Setup your Mac for Mac Office
When you have installed Mac Office 2016 or higher on your Mac you will notice that folder locations to important folders, like the Template or Startup folder are not so easy to find for a basic Excel user. And if you use VBA code or add-ins in that Save or Open files or use Power Query in the user interface you will notice that it is possible that it will ask you permission to access the file or folder (Grant File Access Prompt), this is because of Apple’s sandbox requirements. To avoid this there are some other locations on your Mac that you can use, but where are they ?, more info you will find on this webpage Problems with Apple’s sandbox requirements
Also the legacy "MacScript" VB Command is severely limited by Apple’s sandbox requirements: it will not work correctly in most situations in Office 2016 and higher, we need to use a new method and a new approach with AppleScriptTask but if you want to use this you must create some folders manual explained on this webpage How to use AppleScriptTask in Mac Office
After you have installed Mac Office you can use the script to :
Also the legacy "MacScript" VB Command is severely limited by Apple’s sandbox requirements: it will not work correctly in most situations in Office 2016 and higher, we need to use a new method and a new approach with AppleScriptTask but if you want to use this you must create some folders manual explained on this webpage How to use AppleScriptTask in Mac Office
After you have installed Mac Office you can use the script to :
- Make a folder for your Office files to avoid Apple’s sandbox problems
- Create an alias (shortcut) to this folder on the Desktop
- Create the folders to store your AppleScriptTask files(.scpt) in
- Create a new folder on your Desktop with shortcuts to a few important folders
Shortcut or Alias to :
- Office root folder
- Mac Office files (use for your own files)
- My Startup files (PERSONAL.xlsb location)
- My Templates files
- My Chart Templates files
- My Add-Ins files
- My plist files (register files like RegEdit in Windows)
- AppleScriptTask Excel files
- AppleScriptTask Word files
- AppleScriptTask PowerPoint files
Download Script file
You only have to run this script one time and after that it is very easy to open the folder locations without looking for them in different locations because now they are all in one folder on your Desktop. You are free to add more folders if you want to the script. I not create the shortcuts to the application specific folders to the script but if you want that look for folder8 in the script for an example for the Excel folder.
Download Script file (13-July-2020)
When you double click on the MacOfficeSetup.scpt file it open the file in the Script Editor. You can use CMD + R or press the Run button on the menu of the Script Editor to Run the script.
It will show you a msgbox with some information and it open the new folder in Finder with all the shortcuts in it, there is also a separate shortcut on the Desktop to the folder where you can keep you Office files to avoid problems with Apple’s sandbox. You can close the script file now and you not need it anymore in the future so if you want you can delete it from your Mac.
Download Script file (13-July-2020)
When you double click on the MacOfficeSetup.scpt file it open the file in the Script Editor. You can use CMD + R or press the Run button on the menu of the Script Editor to Run the script.
It will show you a msgbox with some information and it open the new folder in Finder with all the shortcuts in it, there is also a separate shortcut on the Desktop to the folder where you can keep you Office files to avoid problems with Apple’s sandbox. You can close the script file now and you not need it anymore in the future so if you want you can delete it from your Mac.
Quit or hide all or almost all apps with one click or with a shortcut
There is a built-in App named 'Shortcuts' that is very useful, you can add many other shortcuts with it but I show you two that I like very much. If you have a good tip about other shortcuts let me know. This is the menu on my Mac mini, my 'Quit almost all' option do not quit Youtube and Youtube Music.
- Use the shortcut Command Spacebar to open Spotlight
- Enter ‘shortcut’ to find and open the Shortcut app
- Use Command n or click on the + sign on the top of the window to create a new shortcut
- In the search bar on the top right enter ‘quit’ and double-click on ‘Quit App’ that show up below it
- To have a Hide Apps option enter ‘hide’ and double-click on ‘Hide App’ that show up below it
- Click on App in the shortcut row on the left and select ‘All Apps’
- You can click on ‘Choose’ to select apps that you not want to Quit
- Close this window and you see the ‘Quit App’ button
- Right click on it to rename it to ‘Quit Apps’ or whatever name you want.
- Now drag the button to Menu Bar on the left side and you are ready
- If you have done it correct you can run it now from the menu like you see in the screenshot above
Tip: you can also create a key shortcut to the shortcut that you have created, be sure that you not use one that is used by your Mac or program that is active. Double click on your shortcut in the shortcut program and double-click on (i) In the top right of the window that opens and check Use as Quick Action. Then click in Run With: and enter the shortcut on your keyboard that you want to use and you see for example this ⌃⌥⌘S when you enter control-option-command-s, then close the window. I use this key shortcut for example on my Mac to run a shortcut that I create that put my Mac in sleep modus.
