How To Assign Keyboard Shortcuts To Any Scriptable Mac OSX Application Using Fastscripts and Applescript

I’m a Mac user, and a keyboard shortcut junkie. As such, I’m a huge fan of Fastscripts by Red Sweater Software.

Fastscripts adds a handy menu bar item that allows quick access to scripts. Sure, Mac OSX has it’s own Script Menu, but it never really worked the way I wanted it to. Fastscripts performs the same basic function, but on steroids.

On the Mac, scripts are stored in two places: in the global /Library/Scripts folder, and in each user’s ~/Library/Scripts folder. You can access either of these through Fastscripts menu. Additionally, Fastscripts will create application-specific script folders in ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/ – depending on which application is being used, these application scripts will appear at the top of the script menu. The fun part is that each keyboard shortcut you assign to a particular application only applies to that app.

You can create, edit and save scripts using the Applescript Editor in your Utilities folder. Here’s a few examples of how I use Fastscripts:

1) Keep from quitting the active app by mistake: I use Command-Tab to move through apps a lot, and sometimes hit Command-Q – if I’m in Mail, Safari, or another app I use alot, mistakenly quitting that app is a pain. I use this nifty little script that simply switches the active app to the Finder:

-- copy and paste this into your script editor,
-- and save it in the ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Safari folder

tell application "Finder" to activate

I put this in the ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Safari folder, and assign the keyboard shortcut Command Q – that will override Safari’s own Command Q to quit. If I hit Command Q, I’ll just switch to the Finder. If I really, really, really want to quit Safari, I have the following script:

-- copy and paste this into your script editor,
-- and save it in the ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Safari folder

tell application "Safari" to quit

For this one, I use Command-Option-Q to deliberately quit Safari when that’s what I really want to do.

I also use these for Mail, Illustrator, and a few others that I use all day long to keep from mistakenly hitting QUIT and interrupting my workflow.

2) Assign shortcuts to Safari bookmarks: Since I’m in Safari all dang day, this script is indispensable. I have a dozen or so bookmarks that I use often, so I have this script set up for each of them. I assign a different keyboard shortcut to each. It also positions the window just so.

In the following code, replace this URL “http://www.domain.com/foo” with your target URL. Lather, rinse, repeat:

-- copy and paste this into your script editor,
-- and save it in the ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Safari folder

tell application "Safari"

	-- this part opens a window if no window is open

	if (exists of document 1) is equal to false then
		open location "."
	end if

	-- this is the destination URL of the bookmark
	-- edit to your liking

	set URL of front document to "http://www.domain.com/foo"

	-- optional: I like my windows just so, so I use
	-- the following line to resize them accordingly.
	-- To use it, remove the "--" comments at the beginning
	-- of the next line, and adjust the numbers to your own
	-- monitor settings.

	-- set bounds of window 1 to {0, 22, 880, 1000}
end tell

Basically, anything that you can automate with applescript, you can start with a keyboard shortcut using Fastscripts. It’ll save you hours and hours and hours over the long haul.

Daniel Jalkut, the developer behind Fastscripts is super-responsive to support issues, and maintains a blog to alert users of updates and engage discussion.

** If you need help coming up with applescripts, Macscripter.net is a great resource. 1000s of snippets and how-to’s.

Fastscripts requires Mac OS X 10.4. Red Sweater says it works great with OS X Lion. It’s free for 10 keyboard shortcuts, only $14.95 for unlimited keyboard shortcuts. Applescript comes built-into Mac OSX

Fastscripts is a Macintosh utility that I recommend using. If you purchase this software using my link, I make an affiliate commission. I myself purchased this software with my own money and use it all the time. I was not given a free version.