

- #Automator macos for free#
- #Automator macos how to#
- #Automator macos software#
- #Automator macos series#
Next, select File, Save, and title your new Quick Action accordingly. This will take the photo you just selected and set it as your background. Next, type “Set the Desktop Picture” into the search bar and drag the corresponding action into the editor. This is the photo that your background will change to whenever you run this routine. In the search bar, type “Get Specified Finder Items” and drag the corresponding action into the editor.Ĭlick the Add… button, then navigate to the photo you want to map to this routine. Open Automator and create a New Document with the Quick Action type.

I’m going to walk you through both of these options, starting with adding a right-click option to change your background.
#Automator macos how to#
How to change your Mac background with the best Automator routines Or, you can create a folder that automatically changes the background to whatever image you just dropped into that folder. With this Automator routine, however, you’ll be able to set it to change without needing to open System Preferences.įor example, you can create a right-click option that lets you change to a specific background whenever you want. Now, it’s worth mentioning that you can set your Desktop background to shuffle in System Preferences based on a few basic factors, like changing each time you log in. That said, it’s still pretty cool.Įssentially, this item on our list of the best Automator routines will automatically change your desktop background to whatever you want, whenever you want. Automatically change your desktop backgroundįirst up is one that I consider to mostly be for fun. These are all really simple routines, so don’t be intimidated! Let’s get our feet wet and learn some of the basics of automating your Mac. While there may be Automator routines that are better for you that aren’t on this list, I think the workflows listed below will be helpful to the most amount of users. If you want a more in-depth description of how Automator works, check out this previous post I wrote on the subject! The best Automator routines for MacĪlright, with that out of the way, we’re ready to explore the best Automator routines for Mac. There’s a lot more to Automator than just that, but that’s a simple explanation. You can create a routine in Automator that will automatically send this email for you. It allows you to create automated routines (also known as “workflows”).įor example, say you send out an email to a client every Friday billing them for work. Unlike those apps, though, Automator has a pretty unique function.
#Automator macos for free#
You get it for free whenever you buy a Mac, just like Pages or Numbers.
#Automator macos series#
What are the best Automator routines for Mac?įirst, in case this is your first stop in my series of Automator tutorials, I wanted to give you a quick explanation of what the best Automator routines are.įor those that don’t know, Automator is a built-in Mac app.

With this announcement, Apple is also setting the stage for the end of Automator. It’s going to be interesting to see what exactly you can trigger with shortcuts, but you can expect to be able to launch apps, create GIFs, send a message, create an email, launch a website, etc.Īfter that, you can trigger your shortcuts in the right column of the Finder, in the menubar and in Spotlight.

In the new Shortcuts app, you can see a gallery of popular shortcuts. “And this year we're bringing Shortcuts to the Mac.”
#Automator macos software#
And on iOS, we've made automation even easier with Shortcuts,” SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said. “The Mac has a long history of automation with command line, shell scripts, Apple scripts and Automator. It’s going to look and work a lot like Shortcuts on iOS and iPadOS. Among other features, Apple is going to release Shortcuts on macOS. Apple has announced the next major version of macOS at WWDC 2021 - macOS Monterey.
