Optimizing Services Menu on Mac: Guide – Guide
Mac users may not be aware of the powerful potential of the services menu, which can be accessed by right-clicking. With a few customizations, this menu can help optimize macOS and unlock its full capabilities.
How did things get into the service menu?
My Mac’s Services menu is bloated with programs I’ve tried and discarded. Even after deleting the main program, these service menu items remain, cluttering up the menu which usually only contains basic commands like Open and Reveal in the Finder.
How do you access services?
People often access services by right-clicking on an item. The Services menu, located at the bottom of the list, varies depending on the context of what is being done. For many tasks, using the right mouse button is more convenient than accessing services through a menu.
How do you configure the service menu?
Customize your Mac to suit your workflow: unlock the hidden Services options in System Preferences’ Keyboard-> Shortcuts-> Services. Apple organizes the Services menu by destination, including file types like image and text, as well as Internet and Messaging.
Disable unused features in each section for a more streamlined experience. For instance, I don’t use Safari’s reading list, so I turned it off. Similarly, I’m a big Pocket fan and disabled the Save to Pocket option. To make my workflow even smoother, I created a keyboard shortcut for this menu.
Creating a keyboard shortcut is easy: just click in the none field next to the menu option. Some services have predefined shortcuts, but you can customize them by entering your own combination. For example, I use control + option + command + p to quickly add articles to Pocket while reading. This way, I don’t need to switch applications or open a browser window - just select the URL and type in my shortcut!
Service menu troubleshooting
Removing unwanted services from the menu can be done by deleting entries in / Library / Contextual menu items, rather than using System Preferences. However, caution should be taken to ensure that the service is not needed elsewhere before deleting it.
Add your own services to the menu
Create custom shortcuts and services with Automator to do things like delete .DMG files after ejecting them, resize files in bulk, convert images to .png and even recreate the fake bounced email option removed from Lion. Here’s how.
To reset your Mac to its original settings, select Restore Defaults from the keyboard’s system preferences in the Mac services menu. Note that this will not remove third party entries, which are standard services for these programs.
Final note
This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to optimize the services menu on Mac. If you have any questions, please reach out for help. Share this article with your friends to show your support.
