Context Manager

The Context Manager lets you copy and paste context between applications using global hotkeys — without opening Fluent Search's search window.

"Context" means the most relevant piece of information from a window:

Application type Context
File manager (Explorer) The selected file path or current directory
Browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) The URL from the address bar
Other apps A detected URL, file path, or the window title

Setup

Go to Settings → Context (this is an advanced setting page — enable Show advanced settings if you don't see it).

Assign hotkeys for:

Action Suggested hotkeys Description
Copy context Ctrl+Shift+C, Ctrl+Alt+C Copy the focused window's context to the clipboard
Paste context Ctrl+Shift+V, Ctrl+Alt+V Paste the last copied context into the focused window

How it works

Copy context

Press the Copy context hotkey:

  • If Fluent Search itself is focused → copies the selected search result's Context property
  • If another app is focused → detects and copies the window's context (URL, file path, etc.)

The context is saved to both an internal variable and the system clipboard.

Paste context

Press the Paste context hotkey:

  • If the target is a file manager → navigates to the directory
  • If the target has an address bar (browser, file dialog) → sets the URL or path
  • Uses Windows UI Automation to find and fill the appropriate input field

Automatic context transfer

Two automation options are available:

Setting Default Description
Automatically copy context of Explorer On When you switch away from Explorer, its current directory is remembered as the last context
Copy context to file dialogs Off When switching from Explorer to a file Open/Save dialog, the dialog automatically navigates to Explorer's current directory

Example: Auto-navigate file dialogs

  1. Enable Copy context to file dialogs.
  2. Browse to a folder in File Explorer.
  3. In another app, click File → Open (or Save).
  4. The file dialog automatically opens in the same folder you were browsing in Explorer.

This eliminates the common frustration of file dialogs opening in the wrong directory.


Tips

  • Context detection uses heuristics — it looks for strings starting with C:\, http, www., or containing .co, .net.
  • The Paste context hotkey is especially useful for navigating file dialogs to a specific folder without hunting through the folder tree.
  • Combine with Process switched Task triggers for more advanced context-aware automation.