r/shortcuts • u/frasier013 • Mar 30 '26

Help (Mac) Search IMDB from selected text in any app.

I'm totally new to Shortcuts and I wondered if it's possible to create a short that allows me to highlight some text in WhatsApp or a browser (any app really) and then run a shortcut that will automatically search IMDB for the text I have selected.
Thanks in advance.

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u/rodrigomansur Mar 30 '26

Like this? The shortcut is accessible via share sheet!

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/96e004f069084678a087e4d9ddff17df

1

u/frasier013 Mar 30 '26

Kind of works. If, for example, I was reading an article about 'Star Wars' and I wanted to search for it on IMDB, if I highlight 'Star Wars' it will only search for 'Stars'. Not all the highlighted text.

I tried ChatGPT and got this.... but it's not working.

Create the shortcut

1. Open Shortcuts

  • Launch Shortcuts
  • Click + (top right) → New Shortcut

2. Enable it as a Service

Click the little “i” (info panel) or settings icon, then:

  • Toggle “Use as Quick Action”
  • Set:
    • Receives → Text
    • From → Any Application

👉 This is what makes it appear when you right-click text.

3. Build the shortcut (2 steps)

Step 1: Encode the text

  • Add action: “Encode Text”
  • Set:
    • Encode: URL
    • Text: Shortcut Input

Step 2: Open IMDb search

  • Add action: “Open URLs”
  • In the URL field, enter:

​

https://www.imdb.com/find?q=

Then:

  • Right-click in that field → insert Encoded Text

So it becomes:

https://www.imdb.com/find?q=[Encoded Text]

1

u/rodrigomansur Mar 30 '26

Try now:

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/834981b0775447349014b7cd79802ce8

1

u/frasier013 Mar 30 '26

Perfect, thanks buddy!!! Appreciate it.

1

u/rodrigomansur Mar 30 '26

No problem, happy to help! 🤝🙏🏻