Signing Saved Shortcut Files

A shortcut can be exported from within the Shortcuts Editor, and the signing options when this is done are:

People Who Know Me. Only people who have you in their contacts will be able to use the shortcut. Your contact info will be included in the shortcut file for verification. You can also use this option to make a personal backup of your shortcuts.

Anyone. When you export a shortcut file for anyone, Apple will validate a copy of your shortcut using iCloud.

If a shortcut is saved rather than exported, it appears that shortcut is not signed. In these instances, the shortcut included below can be used to sign selected shortcut files using the “anyone” option. I thought there might be a timing issue when running this shortcut with numerous shortcut files, but I successfully signed 10 shortcuts in one running of the shortcut without issue.

Sign Shortcut.shortcut (22.9 KB)

This shortcut differs from that above in that 1) it works on shortcut files selected in a Finder window, and 2) it prompts the user to select a signing option. A few comments:

  • This shortcut requires the open source swiftDialog app.

  • The user must set the target folder that will contain the signed shortcut files at the beginning of the shortcut.

  • The target folder must be in the user’s boot drive.

  • Existing shortcut files in the target folder are overwritten.

macOS 26.4 Public Beta 3 has a bug that intermittently causes the Shortcuts app to shut down and report an error when the user attempts to open and install a shortcut file. This has nothing to do with the shortcut included below, although, in my testing, this error does not occur when a shortcut is signed for “anyone”.

Sign Shortcuts.shortcut (25.0 KB)

BTW, according to Google AI, some or all of the following contact information is required for the people-who-know-me option to function properly: first name, last name, email address, and phone number. I don’t have any knowledge as to how privacy is protected, but I assume it is.