Keyboard Maestro 5
Conduct your Mac Like a Pro!
Keyboard Maestro 5
Conduct your Mac Like a Pro!
Keyboard Maestro organizes your macros into Macro Groups which are like folders of macros. Each Macro Group contains a number of macros and controls when those macros are active.
A Macro Group can target or exclude specific applications, which means the macros it contains will only be active in those desired applications. For example, you can have macros which are active only in Mail.app.
A Macro Group can also act as a container for specific-use macros which are enabled only after a Hot Key press or which are displayed as a palette of the macros. For example, you could create a Macro Group containing macros that resized or repositioned windows using the arrow keys, but those macros would only be active after the Hot Key was pressed so that the arrow keys could be used normally at other times.
To create a new Macro Group, first launch Keyboard Maestro.
Now click the button below the Macro Groups list.
Enter the name of your new Macro Group.
You can choose to target the macros in your Macro Group at specific applications.
By default, Macro Groups and their Macros are available in all applications, that is they are always ready to be triggered. These are especially useful for Macros that give you instant access to applications or documents, or type in globally applicable text. For example you might have a Macro to launch your email client or word processor, a Macro to open your financial accounts, and a macro to type your name or email address.
To have macros only active in specific applications, set the Macro Group to be “Available in the following applications” and add the desired applications to the list.
For example, you could have macros targeted at:
To have macros active everywhere except specific applications, set the Macro Group to be “Available except in the following applications” and add the desired applications to the list. For example, you could exclude macros from triggering in games. Also, if you have an application that uses lots of function keys for crucial tasks, you could exclude that application to allow you to use the functions keys for macros elsewhere without conflicting with that application.
You can also choose to activate the macros manually (either for a single execution, or toggle the macro group on and off) or display the macros in a floating macro palette. The options are:
To have the macros in a Macro Group always ready to be triggered, set the Macro Group to be “Always activated”.
To have macros that are active only immediately after you trigger the Macro Group, set the Macro Group to be activated “Activated for one action when”. The macros in the Macro Group will be enabled when you trigger the Macro Group and will remain enabled until either any macro is triggered or you press any other key. You could use this to create a set of related actions with easily remembered hot keys that will not conflict with normal use because they are not activated until you trigger the group. For example, you could have a group of macros to launch various applications so that Command-Control-L activated the group, and then a single letter press launched the application (eg M for Mail, S for Safari, F for Finder).
As with each of the following options, you can trigger the macro group by pressing a Hot Key, by selecting from the Status Menu, or by clicking on the global floating palette.
To have Macros that are active after you trigger the Macro Group, set the Macro Group to be “Activated/deactivated when”. The Macros in the Macro Group will be enabled when you trigger the Macro Group and will remain enabled until you trigger the Macro Group again. You could use this to create a set of related actions with easily remembered hot keys that will not conflict with normal use because they are not activated until you press the group Hot Key. For example, you could have a group of macros to move and resize windows and have Command-Control-W activate the group. Then a single arrow key press moves the front window. When the window is positioned, press Command-Control-W a second time to disable the macros.
To have Macros that are active and displayed only immediately after you trigger the Macro Group, set the Macro Group to “Shows a palette for one action when”. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled when you trigger the Macro Group and will remain displayed until either any macro is triggered or you press any other key. You could use this to create a set of related actions that do not even need a Hot Key. For example, you could have a group of macros to launch various applications like Mail, Safari and the Finder so when you press Command-Control-L, a palette of these macros is displayed and a single click will launch the application.
To have Macros that are active and displayed after you trigger the Macro Group, set the Macro Group to “Shows/hides a palette when”. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled when you trigger the Macro Group and will remain displayed until you trigger the Macro Group again. You could use this to create a set of related actions that do not even need a Hot Key. For example, you could have a group of macros to align objects in a CAD application, so when you press Command-Control-A, a palette of these macros is displayed and you can click various alignment options (distribute left-right, align top edges) and then close the palette by pressing Command-Control-A a second time.
To have Macros that are always active and displayed in a palette, set the Macro Group to “Shows a palette until”. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled. The palette will close when (if) you trigger the Macro Group and will remain closed (and the macros disabled) until you trigger the Macro Group again. You could use this to create a set of related actions that do not even need a Hot Key and that are available in a Macro Palette. You could make the Macro Group available only in a specific application so that it appears only in that application. For example, you could have a group of macros to align objects in a CAD application, and have the Macro Group available (and hence the palette displayed) only in the CAD application.
Even if the macros are displayed in a Palette, the macros can still have Hot Key (or any other kind of) triggers which will be available whenever the macro group is active (in this case, whenever the palette is displayed).
You can disable or enable a macro group by selecting it and clicking the button at the bottom of the Groups list. If a Macro Group is disabled, all its contained Macros will be disabled. You can disable or enable a Macro Group using the Set Macro Enable action, or from AppleScript with:
tell application "Keyboard Maestro" setMacroEnable "Macro Group Name or UID" with/without enable end tell
You can change the targeting of an existing group by selecting it in the Groups list and clicking the button or by double clicking it.
You can start editing a Macro or Macro Group from AppleScript with:
tell application "Keyboard Maestro" editMacro "Macro Group Name or UID" end tell
You can get the list of currently selected macros or macro groups with:
tell application "Keyboard Maestro" selectedMacro end tell
To delete a Macro Group, select the macro group and then press the Delete key or click the button at the bottom of the Groups list.
You cannot delete or rename or disable the Global Macro Group - if you want to control when some of the macros within the Global Macro Group are active, make a new macro group and drag those macros to it.