Can I create a Keyboard Shortcut to run a Quick Action in Automator?
I have created a Quick Action in Automator. I saved the Quick Action with a certain title.
Next I went to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts. There I created a shortcut with the same name as the Automator Quick Action.
Can I link the Quick Action in Automator to the identically named Shortcut in System Preferences? If so, how?
Mac mini, macOS 10.14
You should add the shortcut in System Preferences->Keyboard->Shortcuts->Services
(not in App Shortcuts).
In this section, the name of the Quick Action you created should already be there, all you have to do is add the shortcut next to it.
"Quick Action" is essentially a new term for what has been called (and still is) a Service.
You should add the shortcut in System Preferences->Keyboard->Shortcuts->Services
(not in App Shortcuts).
In this section, the name of the Quick Action you created should already be there, all you have to do is add the shortcut next to it.
"Quick Action" is essentially a new term for what has been called (and still is) a Service.
Yes, my Quick Action is in Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services. I added my keystroke combination. When I used that keystroke, something did happen.
Alas, what happened is not what I wanted. Now I am back in Automator trying to figure out how Automator works.
I have one MS Word file located in a particular folder on my hard drive. What I want to do is to type my keystroke at any time and in any application and open that particular Word file.
My Automator Quick Action currently has only two steps. (See the attached screen shot.)
Step One is “Get Specified Finder Items.” In that step I have added the Word file in question.
Step Two is “Open Word Documents.”
When I enter my keystrokes, the window for the hard drive opens. That’s all. Automator does not come anywhere close to the folder in which the Word file resides.
I am sure I am missing something in programming Automator. Does anyone know? TIA
The Automator service seems simple enough. I have never used the Open Word Document action (or used Automator in conjunction with Word in any way). I will have to test tomorrow. I’m not at my mac right now. I am pretty sure I can make this work, if not like this, then using an alternative approach. But I will have to test.
You have two things going on.
A Quick Action can take in something and act upon it. It can also take "no input," which is what you want. You are actually getting two things in your Action. The first is the current file or folder in the Finder because that is what you told it to get by default. You then told it to get a specific Finder Item. Both of those get passed to the "Open Word Documents" action.
I don't know what "Open Word Documents" does or expects as I don't have it. It may not do what the title makes you think it does. If you select it in the Library list, it will tell you what it expects to be passed and what it should do with them.
You don't need to use it, though. Just use Open Finder Items instead.
So, set the Quick Action to accept no input.
Change the Open Word Documents to Open Finder Items.
I am experimenting with Keyboard Maestro, and I am running into an obstacle with a pull-down menu.
I am in Word. Not all pull-down menus have keystroke equivalents. One such menu is Table > Select > Table. Word does not provide any keystrokes for that menu. Keyboard Maestro does not recognize that submenu:
When I run the macro that I have recorded, I get this alert:
Menu selection failed to pick menu.
Table > Select > Table with Error -5620
I found some online instructions for Keyboard Maestro. One instruction advises against attempting to record mouse clicks. But I cannot avoid using a mouse click with the pull-down menus for tables in Word.
Is there some technique in Keyboard Maestro that I am overlooking?
Yes, I am working on an existing table in a Word document.
As we see in our screenshots, Keyboard Maestro recorded differently. My macro identifies the menu "Table" in "Microsoft Word." I did not get any reference to "front application."
OK, I have moved the word "menu" from the search window in the upper right corner to that next to the word "Actions." The only difference I see is that the second step of my macro no longer has a different background color.
I have not yet moved KM to my Applications folder. I am waiting to see if I can get it to do what I want. I do not know if keeping the application on my Desktop affects the present problem.
If you're looking to automate more of your routine procedures on your Mac consider Keyboard Maestro. I find it to be my most used and needed utility.
+1
Thank you!
For the Table ➙ Select menu to be active there must be a table created in the document previously. Then Keyboard Maestro will show this:
What version of KM are you running? I have 8.2.4.
I have v. 8.2.4.
Did you use this Action in KM?
No, I do not find that particular action in KM.
Automator and Shortcut?
