Keyboard Maestro organizes your Macros into Macro Groups which are like folders of macros. Each Macro Group can contain zero or more Macros. Subfolders are not allowed.
The most important function of Macro Groups is to control when the contained macros are active.
In order to run (execute) a macro:
Macro activation can be a challenging subject to master. For a full discussion, please see Macro Activation.
You create, edit, and manage Macro Groups in the Keyboard Maestro Editor.
Controls are available at the bottom of the Macro Groups Panel, in the File menu, and via keyboard shortcuts.
When you create a new Macro Group, the setup for it will appear in the far right panel that normally contains the Macro Action List. It looks like the below screenshot, with the popup options shown to the right. There are many setup options, some representing combinations of options, so if you are not familiar with these, you may want to experiment with each setting to see the details for that option.
By choosing the applications for which a macro is active, you can control more applications with fewer conflicts.
By choosing how you activate the Macro Group, you can create sets of Macros for many different purposes.
For more details see the Advanced Setup at the bottom of this page.
The most common use case is to have one Macro Group that is active only when one specific app is frontmost. An example of this is the “Safari” (name that you choose) Macro Group which is active only when the Safari app is front most. It would look like this:
Another common use case is when you a have a group of like apps, like web browsers, for which you have a number of Macros to be used with any/all of those apps. An example of this is the “Browsers” (again, a name you choose) Macro Group which is active when any of these apps is frontmost: Google Chome, Firefox, or Safari. It might look like this:
NOTES
There a number of other options, and many combinations you can use.
You could have specialized Macro Groups like the following:
Alternatively, to have macros active everywhere except specific applications, place them in a Macro Group, set it to be active in all except specific applications and add the desired applications to the list 2).
A Macro Group can also act as a container for specific-use macros which are enabled only after a Hot Key press or which are displayed as a palette of the macros 3).
Macro Groups can be displayed as a palette giving you a way to build custom toolbars.
To have the Macros in a Macro Group always ready to be triggered, set the Macro Group to be activated Always activated. This is the default and you only need to change it if you want to set a group of Macros to be available in a macro palette or after you specifically activate them.
To have Macros that are active once only when you specifically activate them, set the Macro Group to be Activated for one action. The Macros in the Macro Group will be enabled when you press the Macro Group Hot Key and will remain enabled only until either any macro is triggered or you press any other key 4).
To have Macros that are active after you specifically activate them, set the Macro Group to be Activated/deactivated. The Macros in the Macro Group will be enabled when you press the Macro Group Hot Key and will remain enabled until you press the Macro Group Hot Key again 5).
To have Macros that are active and displayed only after you specifically activate them, set the Macro Group to Show a palette for one action. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled when you press the Macro Group Hot Key and will remain displayed until either any macro is triggered or you press any other key 6).
To have Macros that are active and displayed after you specifically activate them, set the Macro Group to Show/hide a palette. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled when you press the Macro Group Hot Key and will remain displayed until you press the Macro Group Hot Key again. You could use this to create a set of related actions that do not even need a Hot Key 7).
To have Macros that are always active and displayed in a palette, set the Macro Group to Show a palette. The Macros in the Macro Group will be displayed in a floating Macro Palette and enabled. The palette will close when you press the Macro Group Hot Key and will remain closed (and the macros disabled) until you press the Macro Group Hot Key again 8).
If you are syncing your macros with another Mac, Macro Groups can be disabled specifically on this Mac.