Alfred Cheat Sheet

Overview

Alfred is a productivity application for macOS that enhances your workflow with a powerful launcher, custom hotkeys, text expansion, clipboard history, and an extensive workflow automation system. It can be used as a Spotlight replacement with significantly more capability, offering web searches, calculator, dictionary, file navigation, and system commands from a single search bar.

Alfred’s Powerpack (paid license) unlocks the full workflow system, clipboard history, snippets, and more. Workflows are Alfred’s killer feature, allowing complex multi-step automations triggered by keywords, hotkeys, or file actions. There is a large community sharing workflows for everything from password management to API integrations.

Installation

# Install via Homebrew
brew install --cask alfred

# Or download from https://www.alfredapp.com

Initial Setup

Launch Alfred and set the global hotkey (default: Opt+Space)
Optionally disable Spotlight: System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Spotlight
Grant required permissions: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
Install the Powerpack license for advanced features

Core Features

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Opt+Space`	Open Alfred
`Enter`	Execute selected action
`Cmd+Enter`	Reveal file in Finder
`Opt+Enter`	Search for item in files
`Ctrl+Enter`	Act on item (show actions)
`Tab`	Autocomplete / navigate into folder
`Cmd+C`	Copy selected item
`Cmd+L`	Show large type
`Cmd+,`	Open Alfred Preferences

Default Search Commands

Prefix	Action	Example
(none)	Search apps, files, bookmarks	`slack`
`open`	Open file/folder	`open ~/Documents`
`find`	Search file system	`find report.pdf`
`in`	Search file contents	`in quarterly report`
`define`	Dictionary lookup	`define ephemeral`
`spell`	Check spelling	`spell recieve`
`=`	Calculator	`= 42 * 3.14`

Web Searches

Keyword	Action
`google {query}`	Google search
`wiki {query}`	Wikipedia search
`amazon {query}`	Amazon search
`maps {query}`	Google Maps search
`images {query}`	Google Images search
`yt {query}`	YouTube search

System Commands

Command	Action
`lock`	Lock the screen
`sleep`	Put Mac to sleep
`restart`	Restart the Mac
`shutdown`	Shut down the Mac
`trash`	Open Trash
`emptytrash`	Empty the Trash
`screensaver`	Start screen saver
`hide {app}`	Hide an application
`quit {app}`	Quit an application
`forcequit {app}`	Force quit an application
`eject`	Eject mounted volumes
`volup` / `voldown`	Volume up / down
`mute`	Mute audio

Configuration

Preferences

General:
  - Hotkey: Set global shortcut
  - Where: Country for localized searches
  - Startup: Launch at login

Features:
  - Default Results: Configure what appears in search
  - File Search: Set search scope and types
  - Web Search: Custom search engines
  - Calculator: Enable/disable
  - Dictionary: Configure dictionary sources
  - Contacts: Enable contact search

Appearance:
  - Theme: Choose from built-in or custom themes
  - Options: Result count, font size, blur

Custom Web Searches

# Add custom search engines in Preferences > Features > Web Search

Title: Stack Overflow
Keyword: so
URL: https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={query}

Title: GitHub
Keyword: gh
URL: https://github.com/search?q={query}

Title: npm
Keyword: npm
URL: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q={query}

Title: MDN Docs
Keyword: mdn
URL: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q={query}

Title: Docker Hub
Keyword: docker
URL: https://hub.docker.com/search?q={query}

Clipboard History (Powerpack)

# Enable in Preferences > Features > Clipboard History
- Set history duration (24 hours, 7 days, 1 month, 3 months)
- Access via hotkey (e.g., Cmd+Opt+C)
- Search through clipboard history
- Supports text, images, and file references
- Merge multiple clipboard items
- Clear sensitive items
- Pin frequently used items

Snippets (Powerpack)

# Create snippets in Preferences > Features > Snippets

Name: Email signature
Keyword: ;sig
Content: Best regards,
         Alice Smith
         Senior Developer

# Dynamic placeholders:
{date}              — current date
{time}              — current time
{clipboard}         — clipboard contents
{cursor}            — cursor position
{date:medium}       — medium format date
{date:YYYY-MM-DD}   — custom date format
{random:UUID}       — random UUID
{random:3:9}        — random number 3-9

Advanced Usage

Workflows (Powerpack)

Workflows are Alfred’s most powerful feature. They chain together triggers, inputs, actions, and outputs.

Workflow Components:

Type	Examples
Triggers	Keyword, Hotkey, File Action, Snippet, External
Inputs	Script Filter, File Filter, Keyword
Actions	Open File, Open URL, Run Script, System Command
Utilities	Conditional, Delay, Filter, Transform, JSON
Outputs	Notification, Copy to Clipboard, Play Sound, Large Type

Script Filter (JSON Output)

#!/bin/bash
# A script filter that returns JSON results

cat << 'EOF'
{
  "items": [
    {
      "title": "First Result",
      "subtitle": "Description of first result",
      "arg": "value-to-pass-along",
      "icon": { "path": "icon.png" },
      "mods": {
        "cmd": {
          "subtitle": "Hold Cmd for alternative action",
          "arg": "alternative-value"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "title": "Second Result",
      "subtitle": "Another result",
      "arg": "second-value",
      "valid": true
    }
  ]
}
EOF

Python Workflow Script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import json
import sys

query = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else ""

items = [
    {
        "title": f"Search for: {query}",
        "subtitle": "Press Enter to search",
        "arg": query,
        "icon": {"path": "icon.png"},
    }
]

print(json.dumps({"items": items}))

Popular Community Workflows

Workflow	Description
Dash	Search API documentation
1Password	Search and fill passwords
Kill Process	Find and kill processes
Colors	Color conversion and picker
Encode/Decode	Base64, URL, HTML encoding
Lorem Ipsum	Generate placeholder text
IP Address	Show local and public IP
Emoji Search	Find and copy emojis
Homebrew	Search and install brew packages
SSH Connections	Quick SSH to saved hosts

Workflow Environment Variables

# Access workflow variables in scripts
echo "$query"           # The user's input
echo "$alfred_version"  # Alfred version
echo "$alfred_workflow_data"    # Workflow data directory
echo "$alfred_workflow_cache"   # Workflow cache directory
echo "$alfred_preferences"      # Alfred preferences path

File Actions

# Create custom file actions in workflows:
1. Add a "File Action" trigger
2. Set accepted file types (e.g., public.image, public.text)
3. Connect to actions (e.g., Run Script, Open URL)
4. Select file in Alfred > press right arrow > choose your action

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Alfred not finding apps	Rebuild macOS index: `sudo mdutil -E /` or set search scope in Preferences
Permissions not working	Grant Accessibility and Full Disk Access in System Settings > Privacy
Clipboard history empty	Enable in Preferences > Features > Clipboard History; set retention period
Workflow not triggering	Check keyword spelling; verify connections between nodes in editor
Scripts failing	Check script permissions (`chmod +x`); test scripts in Terminal first
Hotkey conflict	Change in Preferences > Features > Hotkey; check other apps for conflicts
Search results stale	Rebuild Alfred cache: `reload` command; clear file cache in Preferences
Snippets not expanding	Enable auto-expansion in Preferences; check keyword prefix
Slow results	Limit search scope; exclude large directories like `node_modules`