Quick Tip: Remove Pesky MacOS Automator Folder Actions

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Kaveet Laxmidas

After playing around with MacOS Automator, you might find it difficult to remove any Folder Actions you’ve created. Here’s a quick tutorial for removing those pesky workflows.

For this demonstration I’ve created a simple Folder Action workflow in Automator that simply throws a notification when a file is saved to the Downloads folder.

An example Folder Action workflow.

Quick Steps

  • Go to /Library/Scripts/Folder Actions
    Note: Not ~/Library/ !
  • Run Remove Folder Actions.scpt
  • Select folder to remove Actions from
  • Done!

Removing the Folder Action (Step-by-Step)

Locate the Removal Script

In the Finder menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder… (or hit ⇧⌘G). Type the following in the dialog and hit Go:

/Library/Scripts/Folder Actions
Go to Folder.

Locate a script called Remove Folder Actions.scpt, and double-click to open it.

Find the Remove Folder Actions script.

Running the Removal Script

The Remove Folder Actions script will open in Script Editor as shown below. Click the Play button (the third from left) to run the script.

The Script Editor app.

You’ll receive a prompt to select the directory to remove associated Folder Actions from. In my case, I’m using Downloads. Highlight the folder and click OK.

Highlight the associated folder.

The Folder Actions associated with the selected directory will appear. If you don’t see any, you can try running the script again. Click OK and your Folder Action will be removed!

Highlight the script you’d like to remove.

Done!

That’s all! You can remove multiple Folder Actions using this method — just run the script again and select additional folders or Folder Actions.

This has been tested in Mac OS Sierra.

Hopefully this saved you some frustration!

— Kaveet