Creating Keyboard Shortcuts for Connecting and Disconnecting Bluetooth Devices on Mac

Published: macOS

How to create keyboard shortcuts on macOS for quickly connecting and disconnecting to your AirPods (or any Bluetooth device) using blueutil.

This method requires blueutil to be installed via Homebrew and leverages Automator to create quick actions.

Installing blueutil

First, ensure Homebrew is installed on your Mac. Then, install blueutil:

brew install blueutil

Finding Your Device's Bluetooth Address

Before creating the shortcuts, you need to know the Bluetooth hardware address of the device you want to connect or disconnect. Run the following command in the Terminal to list all paired devices and their addresses:

blueutil --paired

Look for your device in the output and note down its address, formatted like 00-00-00-00-00-00.

Creating a Connect Shortcut

  1. Open Automator and create a new Quick Action.

  2. Set Workflow receives to no input.

  3. Search for Run Shell Script and drag it to the workflow area.

  4. Enter the command to connect, replacing your-bluetooth-device-address with the actual Bluetooth address of your device:

    /opt/homebrew/bin/blueutil --connect your-bluetooth-device-address

  5. Save the Quick Action as "Connect AirPods".

Creating a Disconnect Shortcut

Repeat the steps for creating a connect shortcut, but use the disconnect command instead:

/opt/homebrew/bin/blueutil --disconnect your-bluetooth-device-address

Save this Quick Action as "Disconnect AirPods".

Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts

  1. Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
  2. Select Services from the left menu.
  3. Find your Quick Actions ("Connect AirPods" and "Disconnect AirPods") under General.
  4. Assign a unique keyboard shortcut to each.

Note: you may need to grant permissions for the Quick Actions to run in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility.