboard Maestro and Hammerspoon can call into.
Location: ~/Applications/BetterTouchTool.app (socket-activated from user Applications folder)
Named triggers let other apps (Keyboard Maestro, Hammerspoon, scripts) fire BTT actions by name via URL scheme or AppleScript.
Calling a named trigger:
open "btt://trigger_named/?trigger_name=YOUR_TRIGGER_NAME"
From Keyboard Maestro:
Use the “Open URL” action with the btt:// URL scheme.
From Hammerspoon:
hs.urlevent.openURL("btt://trigger_named/?trigger_name=YOUR_TRIGGER_NAME")
Window snapping zones are defined in BTT → Window Snapping & Moving. Drag a window to a screen edge or corner to snap it to a predefined layout.
| Zone | Layout |
|---|---|
| Left edge | Left half |
| Right edge | Right half |
| Top edge | Full screen |
| Top-left corner | Top-left quarter |
| Top-right corner | Top-right quarter |
| Bottom-left corner | Bottom-left quarter |
| Bottom-right corner | Bottom-right quarter |
Stream Deck is configured inside BTT (not the Elgato app). Actions are organized into profiles per application context.
- BTT → Stream Deck tab → configure buttons, folders, and dynamic content
- Use BTT named triggers to call complex multi-tool actions from Stream Deck buttons
BTT config is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/BetterTouchTool/. Back up before updates. Cloud sync is available in BTT settings if enabled.
Export a snapshot: BTT → Manage Presets → Export.