Looking for an easy solution to create a text or markdown file in the folder that you are viewing in MacOS?

Looking for an easy solution to create a text or markdown file in the folder that you are viewing in MacOS? A search of the web reveals third party apps as well as some old methods that only result in a text file.

This solution relies on the script editor built in to MacOS - Apple support article

To learn more about Apple scripts, do a search. Here’s some basics (AI generated):

Enabling Scripts on macOS

To enable and run scripts on macOS, you can use AppleScript or shell scripts. Here’s how to set them up:

AppleScript

1. Open Script Editor: Find it in Applications > Utilities.
2. Create Your Script: Write your AppleScript code in the editor.
3. Enable Script Menu:
   • Go to Script Editor > Preferences.
   • Check “Show Script menu in menu bar” and “Show Computer scripts”.
4. Run Your Script: You can now access your scripts from the menu bar.

The Script to create a text or markdown file

This is an easy script to create a text or markdown file in the folder that you are viewing on MacOS.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
try
	tell application "Finder"
		if (count of windows) = 0 then
			set targetFolder to desktop
		else
			set targetFolder to (the target of the front window)
		end if
		set targetPath to POSIX path of (targetFolder as alias)
	end tell
	
	-- Create the markdown file
	do shell script "echo '# untitled' > '" & targetPath & "untitled.md'"
	
	tell application "Finder"
		update targetFolder
	end tell
	
on error errMsg
	display dialog "Error creating file: " & errMsg buttons {"OK"} default button 1
end try

If you prefer a text file, change the extension (.md) to .txt