How to Copy and Paste Actions Between Shortcuts

Shortcuts icon

In the early days of the App Store, the saying was: “There’s an app for that.” But ever since Apple added Shortcuts with iOS 12, the new saying is: “There’s a shortcut for that.” A useful shortcut I recently discovered lets you copy and paste actions in between different shortcuts.

Copy and Paste Actions

First, the usual disclaimers apply. Neither I nor the creator of these shortcuts are responsible for a corrupted Shortcuts database, which I’ve run into recently. Always back up your shortcuts, which you can do with the handy-dandy Backup Shortcuts.

You’ll need two shortcuts to copy and paste actions:

Don’t run the parser, it acts as a repository to help CopyPaste Actions function.

Copy and paste actions

 

How To Use It

  1. When you run it, a dialog box will appear. You can type in the name of a shortcut, or leave it empty and tap Done.
  2. Next, you’ll see a list of your shortcuts. Tap the shortcut you want to copy actions from.
  3. You can choose individual actions to copy, or choose them all.
  4. You’ll then be asked to Copy or Move the actions, with three choices: Same Workflow, Another Workflow, New Workflow.
  5. Search for a shortcut or leave it empty and tap Done like in Step 1.
  6. Then, you’ll be asked which shortcut you want to paste the shortcuts to, in a list like Step 2.
  7. Choose where you want to paste the actions: Beginning, End, or Custom.

Even if you’re pasting actions into a shortcut you already have, it will create a new instance of the shortcut. Tap Install, then Replace. The new version of the shortcut will contain your pasted actions.

Further Reading:

[5 Pre-Made Siri Shortcuts To Help You Get Started]

[Summarize Articles With My AutoTLDR Shortcut]

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