Tray Transpose Tool user manual

The Tray Transpose Tool changes the key of a song with chords, using the Windows clipboard. Copy the song in the program you already use, transpose it, and paste it back. Your fonts, colors and layout stay as they were.

The short version

  1. Download the Tray Transpose Tool and open it. Choose Install.
  2. In Word, a web page or any program, select a song with its chords above the words, and copy it (Ctrl+C).
  3. Click the Tray Transpose Tool icon next to the clock, or press Ctrl+Alt+T. Choose the new key in To, and choose Transpose.
  4. Go back to your program and paste (Ctrl+V). The transposed song is already on the clipboard.

That's all most people ever need. The rest of this page explains each step.

1. Install the Tray Transpose Tool

It runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11. You don't need to install anything else first.

  1. Download TrayTranspose.exe (about 72 MB) and open it.
  2. It offers to install itself. Choose one:
    • For everyone on this PC: the usual choice. Windows asks for permission; choose Yes.
    • Just for me: if you don't have administrator rights on this computer.
  3. Choose Install. A few seconds later, the Tray Transpose Tool opens. You'll find it in the Start menu and on your desktop.
The Install Tray Transpose Tool window, with two choices, For everyone on this PC and Just for me, a tick box for a desktop shortcut, and the buttons Run without installing and Install.
The install window.

If Windows says “Windows protected your PC”, see What to do about the “Windows protected your PC” message.

2. Copy a song

Open the song in whatever program you keep it in: Word, a web page, an email, a PDF, or your worship software. Select the whole song, or just the part you need, and copy it with Ctrl+C.

The Tray Transpose Tool expects the usual chord-sheet layout: each line of chords sits above its line of words. Chords written inside the words in square brackets, such as [G]Amazing [C]grace, work too.

3. Transpose it

Click the Tray Transpose Tool icon in the notification area, at the right end of the taskbar (choose the small ^ arrow there if you don't see it). Or press Ctrl+Alt+T, which works from inside any program. The window opens with your song in it.

The Tray Transpose Tool window showing Amazing Grace with bold blue chords above the words. At the top are the menus with a row of buttons beside them, the From and To key lists, both set to G, the Transpose button, and down and up arrow buttons. The status line at the bottom says: Key: G (a guess), 13 chords on 4 lines.
The song as it arrives. The Tray Transpose Tool has guessed that it's in G.
  1. Check From: it shows the key the Tray Transpose Tool thinks the song is in. If that's wrong, choose the right one.
  2. Choose the new key in To.
  3. Choose Transpose (or press Ctrl+T).

To move up or down a half step at a time, use the arrow buttons next to Transpose, or press Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓.

The same window after transposing to B flat. The chords now read Bb, Bb7, Eb, F and Gm, still bold blue and still above the same syllables. The status line says: Moved up a half step, from A to B flat. Copied to the clipboard: paste it back into your program.
Transposed to B♭: every chord is still above the syllable it started on.

4. Paste it back

The transposed song is already on the clipboard. Go back to your program and paste it with Ctrl+V, either over the original or somewhere new.

When you're done, choose Copy and hide (or press Esc to just hide the window). The Tray Transpose Tool keeps waiting in the notification area for the next song.

Where to next