macOS: How to Automate the Share Menu via AppleScript

Core Challenge

On macOS, there is no direct way to trigger a „Share Menu Item“ via AppleScript. Neither AppleScript nor Automator provide a native command to, for example, share a website from Safari directly to the Notes app. The provided script solves this problem with a creative workaround: It locates the desired menu item („Notes“) in Safari’s Share menu by taking a screenshot and using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to determine the position of the menu entry. The script then simulates a mouse click at the detected position to open the sharing dialog and send the website to the Notes app.

How the Script Works

Opens Safari and loads a sample website.
Opens the Share menu and takes a screenshot of the Safari window.
A Swift script using Apple’s Vision framework runs OCR on the screenshot to find the position of the desired menu item („Notes“).
The script simulates a mouse click at the recognized position to open the Share dialog.
Optionally, the script can automate further interactions with the Share dialog (e.g., entering a title, closing the dialog).

Why this workaround?

AppleScript can only address menu items directly if they are classic menus. The Share menu, however, is dynamic and system-integrated; there is no official AppleScript command to trigger a specific share target (like „Notes“). Therefore, the script takes a screenshot and uses OCR to find the menu item’s position—a workaround that can be adapted for other share targets as well.

Key Components

Vision Framework OCR: Text recognition in menu screenshots
Coordinate Mapping: swift
let x = Int(bbox.origin.x * imageSize.width / screenScale)
let y = Int((1 - bbox.origin.y) * imageSize.height / screenScale)
UI Automation: Synthetic mouse clicks and keyboard events

Technical Implementation

shareToNotes()
  -- Activate Safari & open Share menu
  tell application "Safari" to activate
  tell application "System Events" to click menu item "Share"
  
  -- OCR coordinate calculation
  set {x, y} to getCoordinates()
  
  -- Simulate UI interactions
  click at {x, y}
  delay 0.5
  keystroke "Note Title" & return
end shareToNotes

Download Full Script

Requirements

macOS with Swift and the Vision framework installed (default since macOS 10.15).
Accessibility permissions for AppleScript and System Events must be enabled.

Download

The complete AppleScript including the Swift component will be available here.

Additional Notes:

Script variables can be adjusted for different languages and menu entries.
Menu names may need to be changed for different system languages or Safari versions.
Script speed can be tuned via the delay values.

Note
Since the macOS Share menu cannot be accessed directly via AppleScript, this script uses a screenshot and OCR-based approach to locate and execute the desired menu item. This workaround is universally customizable and can be used for different applications and share targets.

thomas osthege