Emaroo is a free utility for browsing most recently used (MRU) lists of various applications. Quickly open files, jump to their folder in Windows Explorer, copy their path - all with just a few keystrokes or mouse clicks.

tl;dr: Emaroo 1.4.0 is out, go download it on www.roland-weigelt.de/emaroo

Why Emaroo?

Let me give you a few examples. Let’s assume you have pinned Emaroo to the first spot on the task bar so you can start it by hitting Win+1.

To start one of the most recently used Visual Studio solutions you type

Win+1, [maybe arrow key down a few times], Enter

This means that you can start the most recent solution simply by

Win+1, Enter

What else?

• If you want to open an Explorer window at the file location of the solution, you type Ctrl+E instead of Enter.
   
• If you know that the solution contains “foo” in its name, you can type “foo” to filter the list. Because this is not a general purpose search like e.g. the Search charm, but instead operates only on the MRU list of a single application, you usually have to type only a few characters until you can press Enter or Ctrl+E.
   
• Ctrl+C copies the file path of the selected MRU item, Ctrl+Shift+C copies the directory

• If you have several versions of Visual Studio installed, the context menu lets you open a solution in a higher version.
   
• Using the context menu, you can open a Visual Studio solution in Blend.

So far I have only mentioned Visual Studio, but Emaroo knows about other applications, too. It remembers the last application you used, you can change between applications with the left/right arrow or accelerator keys.

Press F1 or click the Emaroo icon (the tab to the right) for a quick reference.

Which applications does Emaroo know about?

Emaroo knows the MRU lists of

• Visual Studio 2008/2010/2012/2013
• Expression Blend 4, Blend for Visual Studio 2012, Blend for Visual Studio 2013
• Microsoft Word 2007/2010/2013
• Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007/2010/2013
• Photoshop CS6
• IrfanView (most recently used directories)
• Windows Explorer (directories most recently typed into the address bar)

Applications that are not installed aren’t shown, of course.

Where can I download it?

On the Emaroo website: www.roland-weigelt.de/emaroo

Have fun!