{{Short description|macOS automation software}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox software | name = Automator | logo = Automator Icon.png | screenshot = Automator.png | caption = Automator 2.10 on macOS Ventura | developer = Apple | released = {{start date|2005|4|29}} | latest_release_version = 2.10 | latest_release_date = {{start date and age|2022|12|2}} | operating_system = macOS | genre = Automation | license = Proprietary | website = {{URL|https://support.apple.com/guide/automator/welcome/mac}} }}
'''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).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Waldie |first=Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3IJshV-YegC |title=Automator for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide |date=December 27, 2007 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-0-13-271234-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Waldie |first=Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfF6AAAACAAJ |title=Mac OS X Technology Guide to Automator |date=May 2005 |publisher=Spiderworks |isbn=978-0-9744344-6-9 |language=en}}</ref>
As of the latest macOS versions, Apple has encouraged users to transition from Automator to Shortcuts,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dillet |first=Romain |date=2021-06-07 |title=Apple is bringing Shortcuts to the Mac and starts transition from Automator |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/07/apple-is-bringing-shortcuts-to-the-mac-and-starts-transition-from-automator/ |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> and has allowed for almost any Automator shortcut to be imported into the Shortcuts app.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Broussard |first=Mitchel |date=2021-06-07 |title=Shortcuts App Coming to Mac, Automator Will Remain Supported |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/07/shortcuts-app-coming-to-mac/ |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=MacRumors |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Use Automator workflows with the Shortcuts app on Mac |url=https://support.apple.com/en-lamr/guide/automator/autc12e3fb97/2.10/mac/15.0 |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=Apple Support |language=en}}</ref> Recent development changes has also favored Shortcuts over Automator,<ref>{{Cite web |last=published |first=Dan Moren |date=2025-06-14 |title=Apple's Shortcuts app is getting a huge upgrade in iOS 26 and macOS 26 — here's how it will help you |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/software/apples-shortcuts-app-is-getting-a-huge-upgrade-in-ios-26-and-macos-26-heres-how-it-will-help-you |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=Tom's Guide |language=en}}</ref> although Automator has continued to be fully supported.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mayo |first=Benjamin |date=Nov 18, 2016 |title=Automation technologies will continue to be supported in macOS, Apple exec Craig Federighi says in customer email - 9to5Mac |url=https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/18/automation-tech-apple-response/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260506233757/https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/18/automation-tech-apple-response/ |archive-date=May 6, 2026 |access-date=May 6, 2026 |work=9to5Mac}}</ref>
== 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=How to make your Mac do your work for you with Automator |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/671580/what-automator-can-do-for-you.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> Workflows can also incorporate loops and variables.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Waldie |first=Ben |date=January 7, 2008 |title=Automator Power: Variables and looping |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/188792/feb08geekfactor.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> Automator comes with a library of actions (file renaming, finding linked images, creating a new mail message, etc.).<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Waldie |first=Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi5NBdv7QNYC |title=Automator for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide |date=December 9, 2009 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-0-321-70299-9 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Myer |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vF-TDl0gcMC |title=Apple Automator with AppleScript Bible |date=October 29, 2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-60431-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="arstechnica/201103">{{Cite web |last=Paul |first=Ryan |date=March 21, 2011 |title=How to build Mac OS X services with Automator and shell scripting |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/03/howto-build-mac-os-x-services-with-automator-and-shell-scripting/ |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="Kissell">{{Cite book |last=Kissell |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDR4EAAAQBAJ |title=Take Control of Automating Your Mac, 4th Edition |date=July 22, 2022 |publisher=alt concepts |isbn=978-1-990783-10-4 |language=en}}</ref>
{{As of|2015}}, Microsoft has bundled Automator actions with Microsoft Office, which can be used to automate Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.<ref name=":2" />
The following is a non-exhaustive list of Automator's features:
