Alfred (software)
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| Alfred | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original authors | Andrew Pepperrell, Vero Pepperrell [1] |
| Developer | Running with Crayons Ltd |
| Initial release | 2010 [1] |
| Stable release | v5.7.2
/ 9 December 2025[2] |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Type | Application launcher (utility software) |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www |
Alfred is an application launcher and productivity software for macOS developed by Running with Crayons Ltd. It provides faster access to applications, files, folders, dictionaries, and various system functions.[3] Alfred is similar to macOS's Spotlight function, but offers a higher degree of customizability and extensibility through its action system known as "workflows".
Personalization
Alfred comes with following features:
- Application launcher that uses repeated queries to prioritize search results[4]
- File and folder search[5]
- Web search shortcuts with predefined sites such as Amazon, IMDb, DuckDuckGo, Wolfram Alpha, Wikipedia, and many others as well as ability to create custom shortcuts[6]
- Safari and Google Chrome bookmark search
- Clipboard history[7][Note 1]
- Text expansion and snippets[8][9][Note 1]
- Calculator
- Dictionary
- Contact search[Note 1]
- Music control[10][Note 1]
- 1Password integration[11][Note 1]
- Control of various system functions such as shutting down, hibernation, quitting, and force quitting processes, etc.[12]
- Quick access to various operations on selected text and files,[13] including text manipulation, text translation, and more[14][Note 1]
- Running shell commands[Note 1]
Alfred's functionality can be extended through "workflows", which are constructed through a visual scripting system based on nodes.[15] Creating workflows does not require programming knowledge,[16] although it does support the execution of scripts written in AppleScript, Bash, Python, and others.[17]
Many of Alfred's features and workflows can be accessed by defining a global keyboard shortcut or a keyword before the query.[18][19]
Alfred's visual appearance is customizable through themes.[20] It comes with a collection of presets that can be used for free, while creating and importing themes requires paid version.
Alfred Remote
Alfred Remote is a mobile companion application available for iOS.[21] It allows to control various functions on a macOS device where the paid version of Alfred is installed. These functions include adjusting volume, controlling Music, launching applications, and executing workflows.[22]
