Unable to set hotkeys for workflows

[pubay]

I seem to be unable to set hotkeys for workflows and also for Universal Actions. Any hotkey I try to set turns into ⌘C followed by a beep. What might the problem be?

[Vero]

@pubay Are you using any third-party apps that respond to keypresses, such as a keyboard remapper or hotkey modifier app of some sort? It sounds like another app is interfering and dispatching other key presses.

 

Please quit anything from the menu bar or background apps, and try again. Could you also let us know what hotkey combination you're trying to set?

 

As usual, please confirm which version of Alfred and macOS you're using

 

Cheers,
Vero

[deanishe]

11 hours ago, pubay said:

I seem to be unable to set hotkeys for workflows and also for Universal Actions. Any hotkey I try to set turns into ⌘C followed by a beep. What might the problem be?

 

That's what happens if you trigger an Alfred Hotkey with "Selection in macOS" set and nothing is selected.

 

Are you trying to create a duplicate Hotkey? If so, try excluding Alfred Preferences in the existing Hotkey's Related Apps tab.

[pubay]

I am using Karabiner, but only to remap the Caps Lock key. I have been trying to set hotkeys with various combinations using the Control, Option and Command keys.

 

(And sorry that I forgot to mention that I'm using the latest version of Alfred with Catalina.) 

[Vero]

@pubay If you've tried quitting all potentially interfering apps and it still happens, try creating a new vanilla user account on your Mac with just Alfred running (you can activate your Powerpack on it) and try it there to confirm there's no misbehaviour.

 

You can then revert to your primary account and work by elimination; Take a look at Activity Monitor if you need to jog your memory as to what background apps you may have installed that are running and could be interfering.

[pubay]

Strangely (?) this problem doesn't occur when setting keyboard shortcuts in other applications such as Keyboard Maestro. I'll try your suggestions and see how it goes.

[pubay]

I upgraded to Alfred 5 (on Catalina) and thought I'd see whether I could finally get Universal Actions to work. I am now able to set a hotkey, but whatever hotkey is set, when I select something and trigger the hotkey, all that happens is that the Edit menu in the menubar is briefly highlighted, regardless of the application I am using at the time. I have checked to make sure that the hotkey does not conflict with any keyboard shortcuts in the Edit menu. What might be causing this? 

[vitor]

@pubay To get the selected files, Alfred simulates a ⌘C (it’s the one method that works reliably across macOS), which is why you’re seeing the Edit menu light up (the option to copy). What Hotkey do you have set up?

[pubay]

The current hotkey is ⌘/.

[vitor]

@pubay Did you end up trying to make a new user account on the Mac and seeing if it worked? There’s also ShortcutDetective (scroll down a bit) to identify potential conflicts, but this seems like something deeper in your setup.

[pubay]

I tried setting up a new user account, but because I didn't have the Alfred licence key readily available, I wasn't able to activate the Powerpack and test it. I'll leave things as they are for the time being. Thanks for your help.

[vitor]

Make sure Alfred is present and with a ticked checkbox under System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Accessibility. If it is already there and checked, remove it an add it again (macOS occasionally screws that up), then restart Alfred.