Opening apps is not that big a task. But, it would be even better if you don’t have to take your hands off the keyboard to open an app, wouldn’t it? Yes, you can do so by using keyboard shortcut.
While there are some third – party applications for the same purpose. In this post, we will tell you how you can create keyboard shortcuts for applications on your Mac without the use of any third-party application –
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Set Keyboard Shortcuts to Launch Apps on Your Mac
Step 1 – Choose Apple menu. Click on System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
Step 2 – When Shortcuts are opened, Select App Shortcuts on the left, click the Add button. Then click the Application pop-up menu, then choose the specific app(s).
Note : If an app is not in the list, choose ‘Other’, then find the app using the ‘Open’ dialog. Please note that you may still not see some apps as they do not allow setting keyboard shortcuts.
Step 3 – Click on the ‘Keyboard Shortcut’ field, press the key combination that you want to use as the keyboard shortcut, then click on Add.
(For example, pressing the Control option and Z key at the same time.)
Remember, You can use a key only once in a key combination. So be careful while choosing the shortcuts and choose them according to your preferences.
You will find below the steps to Create Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10. Create Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10. As mentioned above, using keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10 allows you to quickly access Apps and Programs on your computer, without having to search for them on a crowded desktop or from a long list of Programs in the Startup menu.
- Dec 16, 2019 Once the padlock icon is ‘unlocked’, click the plus button under the list of apps that have accessibility access, and select Automator. Set up keyboard shortcut for Quick Action. Open System Preferences and go to the Keyboard preference. Select the Shortcuts tab and look for Services in the column on the left.
- How to create a Mac desktop shortcut. Creating a Mac desktop shortcut is the same as making an alias on a Mac. Read through the steps below to create macOS keyboard shortcuts: Use Finder to locate the file that you wish to make a desktop shortcut of. Click the file or folder and make sure that it’s highlighted.
- Jun 09, 2020 Select “App Shortcuts” from the left panel available under “Shortcuts” tab then click on the “+” button. Add Keyboard Shortcuts in Mac Step3 – Choosing App and Menu You will see a fly out screen showing the option to select / type “Application”, Menu Title” and “Keyboard Shortcut”.
- Step 1 – Choose Apple menu. Click on System Preferences Keyboard Shortcuts. Step 2 – When Shortcuts are opened, Select App Shortcuts on the left, click the Add button. Then click the Application pop-up menu, then choose the specific app (s).
Create Keyboard Shortcuts For Apps On Mac Download
If you create a keyboard shortcut that is already in use for another app or another command, the new shortcut will not work. To solve that, you have to change your new shortcut or the other shortcut.
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How to change or delete a Shortcut?
You may, at any point of time, want to change or delete an already in work shortcut due to various reasons. Here is how you can do it –
• To change a shortcut, Tap on it, click the key combination, then press a new key combination.
• To remove a shortcut already created, select the shortcut, then click the Delete button
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.
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.
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.
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.
Create Keyboard Shortcuts For Apps On Mac 10
Close the System Preferences window and test out the keyboard command.
Further 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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