Top 5 AI Shortcuts & Automations for Your Mac in 2025 (You’ll Actually Use)

Ever get stuck with a massive PDF report when you just need the main takeaways, or have audio recordings sitting around that you know contain useful information but don’t have time to listen through? Your Mac can actually handle all this now with AI shortcuts that plug right into whatever you’re already doing. The Shortcuts app has become highly capable at connecting with AI tools, so you can automate the boring parts of dealing with your work.

These shortcuts work “forever” once you set them up – just hit a key combo or click from a menu when you need them. Whether you’re processing research papers, meeting recordings, foreign language content, or trying to turn your scattered thoughts into something organized, they cut out the manual work and app-switching that usually eats up a lot of time.

We tested five shortcuts that help with the most annoying time-wasters Mac users deal with regularly. Some work really well, others have quirks you should know about upfront. We’ll show you how they actually perform when you use them for real work, plus walk you through making your own if these don’t quite fit what you need.

The 5 macOS AI Shortcuts and Automations

Immersive Translator

Immersive Translator offers a significant upgrade over Safari’s standard translation features by connecting you to multiple AI-powered translation services including Gemini, DeepL, and ChatGPT. Rather than being limited to a single translation engine, you can choose from 8+ different services based on which one handles your specific content best. It supports over 20 languages and can process complete websites, embedded images, and PDF files.

The main advantage is the fact it preserves the original visual design and structure of whatever you’re translating. Standard browser translation often breaks website layouts or converts images into plain gray placeholders, but this shortcut maintains formatting while providing translated content. It’s valuable for:

• Academic research – Processing foreign language papers and studies
• Business applications – Understanding international websites and contracts
• Travel preparation – Reading local guides and official documents
• Language comparison – Testing different AI engines for translation quality

Since it integrates directly with macOS instead of relying on browser add-ons, it performs reliably without affecting browser speed. The primary limitation involves websites with restrictive security policies that may block content extraction, though this affects most translation solutions similarly anyway.

Text AI

Text AI functions as a portable writing assistant that handles common editing tasks you’d normally do by hand or with separate applications. It can fix grammar and spelling errors, adjust writing tone between professional and casual styles, create condensed summaries, or reorganize content into structured lists. You can access it from virtually any app on your Mac through the share menu, making it convenient when you’re jumping between different programs during work.

The shortcut processes text pretty quickly, usually returning results within 5-10 seconds after you select your preferred action. You get four main functions: proofreading for basic errors, style adjustments for tone changes, summarization for lengthy content, and list formatting for better organization. This makes it useful for Mac users who don’t have access to Apple Intelligence writing features, since it provides similar capabilities through external AI services.

While it won’t replace thorough editing for critical documents, it works well for everyday writing tasks like emails, reports, and casual content where you want to polish your text before sharing. The convenience of accessing it from any app without switching to dedicated writing software makes it a practical addition to most Mac workflows. Though the quality depends on how well the AI service understands the context of your specific content.

Summarize PDF

This shortcut addresses the time-consuming task of processing lengthy PDF documents by extracting all the text content and running it through Apple Intelligence’s summarization feature. You simply select a PDF file, run the shortcut, and get a condensed version that captures the main points without having to read through the entire document. It uses the built-in “Summarize Text” action, so it works with Apple’s on-device AI models rather than sending your documents to external services.

The shortcut handles various types of PDF content effectively:

• Research papers – Getting quick overviews of academic studies and reports
• Legal documents – Understanding key points in contracts and agreements
• Meetings – Extracting action items and decisions from lengthy records
• Technical manuals – Finding relevant sections without reading everything

The processing speed depends on the document length, but most PDFs get summarized within 15-30 seconds. The quality of the summary relies on how well the text extraction works with your specific PDF – documents with complex layouts, images, or unusual formatting might not summarize as cleanly. Either way it’s useful for situations where you need to quickly assess whether a document contains information relevant to your project before reading the full content.

Transcribe and Summarize Audio File

This shortcut handles the two-step process of converting audio recordings into text and then creating a summary of the content. It works with audio files up to about 8-10 minutes long, so it’s suitable for meeting recordings, voice memos, or podcast segments but not full-length presentations or lengthy interviews. The shortcut uses the improved “Transcribe Audio” action that’s more reliable than earlier versions and doesn’t time out as quickly during processing.

