Double-Tap Hook For Unity Editor on macOS and Windows

What it does

Turns a double tap on a modifier key into an editor shortcut: tap Shift, Ctrl, Alt or Cmd twice in a row and a registered action runs — the same gesture JetBrains IDEs use for Search Everywhere on double Shift.

Why it exists: it frees up shortcuts for tools you open constantly (finder, wizard, quick search) without burning yet another Ctrl + Shift + letter combo, and it keeps working in places Unity's own shortcut system gives up — while a text field has focus, while a modal is up, or while scripts are compiling.

A gesture only counts when both taps are quick:

Rule	Default	Property
Each tap must be released within	0.3s	DoubleTapShortcut.MaxHoldSeconds
Gap between the two taps at most	0.3s	DoubleTapShortcut.MaxGapSeconds

Anything else in between cancels the pending gesture — another key, a different modifier, or a mouse click on macOS. Holding the modifier down (a normal Shift + click, a real shortcut) never triggers it.

How it works

Native editor plugin behind WorldEditor.DoubleTapShortcut. It reports modifier press/release with precise timestamps, which Unity's IMGUI pipeline cannot do: IMGUI emits no key-up for modifiers and drops events while a text field, a modal or a compile owns the editor.

The hook is installed in-process on the thread that pumps the editor event loop, so it only sees input while the Unity editor is focused. No Accessibility permission on macOS, no global hook on Windows. Editor only, macOS and Windows; on other platforms it silently does nothing.

Installation Guide

• Download the UnityEditorDoubleTap.unitypackage from GitHub Releases and double click to install it to your Unity project.

Build

macOS, produces a universal arm64 + x86_64 bundle:

./macos/build.sh

Windows, from a x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS:

windows\build.bat

The Windows DLL is not built here. After the first import, set its importer to Editor only, OS: Windows, CPU: x86_64 — the macOS bundle already ships with that meta.

Platform differences

macOS also cancels a pending double-tap on mouse clicks; the Windows WH_KEYBOARD hook is keyboard only, so a click between the two taps does not cancel there.

Usage

Register from a static constructor so the binding exists as soon as the editor loads:

[InitializeOnLoad]
internal static class SearchEverywhere
{
    static SearchEverywhere() => DoubleTapShortcut.Register(ModifierKey.Shift, Open);

    private static void Open() => EditorWindow.GetWindow<YourWindowWannaShow>();
}

Register adds to the action list for that key, so several tools can share one modifier; use Unregister to drop a binding. Timing can be tuned globally:

DoubleTapShortcut.MaxHoldSeconds = 0.25;
DoubleTapShortcut.MaxGapSeconds = 0.4;

Handlers run from EditorApplication.update, not from the native callback, so touching editor windows is safe.