Basic actions

If you’re new to Shortcuts, these actions are the least complex and should be self-explanatory based on the title or description.

Some of these are deceivingly staightforward too – as just one piece of the puzzle, the utility may not be clear, but Related Actions can help show how to use each in context.

These actions aren’t “just for beginners” either – some simple actions are the most-used.

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Play Music
Plays the currently playing item.
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Select Music
Prompts to select music from your local music library.
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Find Music
Searches for the music in your library that match the given criteria. Allows for sorting, changing the order, and limiting the number passed as a result.
Show Topic
Shows stories about the topic you choose
Show Today Feed
Shows stories from the Today feed in Apple News.
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Comment
This action lets you explain how part of a shortcut works. When run, this action does nothing.
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Create Note
Shares the input with Notes using the standard Notes share extension.
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Find Notes
Searches for the notes in your library that match the given criteria. Sort by Optionally, what to sort the notes by. Order The order to sort the notes in. Limit Whether or not to limit the number of notes retrieved.
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Show Note
Opens the note passed in as input.
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Show Notes Folder
Get quick access to one of your Notes folders.
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Show Alert
Displays an alert with a title, a message, and two buttons. If the user selects the OK button, the shortcut continues. The cancel button stops the shortcut.
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Show Notification
Displays a local notification.
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Vibrate Device
Vibrates the device for a short amount of time.
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Open a spreadsheet
Open a spreadsheet.
Open a document
Open a document.