After transcribing your audio file, it automatically passes the text through Apple Intelligence’s summarization feature to give you both the full transcript and a condensed version of the key points. This combination saves time when you have recorded meetings, interviews, or brainstorming sessions where you need to quickly identify the main topics discussed. The final output can be saved directly to Notes or previewed on screen for immediate reference.

The transcription accuracy depends on audio quality, speaking clarity, and background noise levels, so recordings made in quiet environments with clear speech work best. Processing time varies based on audio length but typically takes 30-60 seconds for a 5-minute file. While it won’t replace professional transcription services for critical content, it’s effective for personal productivity workflows where you need quick access to the essence of recorded conversations.

Brain Dump

Brain Dump lets you verbally unload your thoughts and ideas while automatically organizing them into clear formats. You simply speak freely into your Mac’s microphone about whatever’s on your mind – project ideas, meeting notes, random thoughts, or task lists – and the shortcut transcribes everything using Apple’s speech-to-text capabilities. It then creates an Apple Note containing both the complete transcription of what you said and an AI-generated summary that pulls out the main points.

The shortcut can be customized with advanced prompts to extract specific types of information from your spoken content:

• Action items – Tasks and deadlines mentioned during your brain dump
• Important dates – Meetings, events, or time-sensitive information
• Key decisions – Conclusions or choices you talked through
• Follow-up items – Things that need additional research or attention

What makes this even more customizable is the “Use Model” action that lets you choose between on-device AI processing, Apple’s private cloud compute, or external services like ChatGPT depending on your privacy preferences and processing needs. The transcription accuracy works best when you speak clearly and avoid too much background noise. It’s effective for capturing spontaneous ideas or working through complex thoughts when typing feels too slow or disruptive to your thinking process.

How to Create Your Own AI Mac Shortcut

Building custom AI shortcuts on Mac might seem complex, but once you grasp the fundamental components, it becomes quite manageable. This approach allows you to design exactly the automation you need for your specific workflow rather than adapting to what others have built.

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

Ensure your Mac is running macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later, then launch the Shortcuts app from your Applications folder or Spotlight search. Decide which AI service you want to integrate – you can use Apple Intelligence features, or configure external services like OpenAI’s API, which requires signing up for an account and obtaining an API key.

Step 2: Design Your Shortcut

Click the plus icon to create a new shortcut and assign it a descriptive name that reflects its function. Consider how you want to trigger this shortcut – through keyboard combinations, menu bar access, or integration with specific file types like PDFs or audio files.

Step 3: Configure Input Methods

Add input actions based on your needs: “Ask for Input” for user-provided text or voice, “Get Selected Text” for highlighted content, or “Get File” for document processing. Mac-specific options include “Get Contents of Folder” for batch processing, among other actions.

Step 4: Integrate AI Processing

Here’s where you connect to AI services. For Apple Intelligence, look for built-in actions like “Summarize Text,” “Transcribe Audio,” or “Rewrite Text.” For external services, use “Get Contents of URL” to communicate with AI APIs by sending your content to their web endpoints along with your authentication credentials. This creates a bridge between your Mac and the AI service’s servers.

Step 5: Process and Display Results

Add actions to handle the AI’s response appropriately. This typically involves extracting the relevant text from the response and either displaying it with “Show Result,” copying to clipboard, saving to a specific file location, or creating a new document. Consider adding error handling for situations where the AI service might be unavailable.

Step 6: Test and Optimize

Run your shortcut multiple times with different types of content to verify consistent performance. Monitor processing times and response quality, adjusting prompts or parameters as needed. Mac shortcuts often handle larger files and more complex operations than mobile versions, so testing with appropriate file sizes is important.

Step 7: Deploy and Automate

Once your shortcut performs reliably, set up final access methods. You can assign keyboard shortcuts, add it to the menu bar, or enable Finder integration for specific file types.

Conclusion

Mac automation with AI shortcuts creates useful possibilities for streamlining repetitive tasks that consume significant work time. Users are building highly capable automations for research analysis, meeting transcription, and multilingual content handling that genuinely improve productivity for professionals dealing with large volumes of text and audio.

The shortcuts we covered solve common Mac workflow challenges through different approaches. Whether you need document summarization, audio transcription, or translation capabilities, these tools offer practical applications for integrating AI into desktop work. Each has strengths and limitations, but all demonstrate how AI can handle background processing while you focus on higher-level tasks.

Building custom shortcuts makes sense when existing solutions don’t match your workflow. The step-by-step guide provides enough foundation to be able to execute most automation ideas without extensive programming knowledge. Start simple, test with real work files, and gradually build complexity as you get comfortable with the tools.