Quick Actions-Only have "Customize"

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Level 1

4 points

Quick Actions-Only have "Customize"

I have a macbook air M3 with sequoia 15.2 and I'm not sure why the quick actions only says "customize" when trying to merge two files. I've clicked the button already and toggled them to on. I've found a few threads that suggest I need to automate the quick actions that already say to "create PDF", and I guess I'm posing on here to see if anyone has dealt with this. I'm a little surprised I need to automate my own quick actions on this computer, it seems like something that should already be done? I did just switch from windows to mac os so I'm learning and maybe it's just this way. Any thoughts are great!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.2

Posted on Jan 18, 2025 3:27 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,772 points

Jan 19, 2025 4:10 AM in response to shelby277

Quick Actions are what used to be called Services. There aren't any built-in Quick Actions. That section is purely for user customization.

You must create Quick Actions through Automator in order for them to show up in the Quick Actions submenu. You can probably also "install" as service created by someone else.

The Quick Action must be designed to act upon what you have ctrl-clicked on in Finder. If you ctrl-click on a text file, then only the quick actions that apply to a text file will show up.

You can enable some services in the Keyboard System Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services section. I don't see a "create PDF" service in that listing, nor do I remember one being built-in. I have created "create PDF" Quick Actions in both Automator and Shortcuts.

What directions are you following that instructs you to look for "create PDF" in the Quick Actions submenu? That should explain how you would create the "create PDF" Quick Action.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

128,039 points

Jan 19, 2025 4:15 AM in response to shelby277

FWIW, Quick Actions > Create PDF is used to create a PDF from an image file.

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