Automate Commenting on macOS File System

By Manny Fernandez

March 18, 2026

Automate Commenting on macOS File System

Part of my daily gig is creating BoMs (Bill-of-Materials) and although I follow a strict naming convention and automated folder structure that is triggered with a macOS keystroke shortcut, I sometimes want to use the metadata field of the file to write information pertinent to me, the customer, the project, the options etc. I wanted to automate this. Although I could hit ⌘ i move to the comment section, add the comment, then save it and close the get info page, I wanted something cleaner. Here is my attempt at cleaner. I chose to run an Applescript because all I use is Apple products.

Setting Up a Quick Action

Setting up a keyboard shortcut for file comments involves two steps: creating a Quick Action (service) in Automator and then assigning a Keyboard Shortcut in System Settings.

Step 1: Create the Quick Action

Open Automator (found in your Applications folder).
Select New Document and choose Quick Action.

At the top of the workflow, set the dropdowns to:
- Workflow receives current: files or folders
- in: Finder

Search for “AppleScript” in the library and drag the Run AppleScript action into the workflow area.
Replace the default code with this script:

on run {input, parameters}
repeat with aFile in input
tell application "Finder"
set fileName to name of aFile
-- Prompt for the comment
display dialog "Enter comment for '" & fileName & "':" default answer "" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button "OK"
set userComment to text returned of result

-- Apply the comment to the file metadata
set comment of aFile to userComment
end tell
end repeat
return input
end run

You should have something like this…..

Save the Quick Action and name it something like ” Add_File_Comment“.

Step 2: Assign the Keyboard Shortcut

Now that the script exists as a system service, you need to trigger it with keys.

- Go to System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcut
Select Services from the left sidebar.
Look under Files and Folders to find your “Add_File_Comment” service.
Double-click “none” (or the space next to it) and press your desired key combination