how do i create a shortcut on mac desktop

How do i create a shortcut on mac desktop archive#

Press Enter to rename it by removing the Alias suffix. Select the shortcut with the 'Alias' suffix. Release the shortcut first and then the Option + Command keys to place the shortcut in the new location. Here is the C code required to create a bookmark (you'll need to specify -framework CoreFoundation to the command line flags for the compiler if you are compiling from the command line, or otherwise add the CoreFoundation framework to your project in Xcode). Press Option + Command together as you drag the original item to another folder or the desktop. Try that first and if that suffices, don't bother with the more complicated Alias Manager or CFURLCreateBookmarkData. In fact, you may even be able to just use the POSIX symlink to create a shortcut. If you want to make an alias, have a look at the Alias Manager reference, or if you are targeting 10.8 or later, you can use CFURLCreateBookmarkData instead. is similar to the Unix symbolic link, but with the distinction of working even if the target file moves to another location on the same disk However, as far as functionality goes, both should work as a way of placing a link on the desktop to an item in another location.įinally, take note of this distinction between the POSIX ln and alias before deciding if ln is suitable for your situation:.

How do i create a shortcut on mac desktop archive#

Using ln, the created link is identified as 'xar archive - version 1', whereas the UI alias creates a file which is 'alias: data'. if you use the ' file' command on the two. Note that the alias created with the UI is not exactly the same as that created by ln, as you can see when linking to a pkg (installer) file. So what you could do is create a symbolic link to the source item with a call to the ln function, which may be the same as the symlink function call. If you use the terminal and create a symbolic link to an item on the desktop, you'll see that it creates a similar 'alias'. As has been mentioned, by it's an alias that you would be creating at least, this is what the UI provides when you right-click on an item:.