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Macros ​

Macros are a basic automation facility comprising sequences of commands. Use them whenever you need to repeat the exact same steps to perform an operation.

Macro files are JSON files with the extension .sublime-macro. Sublime Text ships with a few macros providing core functionality, such as line and word deletion. You can find these under Tools | Macros or in Packages/Default.

How to Record Macros ​

To start recording a macro, press Ctrl Alt Q and subsequently execute the desired steps one by one. When you're done, press Ctrl Alt Q again to stop the macro recorder. Your new macro won't be saved to a file, but kept in the macro buffer instead. Now you will be able to run the recorded macro by pressing Ctrl Alt ⇧ Q, or save it to a file by selecting Tools | Save macro...

Note that the macro buffer will remember only the latest recorded macro. Also, macros only record commands sent to the buffer: window-level commands, such creating a new file, will be ignored.

How to Edit Macros ​

As an alternative to recording a macro, you can edit it by hand. Just save a new file with the .sublime-macro extension under Packages/User and add commands to it. Macro files have this format:

json
[
   { "command": "move_to", "args": {"to": "hardeol"} },
   { "command": "insert", "args": {"characters": "\n"} },
]

See the Commands section for more information on commands.

If you're editing a macro by hand, you need to escape quotation marks, blank spaces and backslashes by preceding them with \.

Where to Store Macros ​

Macro files can be stored in any package folder, and then will show up under Tools | Macros | <PackageName>.

Key Binding for Macros ​

Macro files can be bound to key combinations by passing the macro file path to the run_macro_file command like so:

json
{
    "keys": ["super+alt+l"],
    "command": "run_macro_file",
    "args": {
        "file": "res://Packages/User/Example.sublime-macro"
    }
}