WinCompose Portable

It might be difficult to insert special characters into text documents when working on various projects, or to search the web for codes to write funny faces when talking with friends or posting messages.

If you often work with weird symbols taken out of the character map, you might be interested in WinCompose Portable. Designed as the no-install counterpart of WinCompose, this tool gives you the possibility to effortlessly write unusual symbols, regardless of the application you're working in.

Instead of opening a table to click on characters, you can add them to the document by just pressing a customizable key on the keyboard. This activates the program so you can start typing a sequence to make a symbol appear instead. Of course, this means learning the sequences of frequently used symbols. However, the language of WinCompose is quite intuitive since it mimics existing codes. For example, the heart symbol can be inserted with <3.

Since installation isn't necessary, you can extract the contents from the downloaded archive and double-click the .exe to launch the application. It creates an icon in the systray at startup, which lights up when the trigger (composer) key is pressed to indicate that you can write sequences to create the characters.

Keep in mind that you have to set the trigger key before each sequence. If a sequence is not recognized by the app (incorrectly pressed keys), then WinComposer gets deactivated.

By double-clicking the tray icon, you can bring up the main app window to view the entire character maps with sequences and categories, quickly find a specific sequence using a search tool, and preview the symbols by hovering the mouse over them.

The right-click menu of the tray icon facilitates access to the settings panel, where it's possible to set the preferred compose key, change the default delay time and make some other tweaks. For instance, you can instruct the tool to play a beeping sound on invalid sequences. Alternatively, it can discard all characters you've typed until that point.

The app worked smoothly on Windows 10 in our tests, having minimal impact on the computer's performance. WinCompose is practical for all users looking for a simple way to insert special characters into any text-based environment.