How to boost your efficiency with Alfred on the Mac

[@richardvillagomez376]

I was just about to delete Alfred because I didn't fully understand how to use it before I found this video - this is super helpful and I look forward to using it more! Thank you!

[@minor-co]

Glad I could help Richard!

[@samer229]

Been using Alfred for years but this is the first time I've had it explained properly. Thank you.

[@minor-co]

Glad I could help Samer!

[@satwikkansal]

Great video! Being a developer myself I'd recommend to be very careful about adding workflows by community / third party, alfred has access to a lot of system (like your clipboard, files, terminal, etc) so a mal-intentioned workflow can do a lot of damage.

[@minor-co]

Thanks for the words of caution 👍

[@aljustiet]

00:02 Alfred is a powerful productivity tool for Mac with more customization options than Spotlight. 01:47 Customize the appearance of Alfred and change the look and feel of search. 03:30 Alfred on Mac has powerful file searching capabilities and web search feature. 05:26 Boost efficiency with Alfred on Mac 07:15 Alfred provides a clipboard history and snippets feature for increased efficiency. 09:02 Alfred on Mac boosts efficiency by allowing easy retrieval of saved email templates with snippets. 10:44 Alfred on Mac allows you to run system commands and create custom productivity workflows. 12:32 Alfred is a powerful and capable tool that can boost efficiency on a Mac. Crafted by Merlin AI.

[@minor-co]

Thank you

[@timident]

Finally a concise well explained reason to use Alfred….. thanks!!

[@minor-co]

Thanks 👍

[@moaliyt]

Thanks for this Paul. Love the no frills just content format and just subscribed.

[@minor-co]

Thanks, glad I could help!

[@patrickcras5949]

Extremely useful app that I have been using for several years opening websites and files

[@minor-co]

Once you learn a few simple ticks you wonder how you lived without it.

[@tspmcfarlane]

Really useful. You have am extremely concise and clear presenting style. Subscribed!

[@minor-co]

Thanks, glad I could help 😀

[@danluba]

I uninstalled it ages ago because I didn’t think it really brought anything to the table. I just reinstalled it after watching this video and I already can’t live without it.

[@minor-co]

Haha, thanks Dan. I had a similar experience when I first downloaded Alfred as well. You need to learn a few tricks to get the value from it.

[@jemand8462]

watching productivity videos on 2x instead of actually doing work is the most productive I've felt in a long time. lol.

[@minor-co]

👏

[@VictorBernace]

Great tutorial, showing real-life samples.

[@minor-co]

Thanks Victor!

[@pH7Programming]

Great one Paul! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@minor-co]

You're welcome 😀

[@vegetaiv9275]

Thank you very much, Paul! It's super helpful.

[@minor-co]

Glad I could help 😀

[@CarlovanHouten1973]

Newbee on MacBook. Thanks for your video and explanation!

[@minor-co]

Thanks Carlo, glad I could help!

[@philiporeillycork]

Great, quick and simple tutorial video that gets straight to the point and covers everything!

[@minor-co]

Thanks, glad I could help Philip!

[@mtpremasanti6934]

Great explanation! Thank you very much, I hope it will boost my productivity. But I can't find a way to see the features in 2:42.. (The video says you should klick the right arrow, on keyboard maybe?) Anyone can explain?

[@minor-co]

In your Alfred preferences, go to Features » File Search and review the settings there as I recall you need to enable this.

[@HubertBland]

was a Textexapmder user on PC, but now use Keyboard Maestro. Would be interested in your views/comparisons

[@minor-co]

KM is great but I prefer TE as it's purpose built for text expansion and I find it easier to set up and manage my snippets compared to KM.

[@dawgzuckerberg8563]

Hi great video. Just one stupid question regarding Alfred, so in the video that says Alfred can control Power, like preventing from sleep, screensaver, sth like that right, but you have to purchase an extra package powerkit sth like that....if no, then Alfred cannot do any power control right, thanks and good day

[@minor-co]

Yes, I believe this is part of their paid features.

[@ZeeshanShaikh27]

Hiya Paul! Do you mind sharing the team that you were using on Alfred? I’d really appreciate appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[@minor-co]

Sorry, I don't understand your question: What do you want me to share?

[@tylerhindmarsh1448]

When you searched a document at 2:35, after you typed the file you said pressing the right arrow brings up the extra options. Hitting the right arrow does nothing for me, is this a feature only with the paid version?

[@minor-co]

Hi Tyler, it should work on the free version. In the preferences, go to 'Features » File Search » Navigation' and you may need to toggle the options here to make it work.

[@jonielsuezo2170]

@@minor-co unfortunately NAVIGATION is for powerpack :D

[@alexeymind]

@@minor-co Seems that it's not anymore a free feature, and is part of PowerPack, at least I see a paywall in the navigation tab.

[@Shneepster]

I did not hear or see that you mentioned, you must pay for the power pack to take advantage of many of the items you are teaching?

[@minor-co]

Apologies. I've been using Alfred for so long I can't even remember which features are paid/free

[@Igor_Itkin]

Very useful tips. Thanks.

[@minor-co]

Thanks Igor!

[@techtipsuk]

It’s third party apps like Alfred that make choosing MacOS over Windows and Linux a very simple choice for me.

[@minor-co]

Agreed! They really help you to take your Mac to a whole new level!