* '''General''' ** Simulate the pressing of any key on the keyboard at specified intervals<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Breen |first=Christopher |date=May 3, 2011 |title=Use Automator to shoot a time-lapse movie |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/211884/automator_timelapse.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Run AppleScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby scripts, or shell scripts<ref name="arstechnica/201103" /><ref name="Kissell"/><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=8 great Automator downloads |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/190895/automatordownloads-2.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Create Folder Actions, a Finder feature that applies certain workflows to all files in a folder<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Here are some really useful Automator workflows |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/668476/excellent-automator-workflows.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Create Services, which can be started in the Services menu<ref name=":6" /> ** Automator can integrate with Calendar, to launch workflows at a Calendar event's specified time and date (and the event can be set to repeat automatically)<ref name=":3" /> ** Automator can also launch workflows with programmable voice commands (called Dictation Commands, added in OS X Yosemite)<ref name=":6" /> * '''Internet''' ** Download webpages as PDF<ref name=":5" /> ** Extract an RSS feed from a given URL, and extract article text contents from that feed<ref name=":3" /> ** Compose new emails, with specified subject line and attachments (which can be an output from a previous Action)<ref name=":3" /> ** Upload files to FTP servers<ref name=":5" /> * '''Multimedia''' ** Control USB-connected cameras to take pictures at regular intervals<ref name=":4" /> ** Perform Finder actions on images, including rotation, applying Quartz filters (like black & white), and converting audio and video files to different formats<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breen |first=Christopher |date=April 30, 2013 |title=Automator workflow of the month: Quick media manipulation |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/220882/automator-workflow-of-the-month-quick-media-manipulation.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Batch resize photos<ref name=":6" /> ** Import audio files to iTunes, and add them to playlists<ref name=":3" /> ** Play an iTunes playlist<ref name=":6" /> * '''Text and documents''' ** Turn text files to audio files, using the Mac's built-in text-to-speech feature<ref name=":3" /> ** Extract text from PDF files<ref name=":3" /> ** Combine PDF documents<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Automator workflow of the month: Powerful PDF tricks |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/221273/automator-workflow-of-the-month-powerful-pdf-tricks.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Extract annotations from PDFs<ref name=":7" /> ** Move files across folders, into folders, or out of subfolders<ref>{{Cite web |title=Automator workflow of the month: Move files from subfolders |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/212939/automator-filesfromsubfolders.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Process strings text, including adding quotations around text or outputting word count<ref>{{Cite web |last=Waldie |first=Ben |date=May 9, 2013 |title=5 Automator workflows everyone should have |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/220960/5-automator-workflows-everyone-should-have.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> ** Print files; and when combined with the "Get Folder Contents" action, it can print all files in a "drop box" folder<ref>{{Cite news |last=Arko |first=Craig |date=November 2, 2010 |title=Use Automator to simplify printing tasks |language=en |work=Macworld |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/208439/autoprint.html |access-date=January 23, 2023}}</ref>
== 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Siracusa |first=John |date=April 28, 2005 |title=Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2005/04/macosx-10-4/ |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref>
The icon for Automator features a robot, known as Otto the Automator.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pogue |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YgPR5DMr1sC |title=Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition: The Missing Manual |date=July 12, 2005 |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |isbn=978-1-4493-7907-0 |pages=231 |language=en}}</ref>
== History == {{expand section|date=February 2026}} Starting in macOS Monterey, Automator exists alongside Shortcuts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Andrew |date=October 25, 2021 |title=macOS 12 Monterey: The Ars Technica review |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/10/macos-12-monterey-the-ars-technica-review/ |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref>
== See also == * {{Annotated link|AppleScript}} * {{Annotated link|AutoHotkey}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://support.apple.com/guide/automator/welcome/mac Apple's official Automator page] *[https://developer.apple.com/documentation/automator Apple's official Automator developer documentation] *Automator.us, a site with examples and tools, by Sal Soghoian (AppleScript Product Manager at Apple) and others **[https://web.archive.org/web/20190915133903/http://www.automator.us/leopard/index.html Automator.us for Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) and newer] **[https://web.archive.org/web/20190901202038/http://automator.us/index-tiger.html Automator.us for Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)]
{{OS X}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Automator (Software)}} Category:MacOS Category:Automation software Category:Proprietary software Category:Visual programming languages Category:2005 software