Migrate an existing Automator workflow to the Shortcuts app on macOS
domain: support.apple.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
In Finder, locate the .workflow file (or open it directly from Automator) that you want to migrate.
Drag the .workflow file into the Shortcuts app window, or double-click/Control-click it and choose Open With > Shortcuts, to trigger the automatic conversion.
Review the resulting shortcut: Shortcuts converts most native Automator actions automatically, but shows an alert naming any action it could not convert.
Manually rebuild any unsupported actions using equivalent Shortcuts actions (e.g. Run Shell Script, Run AppleScript), since not every Automator action has a direct Shortcuts equivalent.
Test the migrated shortcut end-to-end, including any Quick Action/Service or Folder Action trigger the original workflow used, before retiring the original Automator workflow.
Known gotchas
Shortcuts explicitly alerts you which specific actions failed to convert rather than failing silently, so always check that alert instead of assuming a full conversion succeeded.
Automator workflow types built on Automator-specific plug-ins or actions without a Shortcuts counterpart may need to keep running in Automator until manually rebuilt.
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