I’ve known about Keyboard Maestro (KM) for years, but I always thought it was too complicated and advanced to fit my needs.
I was wrong.
My Misconceptions About Keyboard Maestro
Recently, in MacSparky Labs, David Sparks did a program on “Mac Launcher Deep Dive.” In this video, Sparks showed how he uses KM to automate his recurring tasks on the Mac.
By seeing KM in use, I realized I had many misconceptions about it:
- Using KM action palettes, I don’t have to memorize a huge number of keyboard shortcuts. I’d always incorrectly assumed that more automations meant I’d have to learn many more keyboard shortcuts (one for each function), but that isn’t the case. In KM, I’m setting up palettes that I can bring up with one simple keyboard shortcut, that display several functions. To activate a macro, I press the first letter of the macro name.
- I can create macros in KM that took me multiple mouse clicks and selections before, thus saving me time and sparking nerd joy. I assumed that my needs didn’t require the level of automation that KM provides. As I learn more and develop more macros, I realize that I have numerous recurring functions in my workflow that benefit from using KM.
- With no programming experience, I thought KM would be too difficult for me to learn. With the excellent help materials on the KM Website and the help resources offered when you start the app, it’s easy to learn about using KM. In addition, there is an active forum where users are happy to answer newbie questions. KM uses a “drag and drop” visual interface that makes it relatively simple to set up complex macros, and I’ve made some.
The Best Resource to Learn How to Use Keyboard Maestro
The best resource I’ve found to learn about KM is MacSparky’s Keyboard Maestro Field Guide.
In this Field Guide, MacSparky breaks down the app into its basic components. He gives basic “beginner-level” introductions to the different functions of KM. Using over 90 detailed screencasts, he demonstrates how to use these functions.
He also includes many downloadable practical sample macros. He demonstrates how each was built using KM. You can use them “as is” out of the box or modify them to fit your needs. I’ve adopted many of them outright or used them as a base to build macros customized to my needs.
How I’m Using Keyboard Maestro to Automate My Workflow and Spark my Nerd Joy
As a result of the sample macros in MacSparky’s Keyboard Maestro Field Guide, I’m now using several macros regularly.
1. In the “triggers” section of his Field Guide, MacSparky introduces the use of a keyboard mapping app by Brett Terpstra, Karabiner Elements.
Karabiner Elements contains a “complex modification” rule you can activate that changes Caps Lock to Command+Control+Option+Shift. Once turned on, the Caps Lock key operates a Shift+Control+Command+Option, all held down at the same time. This opens up a whole new set of keyboard shortcuts, without having to press multiple keys at the same time.
2. The text palette. When I hold down Caps Lock + T, it opens a palette full of text modifications. These include such modifications as changing text to title case, all caps, removing format, lower case, etc. This is a macro I downloaded from the MacSparky field guide.
3. Launching and formatting my writing setup. With the use of a simple macro, I can launch my preferred screen setup for writing. By pressing Caps Lock and O to launch a setup palette, then selecting W, I open Ulysses on the left side of my screen and MindNode on the right side.
I have a Shortcuts script to do the same thing, but the KM script works more reliably, so I use it instead.
4. Selecting, resizing, compressing, and exporting an image. It was always a hassle to go through all the steps necessary to prepare an image for my blog.
Every week I select, resize, compress, and export an image for my blog post in the Acorn app. It took me at least 10 mouse clicks or selections to complete the process. Now it takes 1 keyboard shortcut, 1 photo selection, and 1 export location selection. Everything else is automated. It brings me great nerd joy to sit back and watch the macro go through all the steps I used to have to do.
I built this macro based on the Application Automation Preview Resize macro in MacSparky’s field guide.
This macro uses one of the coolest functions in KM — the ability to search for and select buttons in dialogue boxes. If I provide the KM macro a screenshot image of the button I want to be selected, KM will look for and activate the button. How cool is that?! Buttons to “save” and “OK” are automatically activated in my macro.
5. A palette for launching frequently used websites. By pressing Caps Lock and W, a palette appears with the names of my frequently used websites. By pressing the first letter of the website name, safari launches and opens the website.
This saves me the steps of launching safari, entering the website name or selecting a bookmark, then launching the website. Instead, I can launch the palette and my desired website with 2 simple keyboard shortcuts, without ever having to leave the keyboard or memorize complex keyboard commands.
Give Keyboard Maestro a Try, Even if You’re a Beginner Like Me
KM is one of the most powerful apps you can use to automate your Mac. On the other hand, its visual drag-and-drop interface makes it relatively easy to build macros.
Thanks to resources like MacSparky’s KM Field Guide, even a beginner like me can make effective use of the power of KM. I have several macros that save me what used to take multiple steps to accomplish.
Many of my repeatable tasks are now easier and faster because of KM. And my inner nerd loves seeing multiple steps accomplished with just one or two keystrokes!
If you have multistep repeatable tasks or would benefit from automating some of your common workflows, I encourage you to give KM a try. It’s not available from the Mac App Store, you have to download a free trial or purchase it directly from the KM website. The cost for the app is only $36 US at the time of writing.