Shortcut for a specific Mail frome

Questions & Suggestions
1

EDIT: Clarifying based on kevinb comment.

There used an Apple shortcut to select a specific from address in a Mail new message window.

My brother at PeoplePC/Earthlink usually doesn't receive emails from my domain. But he can from my iCloud account. I had a KM macro that when I typed 'ss' put in his email address and changed the from address to my iCloud account (using the Apple shortcut). (ss was convenient because it's short, related to his initials and not many words start with ss). This stopped working, I think before Sequoia, but I can't remember to always change the from to my iCloud address.

Summary: shortcut or KM macro to change Mail from account

2

Edit: nope, "shortcut" in the original version of the question referred to an Apple "shortcut". Thanks to OP for clarifying that by updating the question.
Remember that when you say "shortcut" you are referring to a trigger for a macro. And you can't expect anyone to be able to help you debug a macro that only you can see the contents of. If changing the trigger doesn't help (as it probably won't), it's the macro itself that you need help with.

The following have tips on troubleshooting, and helping others to help you.

Troubleshooting [Keyboard Maestro Wiki]

Forum [Keyboard Maestro Wiki]

How Do I Get The Best Answer in the Shortest Time to Questions on the KM Forum? - Tips & Tutorials - Keyboard Maestro Discourse

3

Thank you. Edited OP in response to your comments on my misuse of words. Also tried to clarify otherwise.

1 Like
4

You can do this without a macro, using System Setting's "Keyboard Shortcuts". Click on "App Shortcuts", then click the "+" button. In the dialog that appears:

  1. Set Application to Mail
  2. Set the Menu title exactly as the "From" pop-up menu item shows it, remembering that the "-" is an em-dash (⌥-). For example My Name – m.name@example.com
  3. Set the "Keyboard shortcut" to something that doesn't clash with others in Mail -- perhaps ⌃S in this case?
  4. Click "Done", then "Done", then Quit System Settings

And you should be good -- make a new email in Mail, hit your shortcut key, and the correct account should be selected.

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5

I'm not familiar with any built-in Apple shortcut, though there is the ability to create one in Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts. Last I knew, the desired sending account had to be entered there in this format:

FirstName LastName – address@example.com

But it's possible the format has changed in newer versions of macOS. The requisite format to use in Settings can be seen in Mail in a new message window by looking at the pop-up menu choices, which would be seen where the sending address can be changed manually.

Once Settings has been used to create a shortcut for the preferred sending address, a Keyboard Maestro macro could be made for configuring the email as described.

A completely different way to do all of this is to have a Keyboard Maestro macro that uses the Execute An AppleScript action to create the message. The code for that just needs the receiving and sending addresses changed:

tell application "Mail"
	activate
	set thenewMessage to make new outgoing message with properties {visible:true}
	set sender of thenewMessage to "Your Name <Name@Address.com>"
	tell thenewMessage
		make new to recipient at end of to recipients with properties {address:"Brother@Earthlink.com"}
	end tell
end tell
6

Ah, an Apple Shortcut "shortcut", I see! Apologies for not thinking of that possibility and thank you for clarifying.

"Shortcut". "Mail". "Music". Apple's lack of creativity with naming certainly invites confusion.

7

@Nige_S Thank you. I never would have gotten all of that. I had been trouble finding Apple's keyboard shortcuts. Rather buried now. And the em-dash.

I added that to my script. I realize I still have a bit of typo in that: ss puts in his email address.

And sodium hydroxide that no doubt would have worked too. Thank you

And @kevinb I often mix up macro and shortcut since they are so closely related.

1 Like
8

If you are making "new" emails to send to your brother, using @NaOH's AppleScript in your macro is probably the best way to go.

But when you have an "outgoing" message already open, AS has get trouble referencing it -- that's where the Mail-specific Keyboard shortcut comes into its own.