Type in the name of your project in the pop-up box.Select File > Save to save your workflow when finished.Repeat Step 4 to include additional actions.Finally, drag your action into the third column. Pick from the library, then choose an action in the second column. You'll find actions organized in the library in the first column on the left. Color: A color for your Quick Actions (visible in the Touch Bar only).
#Automator mac new items mac
You can select an image on your Mac or choose an image from the menu. Image: An image for your Quick Action.Output replaces selected text: When the workflow receives input from Text or Rich Text, you can specify that the output replaces the selected text.Input is: If the workflow receives input from URLs, addresses, phone numbers, dates, or email addresses, you can specify different input options.Each app must be open for the workflow to be available. Application: The app or apps you want to use to process your workflow.If you choose Automatic, Automator guesses the type of input you want to use in your workflow. Workflow receives current: The type of data used as input to the workflow.Choose from the available options to begin building your Quick Actions workflow:.Even if you’re not a programmer, it’s a powerful tool that can help make certain repetitive tasks much simpler.To create a Quick Action workflow, open the Automator app, then select Quick Action in the Automator box. Hopefully this hint gives you some idea of just how easy it is to work with Automator, and some idea of the things you might be able to do with it. From now on, you can backup any folder you like via this contextual menu item-just make sure your backup media device is mounted before you try to use the workflow. In the menu bar, you’ll see your workflow’s progress, and then hear the successful ‘workflow complete’ noise. When the pop-up menu appears, scroll down to Automator and pick ‘Back up this folder’ from the sub-menu that appears. Switch to the Finder, highlight your small test folder again, and control-click on it. Just that easily, you’ve created a new entry in the Finder’s contextual menu. Leave the Plug-in For pop-up set to Finder and click OK. Select File -> Save As and name your new plug-in-use a name that will make sense when you see it in a list of entries, maybe something along the lines of Back up this folder. Since having to launch Automator every time you wanted to back up a folder would be a real pain, we’re going to convert the workflow into a contextual menu entry in the Finder. I was listening to the Intego Mac Podcast recently (search for it in Apple Podcasts app), and there was an interesting item about AirTags. Here is a workaround and also an interesting use of Mac Automator. Navigate to your external hard drive, iPod in disk mode, or other backup media (which must be mounted in the Finder for this workflow to work), and pick a destination for the folder-you might want to create a new folder ( Desktop Mac Backups or whatever) to hold your backed-up files. Apple AirTags are good for finding lost items, but they only show the current location, not all locations they have been. Click the To pop-up in the workflow, then click Other at the bottom of the list. By adding the number of seconds since 12 midnight to the filename, you’ll be insured of having a unique name for each and every archive.įor the last step in your simple backup workflow, drag the Finder’s Move Finder Items action to the bottom of the work area. (You’ll see the same warning dialog choose Don’t Add, as you did before.) Again leave the pop-up set to Add Date or Time, but set the Format pop-up to ‘Seconds from 12 M.’ Change the separator for the filename if you wish (again, I used an underscore). If you plan on making more than one backup a day, drag the Rename Finder Items action into the work area again, right below the one you just created. For instance, I set the date separator to a dash, and the separator between the filename and the date to an underscore, and formatted the date to be added with leading zeros. In the Rename Finder Items workflow entry, leave the first pop-up set to Add Date or Time, and then set the remaining menus to format the date as you like.
#Automator mac new items archive
You can click Don’t Add, as we’re only going to be renaming the archive we just created. You’ll see a warning dialog, asking if you’d like to add a Copy Finder items action. Now drag the Rename Finder Items from the Library area to the workflow, below the two existing steps. The filename issue is the only real glitch with this simple solution: Automator in 10.4 can’t pass the name of the Finder items to use as the name in the Create Archive step, so you’re left with a generic name.