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How to connect automated sequences with a calendar entry on a Mac

Attach Automator actions to the Calendar app and perform routine activities while you sleep.
Mac 911
By Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor MAY 13, 2021 1:00 am PDT
Mac Automator Calendar
Image: IDG

The dream of having a computer is that it does our work for us. What better way to accomplish this than by setting up tasks that are carried out automatically? We can sit back and enjoy the results. Automator has long had a little-remarked-upon feature that lets you take its recipe-like sequences and connect them to a calendar entry. That entry can be set to recur at will on your Mac.

Setting up Automator for a so-called Calendar Alarm is quite straightforward, and it works with Automator dating back several years.

  1. Open Applications > Automator.
  2. When prompted or by choosing File > New, select Calendar Alarm and click Choose.
  3. Create your Automator action, such as checking for new birthdays weekly and sending out generic birthday greetings. (People love generic birthday emails!)
  4. Save the workflow, which will both create the file and open the Calendar app and create an entry at or around the current time, as well as create an Automator calendar if one didn’t already exist.
  5. You may be prompted to allow Automator and Calendar to perform a variety of actions, depending on what permissions are needed by the workflow.
Create a Calendar Alarm, build a workflow, and save, and it’s attached to a calendar event you can modify or duplicate.
Create a Calendar Alarm, build a workflow, and save, and it’s attached to a calendar event you can modify or duplicate.
Create a Calendar Alarm, build a workflow, and save, and it’s attached to a calendar event you can modify or duplicate.

After this calendar entry is created, you can modify it to make it recurring, change the time at which it occurs, and duplicate it.

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, Senior Contributor

Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.

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