It’s no big surprise that opening webpages is one of the computer tasks that Mac users reported they perform most on their computer.
If you’re like me, you probably open two or three dozen webpages a day, and the process can take up a lot of time. Web browsers include provides features to help access frequently visited websites and pages, but quite honestly even bookmarked pages, though useful, are can still be time consuming.
In this article I share five quick or automated ways to access your most visited web pages using automation programs, including Keyboard Maestro, Alfred, BetterTouchTool, and PopClip.
1) Set Up Keyboard Maestro Day and Time Triggers
One of my favorite ways to access web pages is to have them opened for me. That’s just what a Keyboard Maestro macro does. For example, every Wednesday at 11:30 AM, KM automatically downloads Raleys.com so I can view the week’s grocery sales. Every Friday at 8:30am, KM opens the WordPress accounts of six websites I manage. When I arrive in my office, the webpages are opened in a new Safari window and ready for me to review.
KM also includes a feature for setting a specific day(s) and time of a month instead every week.
2 Log Into Websites Using 1Password Extension in Alfred
Having to input login information into a website is another time consuming task. But fortunately, the pro version of Alfred includes a 1Password integration that imports all the URLs from your 1Password application. When you use Alfred to open one of those sites, 1Password will attempt to insert the login information if needed. This is especially useful for sites that require login information to be inputted each time you visit the site. Here’s also my ten other suggestions for using Alfred.
3) Open a Folder of Bookmarks In Safari
Safari allows you to open a group of bookmarked webpages in a Bookmarks folder, by selecting Open in New Tabs. This is handy for when you typically open related webpages for a project or tasks you regularly perform.
Also, you can go into Safari Preferences > General, and set up the option to have “New open with…” a folder of bookmark pages. Again, this is useful if you work with a set of pages on a regular basis. It means you don’t have to open those pages individually.
4) Search Webpages Using PopClip
The text selection utility PopClip includes numerous extensions for quickly searching selected text in Google, Amazon, or other search sites and websites.
These type of extensions save you the trouble of copying and past text and then manually opening a web search page or inputting text in a search bar.
5) Click Bookmark Pages In a Keyboard Maestro Palette
Another way I open frequently visited websites is to use a Keyboard Maestro macro palette that includes links to my designated webpages.
I could leave this palette open on my desktop, but I prefer to use the BetterTouchTool Three Finger Tap finger gesture to trigger open the pallet and then select the bookmark I want.
The process for creating a Keyboard Maestro macro palette is little intricate. I will explain how it’s done in my Keyboard Maestro course.
6) Click Bookmarked Webpages in SuperTab
One of my favorite and most used applications is SuperTab, which contains, among dozens of other features, the ability bookmark webpages.
I find it easier to trigger open SuperTab by placing my cursor on the left-bottom edge of my desktop. From there, I can click one of a dozen webpages I have bookmarked in a SuperTab Row. After the bookmark is clicked, the SuperTab interface quickly hides again until I need it.
See my short free video series about using SuperTab. You can also use my affiliate link to download purchase SuperTab for 60% off.
7) Use Safari Contextual Menu
Lastly, I also navigate to previously visited webpages by using a BetterTouchTool 4 Finger Swipe Down finger gesture which triggers the Contextual Menu for Safari. The menu opens wherever my cursor is in the Safari window.
If my hand is already on my trackpad, this BTT gesture is particularly useful because I don’t have to drag my cursor up to the Safari menu bar to select the History menu.
I can also use the contextual menu to click open bookmarked pages in my Favorites Tab.
If you’re not familiar with BetterTouchTool, learn more about it here.
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