Open the Shortcuts app, tap the icon that starts a new shortcut, name it, tap Add Action, choose your actions, then tap Done. It lands in your All Shortcuts and My Shortcuts collections, ready to run.
A shortcut is a saved run of steps across your apps that you fire off with one tap or by asking Siri. Apple's own examples are getting directions to your next Calendar event, moving text from one app to another and generating expense reports. Nothing about building one is hard. The only thing you need to get your head around is the word action, and I'll come to that straight after the steps, which follow Apple's current Shortcuts guide as of Nov 2026.
- Open the Shortcuts app and tap the icon that starts a new shortcut. An empty, untitled shortcut appears in the editor.
- Tap New Shortcut, tap Rename, type a name, then confirm it. Pick something you'd be happy to say out loud, because you can run a shortcut by saying its name to Siri.
- Tap Add Action. A list of action categories appears.
- Tap a category, such as Media or Web, then tap an action to add it. You may need to scroll to see everything in a category.
- To add another, swipe up on the search field at the bottom of the screen and choose one. You can also touch and hold an action in the list and drag it to the position you want.
- If you land in the wrong category, tap Done to get back to the full list of action categories. Apple reopens the last category you used.
- When you've added everything, tap Done. The shortcut goes into your collection, under both All Shortcuts and My Shortcuts.
- Test it with the run icon, and use the stop icon if it goes wrong.
Made a mistake while building? Apple's create page gives you undo and redo icons in the editor, and you can tap an icon on an action to take it out. There's also a quicker door in: touch and hold the Shortcuts app icon on your Home Screen, then tap Create Shortcut.
So what's an action?
It's the building block. Each action is one step that does one job, and a shortcut is a series of them running in order. Apple's intro page gives a neat example, a shortcut that shares an animated GIF: Get Latest Photos grabs your latest photos, Make GIF builds the GIF from them, and Send Message sends it to your recipients. Three actions, one tap.
That's the way I'd think about your own. Don't start by browsing the list, because Apple says there are hundreds of actions and you'll lose your afternoon. Write down the steps you keep repeating, in order, then find an action for each one.
Or describe it and let Apple Intelligence draft it
On models that support Apple Intelligence, you can skip the action hunting. Tap the same new-shortcut icon, then describe in normal language what you'd like the shortcut to do. The app builds it and names it from what you said. You can then describe a change, or hit edit and change the contents yourself. Test it the same way.
Check you qualify first. Apple lists Apple Intelligence on iOS 27 or later as available on an enabled iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 model or later. It isn't available in all languages or regions, and usage limits may apply. If your phone doesn't make the list, the numbered steps above do the job, so you aren't missing out on the shortcut itself.
Six places to run it
Once a shortcut exists, whether you built it or added one from the Gallery, Apple lists these places to run it from:
- The Shortcuts app, where one tap on the rounded rectangle runs it
- The Home Screen on your iPhone
- The Shortcuts widget on your iPhone
- Apple Watch
- The share sheet of another app
- Siri, by saying the shortcut's name
If you run something every day, I'd put it on the Home Screen, so there's no app to open first.
Putting one on your Home Screen
In the Shortcuts app, tap the icon on a shortcut to open it, tap the icon that opens Details, then tap Add to Home Screen. Apple's Home Screen page gives you two optional touches before you finish. To use your own picture for the icon, tap the icon in the Home Screen Name and Icon area and choose Take Photo, Choose Photo or Choose File. To change the label, tap the name in that same area, enter a new one and tap Return. Then tap Add. You can group these into folders too. If you're tidying the screen while you're there, our guide to hiding apps you don't want on show covers the other side of that job.
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Where your shortcuts live
The Shortcuts screen sorts everything into collections, and the names are clearer than they first look. All Shortcuts holds yours plus the ones available in apps. My Shortcuts holds only yours. Share Sheet holds those available in the share sheet of another app, Apple Watch holds those on your watch, and App Shortcuts holds the ones available in apps. Tap a collection to see its shortcuts as a grid, each with a title, an icon and a color. One tap runs a shortcut, so don't tap to inspect one unless you're happy for it to fire.
What the Apple pages leave out
Apple's pages don't give you a list of the best or most useful shortcuts beyond the examples I've named. They also don't cover automation triggers, so I'm not going to guess at those here. The pages don't explain which single action to choose for a given job either; you'll need to look through the action list yourself.
So if your real goal is one specific task, say a faster way to scan a document or record a voice note, start with the plain guide to that task and learn it by hand. You can't sensibly automate a job until you know its steps. One more limit from Apple: not all apps, services and content are available in all countries or regions.
Quick answers
What's the difference between a shortcut and an action?
An action is a single step that does one job. A shortcut is a series of actions run together.
Can I run a shortcut by asking Siri?
Yes. Once you've created a shortcut, Apple says you can activate Siri and say the shortcut's name to run it.
Do I need Apple Intelligence to create a shortcut?
No. Apple Intelligence is one route on supported models, and the Add Action route in the Shortcuts app is the other.
Can I give a Home Screen shortcut my own picture?
Yes. When you add it, tap the icon in the Home Screen Name and Icon area, then choose Take Photo, Choose Photo or Choose File.
