Where apps hide your files
Your shortcuts sit in one database in your Library folder, not as separate files. Here is the path, what sits next to it, and how to export a shortcut you can share or keep as a backup.
Your shortcuts live in a database in your Library folder, not as individual files:
~/Library/Shortcuts/Shortcuts.sqliteNext to it sit Shortcuts.sqlite-shm and Shortcuts.sqlite-wal (the write-ahead log, which must stay with the main file), plus ToolKit, ssh and Temporary folders. On the Mac checked (macOS Sequoia 15.6), the whole ~/Library/Shortcuts folder was about 12 MB.
A shortcut only becomes a file when you export it, and that file ends in .shortcut.
In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste ~/Library/Shortcuts, or in Terminal:
open ~/Library/Shortcuts
ls -la ~/Library/Shortcuts| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
Shortcuts.sqlite | The library: your shortcuts, folders and their actions |
-shm and -wal files | Shared memory and write-ahead log for the library |
ToolKit/ | An index of the actions available from macOS and your apps |
ToolKit/Tools-prod.v*.sqlite | That index; the version number in the name changes over time |
ssh/ | Support folder used by the app (empty on the Mac checked) |
Temporary/ | Scratch space |
The app also has sandbox folders in ~/Library/Containers (for example com.apple.shortcuts) and group containers named group.com.apple.shortcuts, group.is.workflow.shortcuts and group.is.workflow.my.app. The is.workflow names date from the app's origins as Workflow, before Apple bought and renamed it. To list them on your Mac:
ls ~/Library/Group\ Containers | grep -i -E "shortcut|workflow"The supported way out, from Apple's Shortcuts guide:
Choosing Anyone means Apple receives a copy for validation, which helps guard against tampering. People Who Know Me limits it to people who have you in their contacts, and your contact details are included in the file. Either way you get a .shortcut file that can be opened on another Mac to add it to Shortcuts there.
If you have many shortcuts, export the ones you care about one at a time. Apple's guide does not describe an export-all command, so do not count on one.
Shortcuts syncs your library through iCloud when iCloud Sync is turned on in Shortcuts > Settings > General, as long as each device is signed in to the same Apple Account. On a new Mac, sign in, open Shortcuts, check that setting, and your library arrives.
Time Machine also backs up ~/Library/Shortcuts, but restoring a database copy over a live one is risky, because iCloud sync can overwrite it or conflict with it. Exported .shortcut files are the portable backup, and they work on a Mac without iCloud. Shortcuts that rely on a third-party app need that app installed on the new Mac as well.
Quick Actions, Services and other workflows built in Automator are a different system with real files you can find, covered in the Automator post linked below. Apple's Shortcuts guide describes importing them: double-click a .workflow file in Finder, drag it into the Shortcuts window or onto the Shortcuts icon in the Dock, or Control-click it and choose Open With > Shortcuts. Apple says nearly any workflow can be migrated, and an alert names any action Shortcuts does not support. The converted shortcut joins your library, and nothing in Apple's guide says the .workflow file is removed.
At around a dozen megabytes, there is nothing here worth reclaiming. Never delete Shortcuts.sqlite or its companion files: they are your library, and outside iCloud the only other copies are any .shortcut files you exported. The ToolKit index is maintained by the system, so leave it alone too. To get rid of shortcuts you no longer want, delete them in the app, and with iCloud Sync on that removes them from your other devices as well.
Spotlight and Finder searches leave out files in ~/Library, and the library is one database anyway, so a Finder search for the name of one of your shortcuts finds no file. You can still search your shortcuts by name inside the Shortcuts app.
Type Shortcuts.sqlite into Everywhere to jump to the live library and its log files in ~/Library/Shortcuts. Exported .shortcut files saved to Downloads, iCloud Drive or a backup drive sit where macOS keeps other apps out until you grant Full Disk Access; after that, typing .shortcut lists them all, including copies on a drive you have unplugged. ⌥Space opens the search from anywhere, and it matches names only, so it cannot see the actions inside a shortcut.
In a database at ~/Library/Shortcuts/Shortcuts.sqlite, synced through iCloud when iCloud Sync is on. Exported shortcuts are separate .shortcut files.
Select it in Shortcuts, choose File > Export, name the file, pick who can run it in the For pop-up, then click Save. The result is a .shortcut file.
Yes, by exporting each shortcut as a .shortcut file and opening those on the new Mac. Copying the database is not a supported route.
Yes. Double-click a .workflow file, or drag it into the Shortcuts window, and Shortcuts converts it. An alert names any action it cannot convert.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
Version 2.20.3 · macOS 13+ · 4.7 MB · notarised