[@radford_0731]

Hi Paul, I downloaded Alfred 4 and it doesn't seem to find documents within a document. Im in construction so I used spotlight a lot to find the clients document within my documents folder, but with Alfred when I type in the clients name it just bring up their contact and not file. Ive added my documents folder to the file search part but still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? I know you added this video last year so I hope you see my comment fora bit of help. Thanks

[@minor-co]

Hm, you've already done what I was going to suggest which is to check the settings. I'm not sure to be honest. I'd suggest posting in the Alfred forum to see if anyone there has experienced the same.

[@d42]

i dont have the clipboard and bookmark settings?

[@minor-co]

I believe these features are part of the PowerPack addon.

[@Lexxo777]

Great Video, thanks! I use Lastpass, can i set up the same functionality securely for that as you have for 1P? EDIT : Exploring the Alfred website, lots of resources there, including Last Pass. I would LOVE to find a script to toggle a different screen resolution pane in the Display Preferences. 4k is great, but I often need to scale down one pane to the left to make screen elements bigger.

[@minor-co]

I believe it's 1P only I'm afraid unless there is a workflow you can install.

[@russellsearle7366]

Thanks for the update. I'm new to Alfred. Workflows look way cool. Can a workflow be triggered by an incoming email? How?

[@minor-co]

You're welcome Russell! I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe there's something you can do with mail rules but I think it would be best to ask on the Alfred forum.

[@marconiiii]

Great video, how can you customize Alfred's searching bar?

[@minor-co]

Thanks. You can do this in the 'Appearance' tab of the preferences.

[@elprquex]

can you tell how to setup Alfred to search from my notes.Thank you

[@minor-co]

I'm not sure sorry. But if you post in the Alfred community, I'm sure you'll find someone who can help.

[@zoltanzana]

Spotlight can do that

[@jemand8462]

so... in your settings you turned on "search files by spacebar" but you actually dont use your spacebar and still find files. Then you can press your right arrow to change the menu - nothing of these things work with my alfred. :(

[@minor-co]

Sorry, not sure about that. Might be best to reach out to their support.

[@wicklifbukama]

Can it connect a wifi cctv camera to a phone and tv screen at ago

[@minor-co]

I'm not sure if this is possible sorry.

[@JeremyDeBose]

I started with Raycast so I’ll probably stick with it. But I definitely never gave Alfred a full fair shot.

[@minor-co]

I have just switched to Raycast actually and plan on making a video about this.

[@BEDHEAD947]

Hey Paul, I really like your Spotlight dark theme for the search bar. How can I download it?

[@minor-co]

Hi Jessica, if you contact me here, I can send it to you: paulminors.com/contact/

[@milakohen630]

Your search query is incorrect, the correct one is: /search?q={query}

[@minor-co]

Thanks

[@ashyaura]

Thank you!

[@minor-co]

You're welcome 😀

[@griffingibson4389]

The only way I'll buy and use this program is if I can program the magnifying glass button (F4) to trigger alfred instead of spotlight.

[@minor-co]

Sorry, I've never used that feature so I'm not sure. Why would the magnifying glass trigger spotlight in the first place?

[@georget30000]

Does it work on Chrome instead of Safari? Eg the bookmarks shortcuts. Can the snippet be set up so if I write dd then it writes today's date for you? Also do you know if it works with LastPass instead? Thanks

[@minor-co]

Yes, it can work with Chrome as well. However I don't think it works with LastPass.

[@georget30000]

@@minor-co Thanks. And the date snippet? Does it work like text expander where you just type and it comes up. Or do you have to open Alfred first. Thanks

[@minor-co]

Sorry for the delayed response. Yes it supports dates as well.

[@dr.mikeybee]

Nice!

[@minor-co]

Thanks!

[@spikey204]

how do you get Alfred to automatically log in to websites with 1password

[@minor-co]

You need to have 1Password downloaded on your Mac. Then in the Alfred settings under the 'Features' tab there is a section where you can enable the 1Password integration.

[@TK-kp8kt]

Do you recommend purchasing the Powerpack?

[@minor-co]

Yes, it really helps you take Alfred to the next level!

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Have you bought it Tim or your using spotlight ?

[@ellenmuench]

Do you use Alfred instead of textexpander?

[@ellenmuench]

Sorry! Saw that you are using text expander alongside Alfred.

[@minor-co]

No problem. Yes, I use both. TextExpander is better for text snippets but Alfred has all the other features.

[@jonielsuezo2170]

In FILE SEARCH why i cant see the other options like open with, copy to clipboard, etc when I press the right arrow like you mentioned?

[@minor-co]

If you check the preferences, go to 'Features » File Search » Navigation" and check the "Shortcuts" settings

[@jonielsuezo2170]

@@minor-co Thanks! got it. it needs powerpack now :(

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Hi. Do you think the price is worth it? Do you think its not really enough the free version. Also spotlight is not enough and its not getting better? I do find alfred expensive although ive used it for sometime. Also now I got a new IPAD and it has no alfred so im having hard time remembering spotlight on ipad and then going back to alfred on macbook. Maybe better to unify the search app being used. Your thoughts are appreciated.

[@minor-co]

Personally, I find the price worth it for the productivity gains that I get. I find it a LOT more powerful than Spotlight so it's worth paying for.

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Still using it or moved?

[@abimbolaawoyemi654]

Alfred

[@minor-co]

👍

[@JohnMcIlroyTax]

Good video... but too fast for someone brand new to the tool. Learning a new tool requires familiarity with the basics... so if you ever get the urge... I think a super beginner tool would go over well.

[@minor-co]

Thanks for the feedback John.