Take actions and shortcuts in Spotlight on Mac
Spotlight lets you take hundreds of actions without lifting your hands off the keyboard. For example, you can use Spotlight’s built-in actions and shortcuts to quickly send a message, change the case of copied text, remove the background from a photo, and more. And quick keys help you perform actions even faster.
Tip: You can ask Siri something, right from Spotlight—simply type your request, then click Ask Siri in the list of results below the search field.
Take actions or shortcuts with Spotlight
On your Mac, press Command-Space bar to open Spotlight.
Enter what you’re looking for to search for a specific action, or browse through the suggestions, then double-click the action you want.
Tip: Click
, or press Command-3 to narrow your search to just actions.Here are some actions to get you started:
Add File to Note: Quickly adds a file on your computer to a note in the Notes app.
Change Case: Changes the case of copied text.
Start FaceTime Call: Makes a FaceTime call—audio or video—to the person of your choice.
Random Number: Picks a random number when given a minimum and maximum.
Recognize Music: Names the currently playing song.
Remove Image Background: Removes the background from a named image.
Send Email: Sends an email message to a recipient of your choice.
Translate Text: Translates selected text from a detected language to the language of your choice.
If you choose an action by mistake and want to return to search, press the Esc (Escape) key.
If necessary, fill in the blanks required by the action, then press Return.
When you press Return, the action or shortcut runs automatically.
Assign quick keys for actions or shortcuts
Quick keys are the fastest way to run an action or shortcut.
For example, if you often make FaceTime calls, you can assign “ft” as a quick key for the Start FaceTime Call action. When you type “ft” in Spotlight, it will prompt you to enter a contact in the Spotlight search field. You can also specify the contact’s name right after the quick key—for example “ft Ashley.” Press Return to start your FaceTime call.
On your Mac, press Command-Space bar to open Spotlight.
Enter what you’re looking for to search for a specific action, or browse through the suggestions.
Tip: Click
, or press Command-3 to narrow your search to just actions.Do one of the following:
Assign a quick key: Click “Add quick keys” next to an action, then enter the keyboard shortcut you want to run the action.
Note: Suggested quick keys are automatically assigned after running an action once.
Edit a quick key: Click the assigned quick key field, make your change, then press Return.