Please Tell Me How to Properly Upload a Macro That I Am Having Problems With

Questions & Suggestions
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Please tell me how to properly upload a macro that I am having problems with

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@rphillipchuk, the Using the Keyboard Maestro Wiki page has this section on the topic.

I suggest disabling the macro and/or macro group before you upload. Also, to be sure I'm uploading the macro and not an action within, in the KM editor I normally select another macro and then select that one I want to upload.

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Excellent resource !!!! Many thanks

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In addition to the Wiki page referenced by @_jims, you may find this macro useful:

MACRO: Upload KM Macro to New or Existing Topic @KM [Pub]

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Macros are automatically disabled when installed by Keyboard Maestro.

The pitfall is this – depending upon the circumstance the macro and/or the macro group might be disabled – so the end user need to check both.

-Chris

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Chris, I believe your statement is correct if one is importing into an existing macro group that is ENABLED. If the group does not exist, or if the group exists and is DISABLED, it seems that the macros are imported in the ENABLED state.

I just tested an export and import and this is what I observed (using Keyboard Maestro v9.2 on Big Sur v11.2.3)...

Test 1:

  1. Started with two macros in the same macro group. Both macros and the group were ENABLED.
  2. Selected the two macros in the group and selected File > Export Macros... to export the macros. This created one export file that included both macros. The default name was based off the macro group name, not either of the macros.
  3. In the Keyboard Maestro editor, deleted the macro group. This of course also deleted the two macros in the group.
  4. In the Finder, navigated to the exported file. When the file was opened, the macro group was recreated and the two macros were immediately imported into it. The group was DISABLED but the two macro were ENABLED. (Of course this effectively disables the macros since the triggers are ignored. However, enabled macros in a disabled group can still be run using the Run button in the editor.)

Test 2:

  1. Same as 1 & 2 above.
  2. DISABLED the macro group.
  3. In the Finder, navigated to the exported file. When the file was opened, the two macros were immediately imported into the existing DISABLED macro group. The group remained DISABLED but the two macro were ENABLED.

Just to be clear, I think the import behaviors make perfect sense, however, it's not trivial to explain to a new user and...

I change my above recommendation. I suggest disabling the macro and macro group before you upload. If one imports the macros and does not have the group (or if they have the group and it is already DISABLED) the group will be DISABLED (ore remain DISABLED). If one has the group and it is ENABLED, the import will not DISABLE the group, but the macro will import DISABLED.

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