In 2021, Apple released the Shortcuts app for macOS Monterey, enabling it simple to create processes with visual coding blocks, just like on the iPhone and iPad. While it lacks the strength of Automator or AppleScript, the feature is nevertheless rather helpful. To get you started, below are some sample workflows that you may alter and duplicate to make your own.

Contents Table of Contents

How to Create and Use Mac Shortcuts
1. Access Keychain Passwords Easily
2. Use Two Apps on the Same Screen
3. Delete all of the files in your Downloads folder.
4. Low Power Mode (on) and (off)
5. Time Tracking Made Easy
6. Toggle Icons on the Desktop
7. Turn off all apps
8. Count the number of characters in a sentence or the number of words in a sentence
More Automation With Shortery Shortcuts Is Also on Your Apple Watch and iPhone. 8. Count Characters or Count Words.

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How to Create and Use Mac Shortcuts

The shortcuts below take you straight to workflows in the macOS Shortcuts programme. With a single click, you may add them to your Mac. The majority of them were made by members of Reddit’s r/Shortcuts and RoutineHub, and they’ve been shared so that more people can benefit from them.

Many of them can be accessed via the Shortcuts menu bar item, while others can be accessed using the Quick Actions menu on the right-click menu. If you like, you can also start them from the Shortcuts app, where you can update current shortcuts, add new ones from the Gallery, and delete procedures you don’t need.

1. Access Keychain Passwords Easily

If you store your passwords in iCloud Keychain, you can use this r/Shortcuts shortcut from u/Krokmou to rapidly retrieve your list of saved passwords on both iOS and macOS. You can activate the shortcut from the menu bar, or you can open it in Shortcuts by double-clicking on it, then selecting “Shortcut Details” in the right-hand pane and assigning a keyboard shortcut using the “Add Keyboard Shortcut” button.

2. Use Two Apps on the Same Screen

This and other Gallery shortcuts are available from Apple, but this one is a little more open-ended. It allows you to instantly split your screen between two programmes, which is great for putting you in “work mode” while you’re distracted. In its default form, the shortcut will prompt you to select which apps you want to use each time you use it.

By double-clicking the shortcut in the Shortcuts app, selecting “?App” and selecting an app of your choice, you can change this behavior. You can also use the “Split Screen Between” action to create your own Shortcuts that perform the same thing (as shown in the screenshot above), just remember to pin them to the menu bar in the “Shortcut Details” box on the right.

3. Delete all of the files in your Downloads folder.

To swiftly delete everything in your downloads folder, use this shortcut from your menu bar. By default, the shortcut will prompt you to confirm that you want the items destroyed before moving the contents to the Trash.

If you don’t want to confirm every time you delete something, go to Shortcuts > Preferences > Advanced and enable “Allow Deleting Without Confirmation.” To avoid the Trash, change the shortcut and select “Delete Immediately” under the “Delete [Contents of Folder]” action.

4. Low Power Mode (on) and (off)

Using a shell script, Reddit user u/MrVegetableMan built shortcuts to toggle Low Power Mode on and off. For this one to function, you’ll need to enable “Allow Running Scripts” in Shortcuts > Preferences > Advanced and provide root access on the first run. You’ll be able to use these shortcuts from the menu bar once you’ve finished.

Click on the battery charge indicator to see your current status, which will alert you if Low Power Mode is enabled. Low Power Mode can be enabled manually, but it takes a lot more clicks than using a simple menu bar button. Learn more about Low Power Mode and which models are compatible with it.

5. Time Tracking Made Easy

Do you want to know how long you’ve been working on a project? In Apple’s Notes app, you may use this simple shortcut to record numerous activities to a text note. You should edit the workflow by first adding it, then double-clicking on it to edit it for the best results.

You’ll find entries like “One” and “Two” under “List,” which you may edit to activities like “Research” or “Reading” depending on what you’re recording (add as many as you like). The shortcut will produce a note called “Time Logging Shortcut Data,” but you can edit this under the “Find [All Notes] where” and “Create Note With” actions to match your own name scheme if you like.

Finally, at the bottom of the workflow, under “Text,” you can adjust the arrangement of the logging data. You may start the workflow from your menu bar shortcut, and it will ask you what time you started, how long you spent on the task, and if you have any notes to record each time you do so. Each log will be put to the same note, ensuring that everything is in one location.

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6. Toggle Icons on the Desktop

It’s lovely to have a clean desktop with no icons visible, but it’s also impractical because the desktop is a good area to dump files, access mounted disc images, and save screenshots. With this RoutineHub shortcut created by user @NCC-1701-A, you may easily flip desktop icons on and off. It’s easily accessible from the menubar, but you’ll need to enable “Allow Running Scripts” in Shortcuts > Preferences > Advanced to use it.

7. Turn off all of the apps on your phone.

It can be a hassle to close each app separately if you’re diligent about shutting apps before restarting or putting your Mac to sleep. Use this shortcut to wipe the slate clean, or change it to include a caveat. If you find yourself doing this frequently, you may modify it to a “Quit All Except Safari” shortcut (or another app of your choosing).

8. Count the number of letters in a word or the number of words in a sentence

This easy shortcut may be activated from the right-click “Services” menu in almost any app . We cloned and altered the original shortcut to create a shortcut that counts words instead of characters.

With Shortery, there’s more automation.

Shortery is a free macOS tool that allows you to take macOS shortcuts to the next level. You can use this software to automate a lot of your processes by setting triggers for things like:

• Using or removing apps
• Date and time of day
• Awakening and sleeping
• Logging in and out
• Hotkeys for the entire world
• Transitions between dark and bright modes
• Effort mode