How to Use Siri Shortcuts on Mac in 2026: Build, Run, Automate

To use Siri Shortcuts on your Mac, start in the Shortcuts app: click the Add button, give the shortcut a name and add actions, then say that name to Siri. Siri can run any shortcut in your collection, Apple's Shortcuts guide says. You can also run it from Spotlight, a keyboard shortcut, the Dock, the menu bar or a Finder Quick Action, or let an automation start it for you.

"Siri Shortcuts" is the old name that stuck. On the Mac it's simply Shortcuts, and Siri is one of several ways to start one. That matters, because talking to a laptop in an open-plan office isn't for everyone. This guide covers building your first shortcut, every way to run it on macOS 27, the automations that run without you, the Apple Intelligence actions, and what usually stops Siri from running one.

What Siri Shortcuts are on a Mac

A shortcut is a saved series of actions in the Shortcuts app, where each action is one step that does one thing: open an app, resize an image, create a note, turn on a Focus. Run the shortcut and the Mac does the steps in order. Siri comes in because every shortcut's name doubles as a voice command: say the name and Siri runs it, per Apple's Siri page for Shortcuts.

The Shortcuts app sorts your shortcuts into collections in the sidebar, such as All Shortcuts, Quick Actions and Menu Bar, and the Gallery holds ready-made ones you can add and pull apart to learn from, as Apple's Shortcuts User Guide describes. Shortcuts you build on an iPhone show up on the Mac too once sync is on (more on that below).

How to create a shortcut on Mac

Every Mac shortcut needs two things: a name and at least one action. Apple's steps for macOS 27 are:

1. Open the Shortcuts app and click the Add button in the toolbar. An untitled shortcut opens in the editor.
2. Click Shortcut Name and type the name you'll say to Siri.
3. Pick a category in the sidebar on the right, then double-click an action or drag it into the editor.
4. Add more actions the same way. Each one passes its result to the next.
5. Click the run button to test it, and the stop button if it misbehaves. Command-Z undoes a change.
6. Close the editor. The shortcut now sits in All Shortcuts.

There's a faster route to a blank shortcut: Control-click the Shortcuts icon in the Dock and choose New Shortcut, also from Apple's guide.

A first shortcut worth building

Start with something you do every day in the same order. Before client calls, I open the same things each time: the client's folder, my notes app and the meeting link. So my first shortcut was "Call prep", three actions long: Open App for Notes, Open URLs with the meeting link, and a file action that opens the client's folder in Finder. It isn't clever, and that's why it works. A shortcut you'll actually run beats an ambitious one you'll abandon.

Other good starters: a "Heads down" shortcut that runs Set Focus and opens your writing app, or a "Wrap up" shortcut that turns the Focus off and opens your calendar for tomorrow.

Or describe it and let Apple Intelligence build it

On macOS 27, Shortcuts can build a shortcut from a plain-language description. Click Add, type what you want ("open my calendar and silence notifications for an hour"), and the app creates and names the shortcut; test it, then describe a change or click Edit to adjust it by hand, according to Apple's guide. It needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence set to a supported language, and Apple notes usage limits may apply. Apple's macOS 27 release notes also say existing shortcuts now get an Apple Intelligence summary in the editor, handy when you open one you made months ago.

Read through what it builds before trusting it with real work. A generated shortcut is a draft, the same way an autocomplete suggestion is.

How to run a shortcut on Mac, every way

A Mac shortcut can run from Siri, Spotlight, a keyboard shortcut, the Dock, the menu bar, the Services menu or Finder's Quick Actions. Pick by where your hands are when you need it.

Run a shortcut with Siri

To run a shortcut with Siri on Mac, activate Siri and say the shortcut's exact name; Siri runs it and tells you the result, per Apple's Siri instructions. If the shortcut opens an app while your Mac is locked, Siri asks you to unlock first. Siri's own switches, including whether it listens for "Siri" or "Hey Siri" or waits for a keyboard shortcut, live in System Settings > Siri, as Apple's Siri settings page explains.

Name shortcuts the way you'd say them out loud: two or three plain words, no punctuation, nothing that sounds like another shortcut. Apple warns against names that match a built-in Siri command, because Siri will run your shortcut instead of the built-in one. I learned that the slow way after calling one shortcut "Timer" and then wondering why Siri stopped setting timers.

Run a shortcut from Spotlight

To run a shortcut from Spotlight, open it with Command-Space and start typing the shortcut's name; both Apple's built-in shortcuts and the ones you made show up, according to Apple's Spotlight page for Shortcuts. Press Command-3 once Spotlight is open to show only actions. On macOS 27 you can also give an action quick keys, a short code like "cp" that runs it straight from Spotlight: narrow to actions, click Add quick keys next to the action and type the code, per Apple's Spotlight actions guide.

Give a shortcut its own keyboard shortcut

In the Shortcuts app, double-click the shortcut, open its details, click Add Keyboard Shortcut and press the combination you want; it then works in any app, per Apple's guide to running shortcuts from other apps. To remove it, click the Run with field and press Delete. Some combinations belong to macOS and can't be taken. I keep my most-used shortcut on a key combo rather than Siri, because at a shared desk I'd rather press three keys than say "Call prep" out loud.

