On the Dock, you need only a single click-but in Finder and on the desktop, you’ll double-click the alias. When you want to use the alias, open it just like you would a regular file or folder. You can then move the alias (by dragging or copying/pasting) to almost any location you’d put a file or folder into, including your desktop or the special quick-launch area of the Dock beside the Trash. Type in a new name now, or just hit Return. Its name will be highlighted, which means that you can quickly rename it to anything you like. Once you create an alias, it will appear right beside the original item. Here’s what it looks like to make an alias using the right-click menu. Try them all out, and you’ll soon use whichever option you feel most comfortable with.
Right-Click: Right-click an item in Finder or Desktop with your mouse or trackpad and select “Make Alias” from the list.Īny one of those three options will yield the same result.Keyboard: Select the file or folder and press Ctrl+Command+A on your keyboard.Menu Bar: Select the file or folder and choose File > Make Alias from the menu bar at the top of the screen.Once you’ve found it, there are three ways to make an alias: Open a new Finder window and browse to the location of the file or folder you’d like to make a shortcut to. First, click the Finder icon on your Dock to bring it to the foreground.
RELATED: How to Create Desktop Shortcuts on Windows 10 the Easy Way How to Make a File or Folder Alias on a Mac When you open an alias by clicking it, the original item opens normally-just as you’d expect it to. An alias can point to a target on your local Mac or on a network machine.Īliases are handy because you can use them to quickly open a frequently used file or folder without always having to root through folders to find it. They’re also dynamic, which means that they will still link to the file or folder, even if you change the original item’s location. Aliases are similar to shortcuts in Windows and symbolic links in Linux. Launch the Shortcuts app on your Mac and click on Gallery from the left pane.On a Mac, an alias is a special type of file that points to a file or folder.
If you want to add pre-built shortcuts, you can do so from the Shortcuts Gallery.įollow these simple instructions to find and install a new shortcut: However, the app will display the shortcuts you've installed on your iPhone or iPad. When you launch the Shortcuts app on your Mac for the first time, you won't find anything other than a couple of starter shortcuts on the home page. How to Find and Run Shortcuts on Your Mac
Here, we'll look at how you can use the Shortcuts app to find, install, and create new shortcuts on your Mac. And if that's not enough, you can create a custom shortcut from scratch. In addition to the hundreds of new pre-built shortcuts made specifically for the Mac, you can also run compatible iPhone and iPad shortcuts. Well, with macOS Monterey, Apple is finally bringing Shortcuts to the Mac. It comes preinstalled on iOS and iPadOS devices, and it lets you perform complex tasks with the apps on your device. The Shortcuts app is quite popular among iPhone and iPad users.