Where apps hide your files
Quick Actions and Services are saved as .workflow packages in a few Library folders, and Finder's search will not list them. Here is each path, what it is for, and how to switch them on, move them and back them up.
Quick Actions and Services you create in Automator are saved as .workflow files in your own Library:
~/Library/Services/That is where Automator puts a Quick Action or Service when you save it, and where the Finder's Quick Actions menu and the Services menu pick them up. On the Mac checked (macOS Sequoia 15.6), the folder existed even though it was empty.
Workflows tied to particular features, and Services for every user, live elsewhere:
~/Library/Workflows/Applications/
/Library/Services/The first has subfolders named after the feature that runs them (on the Mac checked, Calendar, Folder Actions and Image Capture). The second is for Services shared by every account on the Mac, and it did not exist on the Mac checked, so do not worry if yours is missing. Apple's built-in Services, such as Set Desktop Picture.workflow, are in /System/Library/Services, which is part of the read-only system: look, but do not change anything.
In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or in Terminal:
open ~/Library/Services
ls ~/Library/Workflows/ApplicationsIf ~/Library/Services does not exist on your Mac, nothing has been saved there yet. It is safe to create it in Finder if you are adding a Quick Action by hand.
Each .workflow item is a package: Finder shows it as one file, but it is a folder holding the workflow's definition and settings. Control-click it and choose Show Package Contents to look inside. For a Quick Action, those settings include the kind of item it accepts (files, text, images), which is why a Quick Action appears in Finder only for certain selections.
To share one, Control-click it in Finder and choose Compress, then send the zip. The other person unzips it and puts the .workflow in their own ~/Library/Services. Double-clicking a .workflow file does not always install it: depending on the file and the macOS version it may open in Automator or be imported into Shortcuts instead.
| Location | What lives there |
|---|---|
~/Library/Services | Your Quick Actions and Services, for your account only |
/Library/Services | Services for all users, if an installer or admin created the folder |
/System/Library/Services | Apple's built-in Services, part of the sealed system |
~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions | Workflows attached to folders as Folder Actions |
~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Calendar | Workflows run by Calendar alerts |
~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Image Capture | Workflows used by Image Capture |
A workflow in the folder is not always visible in menus. The switches are in System Settings:
If a workflow you saved still does not appear, check the input type it accepts. A Quick Action set to receive images will not show when a PDF is selected.
There is no export step, because the .workflow file is the finished product. Copy the items in ~/Library/Services to a folder you back up, then copy them into the same folder on the new Mac. Time Machine and Migration Assistant carry these folders across with the rest of your home folder. Workflows that call a shell script or a third-party app need that script or app in the same place on the new Mac.
If you would rather move to the Shortcuts app, Apple's Shortcuts guide covers importing .workflow files: drag one into the Shortcuts window and it is converted, with an alert naming any action that Shortcuts does not support.
Workflow files are tiny, so there is no space to win back. To remove a Quick Action you no longer want, quit Automator, then in Finder drag that one .workflow item from ~/Library/Services to the Trash. If the old entry lingers in the Services menu, logging out and back in usually clears it. Leave /System/Library/Services alone, and do not empty a Workflows folder you did not fill yourself, because Folder Actions and Calendar alerts depend on what is in it.
Spotlight and Finder searches leave out files in ~/Library, so searching Finder for the name of your Quick Action usually returns nothing. That is the most common reason people think a workflow has vanished when it is sitting in ~/Library/Services.
Everywhere includes ~/Library in its index, so typing .workflow lists every Quick Action, Folder Action and Calendar workflow above in one go, and typing a few letters of the action's own name finds one directly. Press ⌘↵ to reveal it in Finder, ready to drag to a backup folder. It searches names only, not the steps inside a workflow.
It is ~/Library/Services. Automator saves your Quick Actions and Services there as .workflow files.
Quit Automator, open ~/Library/Services in Finder, and drag the .workflow item to the Trash. Log out and back in if the menu entry lingers.
Check that it is turned on in Extensions settings (Quick Actions > Customize in Finder) and that it accepts the kind of file you selected. A Quick Action set for images will not appear for a PDF.
Yes. Copy the .workflow files into ~/Library/Services on the new Mac, and make sure any scripts or apps they call are installed there.
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