"Add to Start" is a command provided to the Shortcuts app for adding entries to Start. This command lets you quickly and easily create workflows to add, for example, the files and folders currently selected in Finder or the webpage currently displayed in Safari to Start.

Examples

The examples below demonstrate ...

From the beginning, not only files and URLs but also folders can be manually added to Start. When these folders were launched from Start, the folder content was displayed in Finder or another file manager. This feature was expanded in Start 7.5: Start can now optionally display the content of a folder itself and open entries from it.
The following ...

You can also open the main window of Start via a Dock icon.

Two steps are necessary for this:

1. Drag the Start to the desired position on the dock.
As a menu bar tool, Start does not automatically appear in the Dock, so this step is necessary.

2. Define in the settings where the main window of ...

With the shortcut Control + Option, you can easily and quickly display all assigned tags for the currently displayed entries.

Especially after a search process in Start, it can be practical to quickly launch one of the first entries without having to select it with the mouse first. If you hold down the Command key at Start, you can quickly launch one of the first nine entries along with the corresponding number key.

Start offers a DropStack for files and folders. Simply drag files and folders with the mouse into the upper free area. As soon as there are entries in the DropStack, they will be passed to the next launched application.

Tips:

• Pin the main window so that it does not close when Start loses focus. Now you can easily ...

Start automatically detects all applications via Spotlight. Additionally you can add other files or folders to Start. But what about the system settings, for example? Can these also be accessed simply via Start?

The short answer: yes. However, system settings are not applications in the true sense of the word, so they are not automatically ...

Originally, Start was developed as a menu bar application that displays the main window as a popup menu when the menu bar icon is clicked. However, it quickly became apparent that this approach also had some serious drawbacks: for example, no menu bar is permanently visible in full-screen applications. For such cases, a fallback was implemented, ...

The main Start window normally always hides when it loses focus. From time to time, however, it may be useful to keep the main window displayed. For example, you can use the DropStack in Start more conveniently or assign entries to the individual tags via drag'n'drop.

To keep the main window permanently displayed, you can pin it to the screen. ...

According to Apple's specifications, Start uses Apple's sandbox. As a result, Start's access to numerous areas of the system is restricted and only possible after the user has asked. When using Start, you have probably noticed messages from time to time where Start asks for permission to open a folder or file.

How does sandbox access work ...

Drafts is a quick-capture note taking app and Markdown editor from Agile Tortoise, Inc.

Example

drafts5://x-callback-url/workspace?name=Blogging

Open Drafts to a workspace called “Blogging”.

Example

drafts5://x-callback-url/create?tag=post%20idea

Create ...

Example:

https://start.innovative-bytes.net

With http or https URLs, these are probably the most popular URLs that everyone has probably already seen. With http or https URLs you can open web pages in your standard web browser from start.

Note: HTTPS URLs can also be added to Start ...

Example:

mailto:support@innovative-bytes.com?subject=Support%20Question

Create an e-mail in the default mail client with a recipient and subject line.

Example:

mailto:someone@mail.com?subject=Download%20the%20Start%
20app&cc=someone_else@mail.com&body=I%20recommend%20the
%20Start%20app

Create ...

Besides static URL's you can also use placeholders for URL's. These placeholders are useful to query variables when you list a URL. This may ound complicated at first sight, but it is actually quite simple. In the following, the supported placeholders are explained in more detail.

Important: Placeholders are case sensitive!

UserInput

Syntax: %%userInput:Question%%

If ...

Example:

vnc://myothermac.local:5901

Open the default VNC app to connect to a local computer called “myothermac” on port 5901.

Example:

ssh://mac.remoteacess.com:8822

Connect a secure shell session to a remote computer called hosted at “mac.remoteacess.com” ...

Things is a personal task manager from Cultured Code GmbH & Co. KG. With URL entries numerous functions of Things can be reached directly.

Example:

things:///add?show-quick-entry=true

Opens Things and displays the Quick Input window.

Further information: https://support.culturedcode.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2803573

Ulysses is a markdown editor from Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG. Ulysses can also be controlled via URL entries. In the following we have a quick example:

ulysses://x-callback-url/open?id=Python

Opens the sheet "Python" in Ulysses

Further information: https://ulysses.app/kb/x-callback-url

DEVONthink is a great software for managing and organizing all kinds of information. Opening DEVONthink with Start is very easy - but wouldn't it be handy if you could not only launch DEVONthink, but also switch directly to the desired database right away or display a specific information or file in ...

In this blog post we want to dive a little deeper into the possibilities of URLs in Start. As you probably know, you can launch URLs from Start, in addition to applications, files and directories. HTTP and HTTPS URLs are opened via the standard browser. So, for example, you can easily launch the Amazon or IMDB website and search for an article or ...

Start is a comprehensive tool for launching applications, files, directories and URLs. One click on the corresponding entry and it will be launched. Afterwards you can open a document in your just started application and continue working. However, you are often working in a file manager such as the Finder. So it would be handy if you could open the ...

Start can manage and execute URLs in addition to applications, files and directories. If you think of URLs only as calls of web pages, you are not quite right with this: URLs can be used to control or call various programs and functions.

In the following example, we will look at how a macro of the software "Keyboard Maestro" can ...