If you are like me, you may have created several Automator workflows or Shortcuts shortcuts that are accessed via the Services or Quick Actions menus. Quick Actions tends to be a bit easier to keep tidy, but Services definitely gets overcrowded, since apps populate that menu with their respective functionality too.
Recently, I started naming my shortcuts using unicode characters, like ✦ or ★ or ✓ or ✗. This helps me to find (1) a shortcut that I authored, and (2) which one I’m looking for. Here’s an example of my Quick Actions menu triggered by a right-click on a folder.
It may seem unnecessary or redundant, since Shortcuts is capable of adding an icon to the Quick Actions menu, but the icon doesn’t always display in other contexts, and old Automator workflows either have a generic icon or no icon at all. So the little unicode character helps me to easily identify my scripts. Here is an example of a right-click Services menu used on a web page where I process the PubMed ID of an article to download it from a library. Notice that the overcrowded Services menu does not use icons, but my little script stands out because of the unicode character ✦:
Lastly, the Quick Actions and Services menus get blended together as Services in the File Menu, as well as in the Finder extensions. (I still don’t understand Apple’s distinction between the two. The terms appear to be interchangeable. So why have two?) The unicode symbol makes “my stuff” easy to find here, too.
I toss that idea out into the Automators community. I find this tiny hack to be very convenient. It’s common sense, but I only now started to do it because I was getting annoyed at the Services menu. Hopefully, you’ll find it useful, too!
Best,
–Alexander.
