Learn how to use a Mac shortcut to quickly enter the current date and/or time in a text field without typing those details manually.

If you’re a legal or governmental official, researcher, software developer, or in a similar profession, you may need to enter the current date and time in your documents or worksheets for timestamping, record-keeping, proof of work, regulatory compliance, etc. You may also want to do this if you maintain a digital journal or write fast-paced news articles.

Now, instead of checking your computer’s clock and manually typing the date and time, you can automate it using a shortcut. This also ensures you can fill in the precise current time and date without the possibility of an error.

Automatically enter the current date and time on Mac

It involves two simple steps: creating the shortcut once and then using it whenever needed.

1) Open the Apple Shortcuts app on your Mac and click the plus button (+) to create a new shortcut.

2) Type “Text” in the top right search field and double-click the Text action to add it to your build.

3) Click in the text field, start typing “Current,” and select Current Date from the suggestions.

4) Select a Date Format. You can also pick a format for Time or set it to None if you only want to insert the date. The “Example” section at the bottom shows the date and time preview, so you can select one that works for you.

5) Click the triangle run button at the top to test your build; you’ll see the date and time appear on the screen. If everything looks fine, move to the next step.

6) Click the info button ⓘ in the top right corner of the window and check the box for “Provide Output.”

Then, click Add Keyboard Shortcut, press the keys you want to assign to run this shortcut, and hit the enter key.

Remember to choose a long, unique keyboard shortcut combination that’s not already used by another app. For instance, you can go with Control + Option + Command + D (as all these keys are near one another and easy to press with the left hand). You can also make it Control + Option + T (for time) or some other combination (such as Control + Option + Command + X, as the X key is nearer and even easier to press).

7) Give a name to your shortcut and hit the red traffic light button to save the shortcut.

8) Now, open an app like Notes or Google Docs in Chrome and press the key combination (i.e., Control + Option + Command + D) you set in Step 6 above. You’ll see that the current date and time are automatically typed in.

This keyboard shortcut should work in many (but not all) apps.

Working: In my test, the shortcut worked flawlessly in Notes, Pages, Numbers, Google Chrome, Firefox, Calendar (when adding events), Mail, Reminders, Safari, Simplenote, Slack, and Text Edit. However, if you set a simple keyboard shortcut, it may not work in certain apps, such as Chrome.

Partially working: The keyboard shortcut works to enter the date and time in the Apple Numbers app when naming the sheet, but not in cells.

Not working: Surprisingly, the shortcut, which is created using Apple’s own Shortcuts app, doesn’t work in Apple Journal – a diary entry app where it makes sense to enter the current date and time. The shortcut also doesn’t work in Messages.

Mixed results: I noticed a strange result with Apple’s Freeform app. Upon pressing the keyboard shortcut, it displayed an error message stating that the shortcut didn’t work (similar to Journal and Messages), but clicking OK inserts the date and time.

To sum up, the keyboard shortcut works in most apps. If it doesn’t, you can try changing the keyboard shortcut or make minor changes to your shortcut, as seen in the screenshot below.

Also, check out:

• 19 ways to quickly run a shortcut on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• How to have your Mac announce the time

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/09/29/mac-shortcut-to-insert-date-time/