While macOS allows users to create their own keyboard shortcuts to perform functions in apps, there isn't a built-in way to launch the apps themselves using a similar maneuver. AppleInsider shows you one way to create app-launching keyboard shortcuts, using the included Automator utility.
Dec 17, 2013 Launch Apps On Your Mac With Your Own, Custom Keyboard Shortcuts Using Automator. Alvaro Bernedo. Select your service and you will see an Add Shortcut button appear. Jul 04, 2020 This bare-bones app functions as a shortcut tool, meaning you can use it to quickly copy and move files, launch apps, and share content through popular services such as Facebook and Flickr. In order to exit from split screen view in Mac, press the “maximize” button or of your active window screen. It will automatically bring the application in default view and keep it on top of other apps. Alternatively, you can press “esc” button form the Mac keyboard. What is the Shortcut Key for Split Screen in Mac?
Dec 17, 2013 Launch Apps On Your Mac With Your Own, Custom Keyboard Shortcuts Using Automator. Alvaro Bernedo. Select your service and you will see an Add Shortcut button appear. Jun 27, 2019 When you’re working on your Mac, the simplest shortcuts can help you do things faster and easier. Whether it’s gestures or keyboard shortcuts, there are plenty of ways to navigate your Mac and your apps. So, for more to add to your list of shortcuts, here’s how to quickly switch between windows and apps on Mac.
Apple included a fairly simple way to create custom keyboard shortcuts within System Preferences, which can easily be used to produce shortcut combinations for app functions that do not already have one defined. While the Shortcuts settings also enables various other system functions to run, the extensive list simply doesn't have an option to run a user-defined app.
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This doesn't mean it is impossible to launch an app by creating a shortcut, but handily it is possible to trigger something else that in turn can load an app. In this case, we will be creating a keyboard shortcut to trigger an Automator-produced event, which will open up the selected app.
First, we need to create an Automator service that, when prompted, will open our selected application.
Open Automator. It can be found in the Applications folder, accessible by selecting Go then Applications in the Finder menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Shift Command A.
If this is your first time in Automator, you should be presented by an initial window offering to start a new document, though if it doesn't appear, select File then New in the menu to start from scratch. At this point, select Service then the Choose button.
In the top section starting 'Service receives,' set the dropdown box to 'no input,' and check to make sure the second dropdown is set to 'any application.'
Click Actions in the top-right corner, scroll down the list of actions in the second column to find Launch Application, and drag it into the main workflow box to the right. This will add a new Launch Application section to the workflow box.
Select the application you want to open from the shortcut using the Launch Application dropdown box.
Select File then Save in the menu, enter an appropriate name for the command, and click Save. Close Automator.
Creating the shortcut
Select the Apple logo in the Menu, and select System Preferences then the Keyboard icon in the second row. Select the Shortcuts tab, which should be in the middle of the five tabs near the top of the window.
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Select Services in the left-hand column, then scroll down to the service with the same name as the command created in Automator. If the side tick isn't visible, click it before clicking the command, then click the Add Shortcut button that appears.
At this point, select the key combination you want to use to open the selected application and press the buttons at the same time. If macOS accepts the combination, it will then show the keyboard combination in the listing.
Close the System Preferences window and test out the keyboard command.
Shortcut For Apps On Mac IphoneFurther Thoughts
While this tip largely centers around opening an app, the same principles can be used to create keyboard shortcuts to do a multitude of tasks. If a sequence of events is set up in Automator and saved as a service, it can be assigned a keyboard shortcut, and could be used to perform multi-stage tasks with a single collective key press.
Also, be aware of setting a keyboard shortcut that may duplicate one that is already in use by another system function or app, in case they conflict with each other or fail to perform an action at all. The last thing you want is to go to the trouble of setting up a key combination that ultimately doesn't do what you want.
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In another post recently we showed you the basics of Automator, a Mac tool for automating tasks. However, besides the basic stuff you can do with Automator, you can actually accomplish a lot more with it that might not be obvious by just following the ‘usual’ instructions.
In this entry we’ll show you how to use Automator to create keyboard shortcuts to launch applications on your Mac, which should prove very useful since most Mac apps can’t be launched by custom shortcuts.
Let’ get started.
First, open Automator and choose to create a new document. From the available options (where you can choose a Workflow, Application and such), select Service.
Once you do, you will be shown the Actions library. There, search for Utilities and select it. Then, on the panel to the right, look for the Launch Application action (use the search field at the top of the window if you can’t find it) and then click on it and drag it into the rightmost panel, where you will create your workflow.
You will now notice a small panel above the action you just dragged. There you can tweak a couple of variables. Where it says Service receives, select no input. Then, to the right, select any application.
After that, head to the action you dragged in the first place and select the application you want to launch from the drop-down panel. For this example, I’ll use Clear, a really nice task management app that we have covered before.
Before closing Automator (don’t worry, we’ll create the keyboard shortcut in a moment), save the service you just created using a name that is easy to remember.
Once your newly-created service is saved, open your Mac’s Preferences and go to the Keyboard menu. There, head to the Shortcuts tab and click on Services on the left panel.
Then, on the right one look for the service you just created (Hint: In most cases, the services you create with Automator can be located under General).
Select your service and you will see an Add Shortcut button appear. Click on it to set the keyboard shortcut you want to use to launch the app.
Important Note: Make sure to use a unique one, since I found that OS X Mavericks will favor an application’s native shortcuts if they are the same as the one you created.
And there you go. Up until a short while ago, I thought it was not possible to create your own shortcuts to open apps on your Mac in a simple manner. Of course, you could always use third party apps like Better Touch Tools for example, but as you can see, Automator is a very powerful tool that provides a native way to take care of this issue without having to fiddle with external software. So try it out and tell us what you think!
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