Speed up your Mac with Shortcuts
Create your own macros for instant Mac joy!
THE SHORTCUTS APP is bundled with recent versions of macOS, including the current release macOS 14 Sonoma. It’s designed for creating macros. In computing, a macro is a set of instructions executed with a single action.
For example, if you were to have a folder full of pictures you need to process, your routine might be as follows: open a picture; resize it to specified dimensions; add a watermark; save it as a specific image format in another folder; close the original file without saving it; move on to the next picture. With a macro, you can automate these actions so all you have to do is make sure the folders are in place and then activate the macro.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Apple’s Shortcuts app launched on the iPhone in September 2018, and arrived on the Mac in 2021 where it replaced the similar Automator app. With it, you can create all sorts of scripts (which are known as shortcuts) by chaining together commands and instructions. It’s as easy to use as it can be, but there’s a learning curve involved.
Don’t expect to get the most from the app until you’ve put in some practice. When you’ve created a shortcut, you can give it a color and icon of your choice. It’s then saved to your Shortcuts collection, from where you can use it over and again, whenever the need arises.
As well as creating you own macro scripts, you can explore the online Shortcuts Gallery from where you can download and use shortcuts created by other Mac users.
To access the gallery, in the Shortcuts app’s left–hand sidebar, click on the Gallery option at the top. You’re shown a range of shortcut thumbnails arranged into categories, such as Get Organized for organizing your Mac, Collaborate Better
for when you’re working on a project with other people, and On the Interweb for various shortcuts relating to your internet accounts and websites. There’s a row of editor–curated categories atop the gallery too. It’s easy to navigate, and functions like an App Store for shortcuts, though these are all completely free to download and use.
When you’ve found a shortcut you think you’d like to use, click on it to open its page. Here you see a short description of the shortcut in question, and some information about it such as (where appropriate) the Siri command that activates the shortcut, whether it appears on Apple Watch or the share sheet, from where it receives information on your Mac and more. If you’re still interested in this shortcut, click the Add Shortcut button and it’s downloaded and installed in your Shortcuts app. Click All Shortcuts in the app’s sidebar and you see it in your own shortcuts collection.
One of the best things about downloading shortcuts from the Shortcuts Gallery is that as well as using them for the purpose for which they were intended, you can open them up and see how they work under the hood. It’s a great way to learn about the Shortcuts app. Take a peek at the commands and how they’re chained together to give you a better understanding of how to build a shortcut. You can also, of course, edit the shortcut to work in different ways.
ADD TO THE MENULET
Something else worthy of note in the Shortcuts app’s sidebar is the folder called Menu Bar. Shortcuts in this folder appear in the application’s menulet in the top bar, and can be activated simply by clicking on the menulet and selecting the shortcut in question without having to open the app first.
To add a shortcut to the menulet menu, simply drag it from your shortcuts collection on to the folder in the sidebar. Note that it’s just copied to the folder; it doesn’t disappear from your main shortcuts page.