I thought I had desktop navigation figured out—until I found Kando. With a flick of the mouse, I can launch apps, open URLs, manage files, control media, and switch virtual desktops without having to remember all the complicated keyboard shortcuts.
1
Meet Kando
Kando is a cross-platform open-source pie menu that converts your entire display into a click target. Instead of reaching the taskbar, start menu or using the keyboard hotkeys, you can simply throw your mouse in the right direction to quickly launch applications on Windows, macOS and Linux PCs.
Kando features a radial menu with pre-configured actions. To launch the menu, press Ctrl + Space. Press and hold the Ctrl key, move the mouse in the direction of the sub-menu item that you want to select.
Kando works great for anyone who relies on a mouse-keyboard workflow. For instance, to switch between your virtual desktops (workspaces), press Ctrl + Space and drag your cursor in the forward or backward direction. Similarly, to launch the app, press Ctrl + Space, drag your cursor toward the app, and click to launch.
While Kando may feel unfamiliar at first, you can quickly get used to it, allowing you to perform actions in just a fraction of a second.
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2
Installing Kando
Go to Kando’s official webpage and download the app for your operating system. You can either use the installer package or install Kando via a package manager.
If you prefer to get your hands dirty with code, open your terminal and type the corresponding command below.
Windows WinGet:
winget install kando
macOS Homebrew Cask:
brew install kando
Linux Flathub:
flatpack install flathub menu.kando.Kando
Once installed, launch Kando from the start menu to reveal its menu editor. This is where you can configure the pie menu or edit the sample pre-configured menu. We’ll get to the menu editor in a bit.
Ctrl + Space is the default shortcut to launch the Kando pie menu. If an application is already using the shortcut, you can change the shortcut in the menu editor. Right-click on the Kando icon in your system tray and select Show Settings to change the shortcut.
The pre-configured sample menu serves as a quick access panel, providing shortcuts to essential locations and tools. The structure of the menu is pretty useful for most use cases, as you can customize it with your preferred apps, links, and shortcuts.
3
Using Kando Pie Menu and Navigation Modes
To launch the Kando pie menu, press Ctrl + Space. If you prefer using a mouse button instead of a keyboard shortcut, you can configure it with third-party tools like GestureSign or AutoHotkey to make an app-specific custom hotkey to open the Kando menu.
Using Kando is easy, and there are three navigation modes to choose from.
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Point and click Mode |
This is the most beginner-friendly and easiest way to use Kando. Press Ctrl + Space to open the pie menu, then click on the item you want to select. |
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Marking Mode |
In this mode, you can navigate the submenus using one continued gesture. After launching the menu, press and hold the left mouse button while dragging your cursor over the desired item. |
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Turbo Mode |
This is the fastest way to navigate. Keep the Ctrl key pressed, and then move the mouse in the direction of the items you want to select. Once you release Ctrl, the current selection is activated. This reduces accidental selections and eliminates unnecessary clicks. |
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4
Editing the Kando Menu
The menu editor lets you edit an existing menu or create a new one. Launch Kando from Start to reveal the menu editor. In the editor, you can create new menus, edit existing ones, reorder or remove items, and adjust their properties.
The Menu Types tab provides several item types to help you compose and edit your menus:
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Open URL |
Add URLs to essential web pages, files, and directories, or even draft a new email with your default email client. |
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Paste Text |
Store and insert frequently used text blocks. |
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Run Command |
Open applications using their app name or shell command. |
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Simulate Hotkey |
Execute keyboard shortcuts. |
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Simulate Macro |
Simulate a complex sequence of keyboard shortcuts. |
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Submenu |
Create nested menus for better organization. |
Start by editing the Sample Menu to understand how things work. Try replacing an app shortcut as the first step. Since Kando doesn’t have an option to list installed apps, you’ll need to enter the app command to run the application.
In the Kando menu editor, open the Sample Menu and navigate to the Apps section. Select an existing app shortcut, then enter the command to launch the app in the Command field. For example, to create a shortcut for Slack, type Slack.exe.
To add a new app shortcut, go to the Menu Items tab and drag the Run Command item onto the main menu or a nested submenu. To create a new submenu, simply drag and drop the Submenu item onto the main menu.
5
Customizing the Appearance
You can also customize Kando with different themes. In the menu editor, open the Menu Themes tab in the bottom right corner and choose from one of the four pre-installed themes. To further match Kando to your desktop aesthetic, click Edit Colors to set custom accent colors.
If the default themes don’t suit your style, you can download additional ones from Kando’s GitHub theme repository. However, installing custom themes requires manually moving the themes.json files to the menu-theme directory.
For my workflow, I’ve configured Kando to open essential apps (Microsoft Word, Asana, Slack, Outlook, ShareX, Notepad, AI tools, Spotify), bookmarks to frequently used directories, and media controls. However, Kando’s real power lies in its flexibility—you can create deeply nested menus and use gesture-based navigation for even more efficiency.
If you frequently navigate between multiple apps and virtual desktops, Kando offers all the essentials in a centralized place with greater precision and speed. However, depending on the complexity of your menu, you may get spikes in your system memory usage. That said, most modern machines should handle it without any noticeable performance impact.