Dock, menu bar, Services and Quick Actions

• Dock: select the shortcut and choose File > Add to Dock, then click it to run. It won't take content from your apps as input (Apple).
• Menu bar: open Control Center from the top-right of the screen, click Edit Controls, choose Shortcuts on the left, pick Run Shortcut or Show 'Menu Bar' Collection, then Add to Control Center and Done (Apple).
• Services menu: in the shortcut's details, select Services Menu. It then appears under the app menu's Services item, for example Finder > Services (Apple).
• Finder Quick Action: in the details, select Use as Quick Action, then switch the shortcut on under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Extensions > Finder, then Control-click files and choose Quick Actions (Apple).

Quick Actions are where Shortcuts quietly pays off. When a client sends a batch of photos, I select them in Finder and run a Quick Action that resizes and converts them, instead of opening each one in Preview. Mail can run shortcuts too; our Mac Mail Quick Actions guide shows where.

How to make a shortcut run automatically on Mac

Since macOS Tahoe, Shortcuts on the Mac can run automations: a trigger such as a time of day, an app opening or a file landing in a folder starts the shortcut without Siri or a click. Automations belong to the device you create them on; they're backed up to iCloud and appear on your other devices, but switched off there, per Apple's automation intro.

The triggers include time of day, an alarm, an email or message, folder or file changes, an external drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a display connecting, Stage Manager, an app opening or quitting, a Focus turning on or off, and, on MacBooks, battery level and the charger, as MacMost's Tahoe overview lists. macOS 27 adds a trigger for when a screenshot is saved, according to Apple's release notes.

Where you set one up depends on your macOS version: macOS 27 is the release after Tahoe 26, and Apple menu > About This Mac shows which one you have.

1. macOS 27: open the shortcut, click Edit, then Automation, and choose a trigger such as Time of Day or Arrive (Apple). Apple's release notes describe automations as now built into shortcuts themselves.
2. macOS Tahoe 26: click Automation in the Shortcuts sidebar, click the plus button, pick the trigger, then choose Run Immediately or Run After Confirmation (MacMost, Six Colors).

To let an automation run without asking on macOS 27, click the shortcut, click Edit, then the Info button, click Privacy and turn on Allow Running When Locked. Apple says it then runs without notifying you, and some actions may need their own permission to run automatically (Apple).

Folder automations hand your shortcut a summary of what changed, so the shortcut has to sort out which files to act on, usually with a Repeat With Each loop and a filter, as Six Colors' walkthrough shows. For more built-in time savers that pair well with automations, see our Mac productivity tips.

Using Apple Intelligence inside a shortcut

The Use Model action lets a shortcut hand text to an Apple Intelligence model and pass the answer to the next action, per Apple's Apple Intelligence page for Shortcuts. You choose the model: On-Device for simple requests that work offline, Cloud or Cloud Pro for harder ones through Private Cloud Compute, or Extension Model to send the request to ChatGPT. A Follow Up option lets you check and refine the reply before the shortcut carries on.

It's useful for a shortcut like "Tidy this": take the selected text, ask the model to fix the grammar and shorten it, then copy the result. Cloud models have daily usage limits, and Apple Intelligence is limited to certain languages and regions. If you mostly want summaries rather than a custom workflow, the built-in options in our guide to summarizing text on a Mac are quicker, and our Apple Intelligence on Mac guide covers which Macs get it.

Why Siri won't run your shortcut on Mac

When Siri won't run a shortcut on a Mac, the cause is usually Siri itself, the shortcut's name, or a setting the shortcut needs. Start at the top; each check rules out one cause.

1. Run it from the Shortcuts app first. If it fails there, the problem is an action, not Siri. Fix that before anything else.
2. Check Siri is on. Open System Settings > Siri and confirm Siri can be activated by voice or by its keyboard shortcut (Apple).
3. Check the name. Say the name exactly as written. Rename anything that clashes with a built-in Siri command or sounds like another of your shortcuts (Apple).
4. Unlock the Mac. Shortcuts that open apps wait for you to unlock first (Apple).
5. Type instead of talking. If a noisy room is the problem, type to Siri. Apple's Siri accessibility page covers the Type to Siri setting.
6. Allow scripts if it uses them. Shortcuts with JavaScript, and shortcuts added from outside the Gallery that contain it, need Shortcuts > Settings > Advanced > Allow Running Scripts. Apple warns these can cause data loss, so only turn it on for shortcuts you trust (Apple).

Sync shortcuts between your iPhone and Mac

To get the same shortcuts on your iPhone and Mac, sign both into the same Apple Account, then in the Mac's Shortcuts app choose Shortcuts > Settings > General and select iCloud Sync; turn it on in Shortcuts on each device too, per Apple's sync page. Adding, editing or deleting a shortcut on one device then updates the others. Phone-only actions won't do anything on a Mac, so a shortcut built around a phone feature may need a Mac version.

When Shortcuts isn't enough

Shortcuts handles fixed steps well and judgment poorly. It can't click a menu item an app doesn't expose as an action, and it can't decide which email matters. Two kinds of tools fill those gaps on a Mac:

• Macro and launcher apps such as Keyboard Maestro or Raycast, for controlling apps in ways Shortcuts actions don't reach. Our Raycast alternatives page compares the launchers.
• An AI assistant for work that needs reading, like deciding which threads still need a reply.

My test for which to reach for: if I could write the steps on an index card, it's a shortcut. If I'd have to explain what to look for, it's not.