How to make keyboard shortcut for Finder Tags...

Finally got something to work not too badly.

My favorites are, in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray. They are in the Favorites area of Finder Sys Pref.

Control-n toggles the nth favorite tag.

Control-1 didn't work initially because it was superseded by a shortcut for "Switch to Desktop 1". Since I don't use that, I reset it.

The blue tag was initially skipped because it wasn't in the favorites area. (It is now!)

This Control-n method is actually in the Finder help! Also, Control-0 removes all tags.

So this, combined with Method 2 above, shouldn't be too bad.

I'm still all ears for the best way to implement a right-click for the highlighted item, as it would be useful for more than just Tags! If you know, please do tell.

OK!!!

Hmmm. Looks like I posted to the wrong thread! Here's a slight re-write of what I posted to

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252935863

Well, here's what I've come up with to date (with a few questions at the end):

Method 1:

This is the worst of the bunch.

Enable Mousekeys.

Move the highlight bar to the desired file using the up and down arrow keys.

Move the mouse pointer to the Add Tags or Edit Tags control using the keys on the number keypad. The problem with this is that it is slow and painful.

Press keypad 5. And again, the Tags menu comes up and can be worked without the mouse.

Method 2:

This is the best I've come up with so far.

Move the highlight bar in the Finder with the up and down arrow keys. (Tech tip: Use Opt-Up or Opt-Dn to move the highlight bar to the top or bottom [first or last file]. This works on many other lists, like in menus and Mail.) It'd be nice if PgUp and PgDn would move the highlight bar one screen, but alas, it only moves the list itself. Arghhh!

Press F5. (You might have to set this up in Sys Pref, Shortcuts, Move focus to the window toolbar, press Enter, press F5. ^F5 is the default.)

Tab over to Edit Tags.

Since the control is outlined, press the space bar.

And voila`! The Tags menu comes up and can be worked without the mouse.

Method 3:

Probably the best, except that it doesn't exist.

A keyboard shortcut that right-clicks the highlighted file. Unfortunately, you can't set this up with macOS.

>>> Please keep in mind that I want the right-click menu (aka context menu) to come up for the file that is highlighted, NOT whatever is under the mouse pointer. This is a crucial difference!!! So I'm not really fond of Method 1, even though it completely avoids the mouse. <<<

Might Quicksliver or Alfred do the right-click on the highlighted file bit? I already have Quicksliver. It comes up when I fat-finger the shortcut for it. I don't know where it came from. I don't recall ever downloading it, although I might have downloaded it years ago. Just checked and found that System Information lists it as being from an "Identified Developer". But previously I've always been afraid to set it up. So it should be safe?

What's the best option for setting up a keyboard shortcut that right-clicks the highlighted file or control? Quicksliver? Alfred? Something else?

If there were just one thing I could ask for with macOS, it would be a native right-click the highlighted file keyboard shortcut.

I also posted this to the wrong thread, and it precedes the other mis-posted thread I reposted here. Sorry!

Thanks, everyone! I'll check all this out some more.

My God, all I want to do is apply tags without using the [Ow, my tongue!] mouse. It would make life much easier and it would be much faster, as I have a lot of movie files to go through! And the Ctrl-<number> trick looked promising for a few seconds, but it only works on a few colors! Sheesh. (The hand may be quicker than the eye, but the keyboard shortcut is quicker than the mouse!)

Can't be done?

Here are three webpages that claim it can and show you how, none of which work (except the aforementioned not-quite-a-solution method)!

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/tag-finder-items-macos-keyboard-shortcuts/

https://lifehacker.com/quickly-add-tags-in-finder-with-a-keyboard-shortcut-1572948029

https://medium.com/innovation-design/how-to-add-a-shortcut-for-finder-tags-on-macos-mojave-65d1502ffd98

So it must have worked at some point!

The problem with using the command line is that you either have to very carefully type out the path and file name or drag the file with the [Ow, my tongue!] mouse (!) to the command line.

[Ow, my tongue!!!] (^_^)

I still have to do a Finder relaunch sometimes (but to be clear, not always). Also, just today I don't get a count of the size of two Final Cut libraries. Even after a restart (reboot)!

Would still like to know if there's any app that gives you a right-click keyboard shortcut for the highlighted item (not the item under the mouse pointer).

Thanks!

The problem with these is that they require use of the command line, which requires either very careful typing of the path and file name (most likely with spaces in it!) or dragging the file icon to the command line, which uses the mouse, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid! Thanks anyway.

The problem with this is in part that it requires use of the command line, which requires either very careful typing of the path and file name (most likely with spaces in it!) or dragging the file icon to the command line, which uses the mouse, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid! Also, it seems to do a task I don't need. I guess this was a model upon which to write my own code. Still, if I have to drag file icons to the command line or type out the path and file names, it's not worth it.

Thanks anyway.

No, sir. I need to avoid the mouse completely. That was the whole point of my question! A keyboard shortcut! And with the Control-<n> feature it appears that I can. For this particular task it's much faster and easier than using the mouse. Some things are much more efficient when you use the keyboard instead of the mouse. It's like the Time app on the phone. It takes time [pun not intended!] and finesse to set the alarm with the stupid odometer wheels. Now they have a keypad you can type the numbers into and it's incredibly faster and easier. Why anyone prefers the odometer wheels is beyond me. Now they should do the same for the timer.

Tech tip: Use Opt-arrows to move an icon to a new place on the Dock.