Apple Maps on macOS lets you add quick links to locations in the sidebar for easier access. Here’s how to add the shortcuts.
Recent improvements to Apple Maps on macOS offer a host of new features. One of the recent improvements to Apple Maps is the ability to click on certain points of interest and then add them to the Maps sidebar as shortcuts, which Apple calls Quick links.
When you add a quick link to the sidebar in Apple Maps, you can then click on it and quickly zoom in on that point, and the point information pop-up will instantly appear on your screen.
Popover content
Map popovers on macOS include buttons for directions, directions, ratings, details such as location name, hours, phone, and optionally a link to the location’s website.
Not all Maps points of interest contain popovers. Points marked with a light blue circle with an icon usually are.
One of the elements commonly included in point popovers is a menu item titled Add to favoriteswith a star next to it.
If you click on the Add to favorites menu item, Maps will add the location to the left sidebar with a shortcut to the location. Apple calls these shortcuts “Quick Links.”
To clarify, although they look similar to the macOS Quick Look feature, Quick Links are completely different.
Quick links are added in the sidebar under the “Favorites” category at the top. It also adds a list of places you recently visited under Favorites under “Recent”.
Add a quick link
To add a quick link to Favorites in Apple Maps on macOS, first open the app in the /Applications folder and look for a place name indicated by a blue circle containing an icon.
If you zoom in closer on the map, more locations are usually revealed to you.
Click a place marker in Apple Maps.
Then, click on one of the blue dots on the map that interests you to open the location popover. You can scroll up and down the pop-up to see the location details.
Scroll to the bottom of the popover and you will see the Add to favorites menu item. Click it to add a quick link to the sidebar in Maps on the left.
You can also visit the venue’s website by clicking the link in the pop-up window, if available, and see its address, phone number, and email address if those details are provided.
Select Add to Favorites to add a quick link.
Zoom out on the map to any random point. You can do this by holding down the control on your Mac’s keyboard and sliding your finger across the mouse if you have an Apple Magic Mouse, or across the scroll wheel on a third-party USB mouse.
Finally, click once on the quick link you just added in the Maps sidebar on the left. Maps will instantly zoom the map to the item’s location and show its popover again.
Select a quick link to zoom instantly,
To remove a quick link from the sidebar, hover over it, click on the little gray Info to the right of the item, then click Delete favorite. The item will be removed from the sidebar without warning.
After adding a quick link, Maps changes the name of the “Add” menu item to Remove from favorites the next time you open its popover.
You can also Control-click Or Right click an item in the sidebar under “Recents” and select the DELETE menu item to remove it.
Send to other devices
If you have an iOS device signed in to the same Apple account as your Mac, you can also send a quick link to other devices by Ctrl-click in the sidebar and selecting Send to device in the context menu. There is also a Share menu item to send a quick link to other apps on your Mac, if they support it.
Maps now also supports multiple tabs at once and you can open any quick link in the sidebar in a new tab by selecting Open in new tab from the context menu.
Quick links are like bookmarks in a web browser, allowing you to instantly jump to the place you’re looking for in Maps.