How to Use Automator on Mac [Updated Guide]

Automating your Mac computer can be a game-changer, giving you a powerful boost in productivity by automating a big chunk of your daily tasks. Maybe you want an easier way to sort your folders, resize images, or just create regular backups.

With Automator on Mac, all this is possible. You will learn about Automator and how to use Automator on Mac in this post.

1: What Is Automator on Mac

Automator is one of the earlier iterations of Apple’s automation tools on macOS which has since started pivoting to the newer ‘Shortcuts’ app. But users still can access Automator to build custom workflows, and in some ways, you’ll find it’s more accessible & versatile.

As the name suggests, Automator ‘automates’ the things you do on a Mac. It offers a drag-and-drop interface for users to create workflow for repetitive tasks without coding.

Automator simply provides you with a whole host of ‘actions’ that can trigger according to an application, for folders, link to your Calendar, or even when you use dictation on your Mac.

2: How to Use Automator on Mac

Now that you have a better understanding of the available workflows, here’s how to use the Automator app:

3: How to Test Automation in Mac

Once you’ve created a workflow using the above guide, you’ll want to make sure everything is working as intended. Here’s how to test it:

After testing, you can modify the automation process if needed. If you want to edit the automation file, go to the next part.

4: How to Edit Automation in Mac

What about editing existing actions and workflows after you’ve created them in Automator?

For example, maybe you’ve set a new Folder Action workflow but mistakenly specified the wrong folder/file to run. In that case, you’ll need to go back to your created workflows to edit and change that.

Here’s a quick example of how to edit existing workflows like Folder Action on Automator:

Then you can edit the existed automation process. Don't forget to test the automation again to make sure it works as expected.

5: Useful Automation Workflow Examples on Mac

Here’s where we’ll highlight some great automation workflow ideas to get you started in Automator with some fantastic automation that can simplify the user experience on your Mac.

1. Quit All Your Applications

The first automation workflow we’d like to highlight is essentially a ‘kill all apps’ workflow that instantly quits and closes all open apps on your Mac. This can be handy for quickly clearing out any open apps you’ve missed consuming resources on your Mac.

Here’s how to create the workflow in Automator to automatically close all apps:

1. Open the Automator app on your Mac via Finder or Spotlight search.

2. Click on File > New in the Automator taskbar.

3. Select the ‘Application’ type for your automation.

4. Select the ‘Files & Folders’ category.

5. Scroll down and select ‘Quit All Applications’ from the Actions bar.

6. Drag ‘Quit All Applications’ to the right-hand side of the Automator window to build your workflow.

7. Enable the ‘Ask to save changes’ toggle.

8. Once done, click on ‘File’ in the taskbar and select ‘Save’. Name it something appropriate and add it to your desired location.

It can also be pretty useful for a quick ‘refresh’ of sorts without needing to restart your entire Mac. Using this method, you’ll essentially create a new ‘app’ or button that’ll serve as a quit all apps button.

2. Convert PDFs to Images

Another great use for Automator is to quickly change a PDF file into an image to use in an assignment or for an article on a blog. Since you can’t use PDFs directly in most cases and taking a screenshot can lose out on some image quality, converting it with Automator is the ideal method.

Here’s how you can make a ‘PDF to Image’ button using the Quick Actions workflow:

1. Open the Automator app on your Mac via Finder or Spotlight search.

2. Click on ‘File’ > ‘New’ in the Automator taskbar.

3. Select the ‘Quick Action’ type for your automation.

4. Under ‘Library’, select the ‘PDFs’ option.

5. Select the ‘Render PDF Pages as Images’ Action. Then select the specifications for the image from the PDF.

6. For the next action, go to the ‘Files & Folders’ category.

7. Select ‘Rename Finder Items’ to create unique copies of the PDF to Image output.

8. To organize the newly created images, you can choose to add a ‘Move Finder Items’ action to add it to a specified folder.

9. Once done, go to ‘File’ > ‘Save’.

This will allow you to access the converter directly in Quick Actions, which you can access in Finder or with a right-click.

3. Batch Rename Files

For creatives like graphic designers or writers, you’ll often work with batches of files of drafts and amended versions and sometimes you need a quick and easy way to rename them all to stay consistent.

In this case, you can set up an automation to quickly rename selected files. Here’s how to get started:

1. Open the Automator app on your Mac via Finder or Spotlight search.

2. Click on ‘File’ > ‘New’ in the Automator taskbar.

3. Select the ‘Workflow’ type for your automation.

4. 4.Under ‘Library’, select the ‘Files & Folder’ tab.

5. Select ‘Get Specified Finder Items’ first and then add ‘Rename Finder Items’

6. Select the details of how you want the ‘Rename’ feature to work.

7. When you need to rename a batch of files, simply drag and drop those files into the ‘Get Specified Finder Items’ and then click the ‘Run’ button in the top-right corner.

I found this automatic workflow really helpful to help me rename large number of files.

4. Convert JPG to PNG

Lastly, we have a similar automation from the PDF converter, but this time we’re converting a JPG image to a PNG image. This can be useful if you need to quickly get vector files or add a transparent background to the image.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Open the Automator app on your Mac via Finder or Spotlight search.

2. Click on ‘File’ > ‘New’ in the Automator taskbar.

3. Select the ‘Workflow’ type for your automation.

4. Under ‘Library’, select the ‘Files & Folder’ tab.

5. Select the ‘Get Selected Finder Items’ action.

6. Under ‘Library’, go to ‘Photos’.

7. Select the ‘Change Type of Images’ action. Change the ‘To Type’ field to ‘PNG’.

8. When you want to convert a JPEG to a PNG, simply drag and drop the file to the ‘Get Selected Finder Items’ field and click ‘Run’.

6: Benefits of Mac Automator Workflow

Time-Saving for Repetitive Tasks

Routine tasks like renaming files, resizing images, or organizing folders take up a big chunk of your workflow. Instead of manually slogging through these tasks, Automator workflows can handle them in seconds.

For example, the Batch Rename Files workflow can rename an entire folder of project assets in just a click, freeing up valuable minutes every day.

Productivity Enhancement

By automating tedious processes, Automator gives you back your focus. Rather than breaking your concentration and workflow to handle mundane tasks like converting PDFs to images, you can handle it with a click of a button, which lets you concentrate on important creative or strategic tasks.

It’s like having a personal assistant catered to your needs, built into your Mac.

Consistency

Manual tasks often come with errors or inconsistencies, but an Automator workflow minimizes them to keep things consistent. Whether you’re converting JPGs to PNGs for a client projector or organizing files for a meeting, Automator takes the guesswork out of the equation by keeping things linear and keeps you away from low-quality online tools that might add watermarks or ruin the quality of the file.

Summary

And that’s everything you need to know about Automation shortcuts on Mac using Automator! Hopefully, you’ve grasped the potential of using Automator to streamline your workflow, because speaking from experience, it opens up a lot of possibilities you wouldn’t have even thought possible!