Automator is an application developed by Apple for macOS, which can be used to automate repetitive tasks through point-and-click or drag and drop.

Automator enables the repetition of tasks across a wide variety of programs, including Finder, Safari, Calendar, Contacts and others. It can also work with third-party applications including Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop. Automator was first released with Mac OS X Tiger (10.4).

As of the latest macOS versions, Apple has encouraged users to transition from Automator to Shortcuts, and has allowed for almost any Automator shortcut to be imported into the Shortcuts app. Recent development changes has also favored Shortcuts over Automator, although Automator has continued to be fully supported.

Features

Automator documents are called workflows, and are made up of actions. Workflows are run sequentially, with each action being given the previous action's output, which it can then process or act upon. Variables can be specified, which can be modified or processed by subsequent actions. Workflows can also incorporate loops and variables. Automator comes with a library of actions (file renaming, finding linked images, creating a new mail message, etc.). Actions can also run custom scripts, including AppleScript, JavaScript, or shell scripts. Workflow documents can be run directly in Automator or saved as applications that run the workflow when launched. Workflows can also be added to the contextual menu, to process any selected text or file.

, Microsoft has bundled Automator actions with Microsoft Office, which can be used to automate Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

  • Run AppleScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby scripts, or shell scripts
  • Create Folder Actions, a Finder feature that applies certain workflows to all files in a folder
  • Create Services, which can be started in the Services menu
  • Batch resize photos
  • Extract annotations from PDFs
  • Process strings text, including adding quotations around text or outputting word count
  • Print files; and when combined with the "Get Folder Contents" action, it can print all files in a "drop box" folder

Interface

Automator provides a graphical user interface for automating tasks without knowledge of programming or scripting languages. Tasks can be recorded as they are performed by the user or can be selected from a list. The output of the previous action can become the input to the next action.

The icon for Automator features a robot, known as Otto the Automator.

History

Starting in macOS Monterey, Automator exists alongside Shortcuts.

See also

References

  • Apple's official Automator page
  • Apple's official Automator developer documentation
  • Automator.us, a site with examples and tools, by Sal Soghoian (AppleScript Product Manager at Apple) and others
  • Automator.us for Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) and newer
  • Automator.us for Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)